Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Parent Outreach
Frequent questions
Expert answers
How can I communicate with parents who do not speak English and feel they may not be able to help their children at home?
Parents are often unsure about how to help their children at home, and this is particularly true of the parents of English language learners, who may feel that they have nothing to offer their children if they themselves do not speak English.
As you know, however, there are many things that parents can do, and Colorín Colorado can help you communicate that to your Spanish-speaking parents. The website was originally designed as a bilingual resource to help Hispanic parents support their children in learning to read. The "For Families" section is available in both English and Spanish, and it has lots of great information that can be printed in Spanish and sent home to parents who do not have Internet access. Perhaps your school has a Spanish-speaking teacher or parent volunteer who could communicate the information orally to parents who are not able to read?
The "For Educators" section on Colorín Colorado also has a section on "Reaching out to Hispanic Students and Families," where you can find more ideas about how to get your students' parents involved, including a free downloadable handbook and video clips in both Spanish and English.
Can you help me locate resources for teaching Spanish to teachers? We are interested in the basics, but also in building vocabulary and fluency for parent-teacher conferences.
There are some excellent resources available today for helping teachers learn to communicate effectively with their Spanish-speaking students and parents. Below is a list that should help you get started. Some of these texts provide a general introduction to basic Spanish vocabulary and expressions on a variety of topics. Others are more specifically geared toward the needs of teachers and other school personnel, often including letters and forms that teachers can use to facilitate communication with parents. All of them are intended for the adult learner who wants to be able to communicate effectively but does not need the type of comprehensive grammar study found in many texts intended for use in college classes.
- Britt, J. L. (1997). ¡Hola!: Communicating with Spanish-speaking parents. Parsippany, N.J.: Good Apple Inc.
- Diaz, J. & Nadel, M. F. (2006). McGraw-Hill's Spanish for educators. New York: McGraw-Hill. Harvey, W. C. (1999). Spanish for educators. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
- Harvey, W. C. (2003). Spanish for gringos. (2003). Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
- Harvey, W. C. (2003). Spanish for gringos: Level two. (1998). Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Read and think Spanish. (2005). New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Thuro, B. Reporting to parents in English and Spanish. (1990). Fallbrook, CA: Ammie Enterprises.
- Thuro, B. School letters in English and Spanish. (1993). Fallbrook, CA: Ammie Enterprises.
The article index and the parent-teacher research based information and newsletters are tremendous. I am glad to have been referred this site from a friend.
~ Karen B.
