Social media has made an impact on bilingualism. Through social media, we have been able to build a strong #bilingual community that educates, uplifts, and supports one another. It has also helped create opportunities for collaboration where like-minded experts join forces to work on projects that benefit the bilingual community overall.
That is the case with the two bilingual mom entrepreneurs I interviewed last week, María Rodriguez, Spanish philologist, author and educator, founder of the online platform mybilingualchildcorner.com, and Claudia Soruco, a Bolivian child psychologist, author, and founder of lifeinasecondlanguage.com
María is a mother of one son that she is raising with Spanish and English in Madrid and in her online platform, she offers English classes and materials worldwide to help parents and children develop a bilingual mindset. Claudia is a mother of two children that she is raising with Spanish and English in Oklahoma. Her space is dedicated to educating parents about the emotional aspect of raising bilingual and she follows respectful parenting strategies. She also shares her experience as an ex-pat mom raising children with two cultures.
Over a year ago, the two ladies worked together on a book that teaches children about emotions and how to handle and validate these emotions as the children grow. The book is called “Emociones de Colores” or “Colorful Emotions.” The main character is María Claudia, a girl that leaves Spain for Oklahoma in the United States and it also has six magical characters that represent the different emotions that children and adults can feel emphasizing the beauty of the emotions and the lessons we can learn from them. From there, their new project, Bigibee, was born and María and Claudia’s professional relationship was further cemented.
I invite you to watch our IGTV!
Bigibee.com offers courses and materials that educate families and teachers about children’s social and emotional learning at home.
7 Tips From Bilingual Experts For Raising Emotionally Healthy Children:
- Learn about emotions, educate from the beginning.
- Interact, observe, listen actively to the child’s attitudes.
- Validate emotions, no repressing.
- Open communication- know their concerns, their fears, about their day, the relationships at school.
- Be there for them, no judgment or criticism.
- Be a role model- learn about your own emotions.
- It is possible that if you do all the things mentioned before, you are better prepared to deal with the emotions of a teenager when the time comes.
For more about Maria follow her on Instagram @mybilingualchildcorner.
For more about Claudiafollow her on Instagram @life.in.a.second.language @Bigibee.oficial
Gracias, Maria y Claudia!
