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Ask the Expert
Expert: Kathleen C. Perencevich
Question 3:
I truly believe that it is important for families to encourage good reading habits in the home environment. I am a first-year teacher. Most of my student’s parents speak Spanish, and I am not sure what materials I can provide to them that will help them encourage their kids to read. Do you have any advice for motivating my students’ Spanish-speaking parents to read more with their kids?
Answer:
To be safe, it is probably best to assume that your students will be learning English with you in school and not at home. In order to be truly bi-lingual, students are able to read and write in two languages. Therefore, I would encourage the parents to do what they are able to do best, read with the children in Spanish at home.
But, help your students grow by telling their parents what themes you are studying in school and ask them to read related materials with them at home. By doing this, your students will be gaining important knowledge about topics they are studying and they will be practicing reading in Spanish, which in itself is helping to create a habit of reading. They will be able to transfer these skills and information to learning and reading English in school.
There are two terrific websites that may assist you in your endeavors. One is through Reading Rockets, http://www.colorincolorado.org/index.php, and the other is a website that sells books in both English and Spanish on a variety of school topics, http://www.bilingualbooks.com/. Good luck.
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