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We spend a lot of time talking about the things we should do and should try with our bilingual kids to help them on their language journey. But have you given some thought to the things that you should not do? I am going to share the one thing I NEVER want you to do with your bilingual kids. I never want you to bribe your bilingual kids to speak the target language.

No, your bilingual child is not confused! In this episode, we'll cover common misconceptions about bilingualism and "confusion." We'll break down what it means to "code switch" and what it menas to "borrow" from another language. This episode will put your mind at ease, it's a good, tune in!

On this episode, I share how you can bring literacy in your target language to your home for your kids! We talk about how to plan, how to create routines and how to make time in the day.

On this episode, I share how you can bring literacy in your target language to your home for your kids! We talk about how to plan, how to create routines and how to make time in the day.

On this episode, I share my best and favorite games for teaching bilingual kids vocabulary and grammar. They are fun, engaging and easy to find wherever you are in the world!

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, we talk strategically about how bilingual parents can create a need to use a language. This is part 3 of a series on how to get your kids to speak more of your target language.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, we talk about the importance of exposure and how to make sure that you are creating plenty of opportunities for your kids to get exposure in your target language.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, we start a three part series on how to get our kids to grow from passive to active bilinguals. In other words, we do not want them to just listen and understand what we say. We want them to actively speak and engage in the target language.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I share with you 5 fun and easy ways that can help you celebrate the bilingual journey with your family. Make the commitment and just set some time aside to chat with them about what it means to be bilingual.

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I host a consulting call with one of our members, Bruna. We address and plan some of the upcoming changes that Bruna's little one will experience at school and even at home with a third language. 

On this episode, I share strategies that you can use when teaching Spanish to elementary students. Listen up to get the scoop on some of my favorite methods to get kids this stage to stay engaged! 

On this episode of the  podcast, I tell you about a survey I am doing and  share with you top episodes you may have missed and are most certainly worth listening to, not once but twice! 

On this episode, i share five easy strategies to teach preschoolers Spanish.  We also talk about what you can expect during this age group so you know how to maximize your time with your kids. 

On the episode, I have a consulting call with one of the members from the Bilingual Avenue Members' Club. We talk what about you can do when there are not many people in the community that speak your target language, discuss  resources for teaching reading and writing in Spanish and even talk about other podcasts in Spanish. 

On this episode, I discuss my favorite strategies for learning toddlers learn language. i also give some examples of the toys i have used in the past to help with each of the strategies. 

On this episode, I interview 123 Andrés and Cristina to chat about the beautiful musical work that they are doing for bilingual kids around the world. Tune in to get inspired and get to know this rockstar  for little l language learners. 

You can teach baby Spanish by setting a strong development foundation from the early days. A baby’s brain has the ability to grow at an outstanding rate! Babies are amazing! They have so much to learn in that first year of life. I have personally found the first year with each of my little ones to be very challenging while very rewarding at the same time. There is a lot happening in their little brains. The seeds for language development are already being planted well before they even utter the first word. We as bilingual parents can start helping them develop these skills from the very beginning. I want to share with you some toys that can help you teach baby Spanish.  You can use them for other target languages as well since they all help to work on foundational skills.

On this special episode of Bilingual Avenue, I share with you my personal struggles around language and how my family and I handled our ups and downs. I also share with you my lessons learned and how it led me to create Bilingual Avenue. 

Teaching your kids Spanish seems daunting but with a combination of mindset and action you can establish a strong foundation for your kids’ language journey.  You can do this whether you are teaching your kids your native language or whether you are choosing to pass on to them one that you learned later in life and may not even speak all that well. Check out this episode to get some easy tips!

On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I share activities that you can carry out at a bilingual play date. Let’s talk a bit about how children of different ages play. This will help you with your planning and to make sure that you are meeting the needs of your participants. Play date activity tips by age group 0-2 year olds Kids at this age learn by exploring with their hands and mouth. They absolutely love to bang, throw, drop, shake and put things in their mouth. Now I understand you don’t necessarily want a bunch of toddlers throwing and banging things around your house. But you can include things like sensory bins for them to play. Add some toys that can help you work on target words in the bin to make sure you incorporate some language. Keep in mind that toddlers will generally not play with another child but instead play in parallel.   3 – 5 year olds Children this age love imaginary play which is great because there is so much you can do here to work on language skills. Create activities that tap into children’s fantasy play and imagination. The best part about this age group is that they are much more likely to interact with other kids. My kids have both loved to interact with play little kitchens which is great because you can incorporate lots of vocabulary around pretend food and pretend cooking. You can also adapt this activity for different ages. 6 – 9 year olds Little ones at this age are able to create deeper connections with friends. However, with deeper connections also comes conflict. Be aware that while hosting a play date this age there could be some arguing. This is generally because children in this age group are much more competitive and can get very disappointed if they lose. Therefore, avoid activities that involved winners and losers. In fact, for this stage I recommend having one friend over for a play date. Keep it even smaller than before to reduce the likelihood of arguments. Dress up for example is fun for this age group and there is no competition. It also allows for some very natural ways to introduce vocabulary through articles of clothing.   10 -14 year olds Older kids can enjoy play dates too. There will likely be a lot less parent guidance for this group and much more free play. Keep in mind that peer pressure has a big influence with kids this age. Silliness comes in super handy with this group so consider that when planning your activities. So what do you think? Are you up for the challenge? Don’t overthink it and host one. They will only get better with time and you learn what works and what doesn’t.