The following is a guest post by educator and mother, Lidia Aguirre.
I’m always looking for more ways to help my daughter connect to our Hispanic heritage. Growing up with a Mexican father, I was naturally exposed to my Mexican roots. However, as a third generation American, my daughter does not always get that same level of exposure. She is guided by me, a single mother who was born and raised in the US and speaks better English than Spanish. I have worked hard over the last 20 years to develop full fluency in Spanish, and I’m even a Spanish teacher now, but I have to confess that English still comes more naturally to me.
Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle when it comes to bilingual parenting and maintaining a strong connection to our heritage. I’ve accepted that I can’t do it alone, and I’ve finally realized that I don’t have to. Even if we are staying home more in 2020, there are still ways to find support and to foster that connection to our Hispanic heritage that I so deeply crave.
Facebook has been a great way for me to discover online events in Spanish for kids. We have attended a lot of fun kids classes in Spanish over the last several weeks, and there is one in particular I want to share with you. We’ve been taking a virtual ceramics workshop through a museum association in Argentina! The organization is called "La Asociación Amigos del MAP." There are various workshops and lectures for both adults and children listed in the “Talleres y Charlas” section of their website. They also have a Facebook page you can follow.
Here’s a picture of us with some of our latest creations:
We have loved this experience so far. The instructor has been fabulous! My main purpose for signing my daughter up was to boost her Spanish and to help her connect with kids who live in a Spanish-speaking country. As a bonus, I’ve learned a lot as well. The instructor often discusses Pre-Columbian art as we’re working with the clay, so I’ve gotten a few art history lessons just by listening to her interact with the students. Everyone in the workshop has been so welcoming, and it’s been wonderful to practice our Spanish in such an authentic way. I hope we get to visit Argentina in person someday soon!
