Teaching a Second Language for Toddlers? Here are 5 Outstanding Blogs for Raising Kids Bilingual

Teaching a Second Language for Toddlers? Allow me to give you some personal insights. Let me take you back to several years ago. My wife and I were in awe of our newborn daughter. One of the most pressing thoughts in our mind was, “How we were going to raise a bilingual daughter?”

Fine, I admit that it was not as pressing as “How exactly do I hold her, or should I give her formula, or how should she sleep, or can she lay like that?” We were flooded with common first-time parenting questions. My wife and I had already agreed to raise our daughter bilingual, but we did not know how to do that. I began with some basic web browsing and landed on a few sites. From there I began to become a ‘bilingual parent nut’ (which led me to my current profession of writing bilingual children’s books). Let me share with you some outstanding blogs that were with me through this journey. I utilized information and received great concrete advice, theory, understanding, and community. I believe you will enjoy these sites as much as we have on our bilingual journey.

1. Spanglish Baby

This page is no longer active. However, the website is phenomenal. So much amazing, well-designed, thoughtful content. It still has a huge community and two co-founders who really live the bilingual parent life. SpanglishBaby was founded by Ana Flores and Roxana Soto. These two Latin moms have different upbringings and stories, but share the common theme of living this new ‘bi-cultural’ life in the United States. This site is a must-visit. Also, these two wonderful women have written “Bilingual is Better” – a book about raising a bilingual child and their stories.

What You’ll Find Here:

Detailed “Walkthrough” on getting started with teaching your child Spanish

• A community full of life and other parents in the same situation
• An outlet for learning more about best practices, education systems, and culture
• A beautiful, easy-to-navigate site

2. Multilingual Living

This site was founded by Cory Heller, an American who married into a German family. This led her on the path of learning German herself, in order to teach her three children. Her story, life path, and viewpoints are very much in line with mine (as I was also non-native, and taught myself Spanish, in order to teach my daughter). This site is not just about English/Spanish but takes in more language situations, such as multilingualism.

What You’ll Find Here:

• Riveting Articles about Language Teaching and Dealing with this Situation
• Unique Free Programs such as 100 Days of Bilingualism
• Multilingual advice in teaching your child 3 or more languages
• Help with several (more obscure) languages

3. Bilingual Monkey

Beck is a tenured teacher and parent of bilingual children. Bilingual Monkeys began in 2012. He started a forum for bilingual learners could interact with one another called The Bilingual Zoo. He also wrote a book called “Maximize Your Child’s Bilingual Ability.”

What You’ll Find Here:

• Several bilingual products and resources
• Extensive information and guidance on raising bilingual children successfully
• The ability to interact with numerous other parents globally for mutual support

4. Mommy Maestra

Mommy Maestra is the go-to site for homeschooling (and raising) bilingual children. This blog is well devoted to activities, learning challenges, crafts, teaching how to read, math, and more. The site has a HUGE amount of content and will keep your children busy, well, for years.

What You’ll Find Here:

• Help on how to homeschool your bilingual children
• Language activities, teaching reading, writing, and math
• Crafts and fun ideas for the weekends or during the summer

5. Spanish Dict

I added SpanishDict to this list, not necessarily because it is purely a blog (although it does have an interesting blog), but because it is highly recommended for you to learn Spanish. If you are learning Spanish yourself (along with your children), I recommend going to this site, click on “Learn” (I think you need to create an account), and getting started. There are very well-done lessons going over everything from Level 1 to Level 4 in Spanish. This site was invaluable (and free) in my quest to master Spanish.

What You’ll Find Here:

• Learn Spanish modules: video lessons, flashcards, quizzes, and speaking practice
• A very good English-Spanish dictionary
• A blog with helpful advice on caveats of learning the Spanish language