This story shows how important it is to not only be bilingual, as many immigrants are, but to also be able to read and write in both languages. Children of immigrants often cannot read their parents' language. DP
Schools nurture kids in English, other languages
By Maria Glod, The Washington Post
concordmonitor.com: The fourth-graders at Bailey's Elementary School in Falls Church, Va., reached for pink paper, markers and glue one day last week to make Mother's Day cards. Their teacher, seizing an opportunity for a lesson in adjectives, asked them to think of words that describe their mothers.
"Bella," one student yelled.
"Buena," another added.
Dora Hernandez Manuel paused.
"How do you write 'mucho'?" she asked. With a little help, she sounded out the word and finished her card: "¡Te amo mamita mucho porque tu eres bonita!" ("I love you, Mommy, because you are pretty!"
Dora and the other children in the Bailey's Heritage Language Literacy Club speak Spanish as their first language. But although they talk with ease in their native tongue, they struggle to read it and write it because most, or even all, of their formal schooling has been in English. In the after-school club, they're reading and writing in Spanish, learning basic grammar and expanding their vocabularies.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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