For us, school is in English and so is life (outside our home). For this reason, I make it a point to infused Spanish to our home life. This includes television, reading, daily conversations and even visits to the park, zoo, museums, etc. I will admit the latter is takes THE most effort for us because it means translating and thinking of new vocabulary every step of the way. It would be SO much easier to do it in English, after all, the literature, the signs, and the exhibits would already be written for me. But...I like to make things difficult :) ha ha.
Sometimes, we get lucky and find museums, parks, zoos, etc. that already provide a bilingual experience. Unfortunately, there are not many, which kind of surprises me since we live in California - a state where most say that speaking Spanish is an asset.
But we will not get into that...right now ;)
Last week, we were visiting San Jose and it was suggested we visit the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. There was no use staying a home while daddy was at worked, so we went. It was a hit for the kids and for me!! It was VERY interactive - touch, feel, smell. It was like Pretend City but on a global, science, international and social scale with celebrations of old and new. We spent over 2 hours there.
Aside from being a great experience, the cherry on top was that everything was in 3 languages - English, Spanish and Vietnamese - EVERY sign, EVERY label, EVERY pamphlet. When things are already translated, we can focus on the conversation and experience, which I prefer.
This was the outside playground but that every sign was like this one.
