Mia Cortés Castro Photo
Preschoolers at Fair Haven library for Tuesday's bilingual session.
Sitting around a colorful rug, 30 pre-schoolers were asked to recount what they’ve been doing over the summer.
“In the summer I love to swim,” said some of the children.
“Me gusta comer helado durante el verano,” said others.
After these questions, the children listened to the reading of the bilingual book Summer/Verano by Ailie Busby.
As part of a Bilingual Stay and Play program at the Fair Haven branch of the New Haven Free Public Library on Tuesday morning, they read and sang bilingually, meeting and playing with other Fair Haven children and practicing their language acquisition skills.
At the event, hosted by Viviana Nuñez, the early childhood coordinator at a program called Early Steps to School Success, which is part of the nonprofit-run organization Read To Grow, families were encouraged to bring their little ones along and practice socializing with other bilingual families. Nuñez usually hosts Bilingual Stay and Plays at the Fair Haven Branch one Tuesday a month, and has added another Tuesday over the summer due to the high volume of unoccupied children staying at home.
Nuñez: "Let's read! Vamos a leer!"
“It’s important to foment children’s learning of languages,” said Nuñez. “For these families, these play groups are a way for their children to not lose Spanish, which for most is their first language. They learn English in school, so we play in both languages in order to increase their capacities.”
With the objective of practicing language and socialization, Nuñez prepares various activities for the children to do together that hone in on these skills. The children start off by reading a bilingual book, then singing and dancing along to a bilingual song, and then repeat this once more. They are even given instruments to play along to the music. Afterwards, the floor is opened up so they can play together with any of the toys provided. Nuñez and the parents and educators present too an active role in encouraging the children to share and play together.
The children danced …
… played …
… and shared with new friends.
Sheena Toney, an educator at Centro San Jose Child Development center in Fair Haven, said she brings her students to the library every Tuesday and uses the lessons learned at the library in her classroom.
Toney dancing along with the children.
“Here, the children learn to socialize, they practice reading comprehension, and they meet new people, which is super important,” said Toney. For the children in the classroom who don’t speak Spanish at home, it’s a great opportunity to learn such a valuable skill, especially at a young age.”
Parent Tania Rivera, whose daughter does speak Spanish at home, takes the opportunity to bring her to Bilingual Stay and Play in order to give her something her household can’t: a chance to practice her English.
“My oldest daughter is bilingual and this has helped her a lot in her education,” said Rivera. “It’s important for her to understand and speak both languages in a city like New Haven, so this space is very valuable.”
Rivera with her daughters at the library.
Clapping along to music playing in the background and attempting to pop bubbles blown by Nuñez, the children went on with the rest of their days having met new friends and learned new vocabulary in both languages.
It’s important for children to become fluent and literate in both their languages spoken at home and the one spoken in our society as the dominant language.
My cousins in Sweden had lessons on four languages starting in elementary school through high school, while in my Connecticut K-12 education I didn’t start learning a second language until high school, which is too late to become fluent.
We should start teaching languages in elementary school.