Little Pim Goes to Cambridge Part II (Meeting Dr. Naomi Steiner)

While in Cambridge, I also had the pleasure of meeting the dynamic and charming Dr. Naomi Steiner, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Steiner wrote the most thorough, practical book I have found about raising bilingual kids (7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child). The book shows that every child can learn a second language - whether or not their parents speak the language - and offers step by step approaches for families. As a mother myself raising bilingual children, we had so much to talk about! Dr. Steiner's children speak German, French and English -- and her teenage daughter started Chinese this fall! I am so happy Dr. Steiner is helping to advance the pediatric field’s understanding of the ways speaking two languages benefits young children’s brain development and she will be making important contributions in this fields. Keep an eye out for her.

Julia & Dr. Steiner

Boston has a very international population, which is why it isn't that surprising that our soon to be Brazilian distributor calls this city home. This is Heloisa Fitzgerald, a talented and passionate fellow mom-preneur I met through Entrepreneur's Organization (EO).

Heloisa is launching "Little Pim Brazil" in 2011. Little Pim is already distributed in 6 countries outside the U.S. and we are very excited that Heloisa, a native of Brazil who is raising her own two daughters bilingual in Portugese and English, is going to introduce the Little Pim method to English learning tots in Brazil. Magnifico!

Julia and Heloisa

This was a whirlwind 24-hour trip that left me charmed by Cambridge, energized by the people I met, and looking forward to going back for more Little Pim language fun events. Next time I’ll bring my boys, but may not be able to get beyond Curious George & Friends if I do...

Little Pim Meets Curious George in Cambridge!

This weekend Little Pim held its first event in Cambridge MA! We held a fun, silly sing-along of Spanish and French songs from our CDs, and showed clips of the new DVDs featuring Little Pim, Bob and Lola. Many thanks to Curious George & Friends and owner Donna Friedman for hosting us. This charming, filled to the brim with goodies toy store has drawn thousands of tourists and locals from its Harvard Square location. It is definitely worth seeing if you and your little ones find yourself in Boston/Cambridge. Just don't blame me if you can't get them out of there!

Curious George & Friends carries a wonderful selection of educational books and toys in addition to its eponymous monkey collections. Little Pim is proud to have been part of Curious George's offerings for over a year. This was a fun chance to meet local families, share some songs in Spanish and French and talk with parents about raising our children with more than one language.

One question that comes up a lot is "when is the right age to start?". My answer is always the same - you can't start too young. Babies' brains are hard-wired to learn up to three languages at once and the earlier you introduce the new languages, the easier it is for them to pick them up. I suggest parents start with music and books, then introduce DVDs when they are ready, and expand to classes, playgroups and tutors.

Enjoy the photo and video below!