Globalizing Your Toddler

I just got back from spending spring break in Colombia.  I love traveling Latin America for so many reasons and return at least once a year.  I also like to think of myself as someone who speaks Spanish.  The truth is, I am not fooling anybody.  My Spanish continues to embarrass me, especially after the years I took it in school and in refresher classes afterwards.  I truly wish I had started at a much younger age.  As Sara Farzam, founder and director of Bilingual Birdies, explains in this week’s piece, children 5 and under are at the most critical ages for language acquisition.  We now know that success with foreign languages comes from starting early and in age-appropriate ways.  Music, art, food, books… these are some of the best things in life and also some of the best ways to incorporate foreign language at home.  In doing so, we are ensuring that we help to develop truly global citizens.

Continue to shine your light  –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Pablo el pato only speaks Spanish, so we need to all greet him by saying, “Hola Pablo!”

This is how the kids in a downtown Brooklyn preschool greet their favorite cuddly puppet every Tuesday morning. They are learning Spanish with Bilingual Birdies and Pablo el pato, or Pablo the duck, is representative of far more than just a bread-eating feathered friend.  He is a symbol of the changing face of America.  The parents of these children have signed them up for a program which promises to teach the under five population about cross-cultural awareness, compassion, and curiosity through a foreign language and live music curriculum.  Bilingual Birdies offers classes in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Hebrew.  CDs of educational music are provided for parents to play at home, which reinforces their ability to learn a language when they aren’t in class. Read more