LITTLE PIM BLOG
Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Little Pim
Did you know that September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month? Every year, Hispanic Americans celebrate the contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. September 15 marks the beginning of the month because it is the anniversary of the day Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrated their independence. Mexico, Chile and Belize also celebrate their independence days on September 16, September 18, and September 21, respectively.
The month culminates with a celebration on October 12, when Spain and Latin American countries celebrate their own version of Columbus Day, known as Hispanic Day (Día de la Hispanidad) to commemorate Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas on behalf of Spain in 1492. This is considered the National Day of Spain (Fiesta Nacional de España), and parades and festivals are held throughout the country.
Young kids may be familiar with the story of Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas for Spain, but as a Columbus Day nears, it's a great time to teach them there's more to the story than just the Niña, the Pinta and Santa María.
Your kids (or students) will love this interactive white board activity from Scholastic that features fun Hispanic facts, history and even a Piñata concetration game.
We also love this set of printables of famous Hispanic American role models from Nick Jr. And this Hispanic paper flower fiesta craft from Latinaish will have your house (or classroom) looking festive in no time.
Of course, it's also a great time to introduce kids to Spanish language and culture. Check out our Spanish Bop CD featuring fun 15 Spanish language songs for kids, our Spanish vocabulary flashcards, or our colorful English-Spanish books perfectly suited for young kids.
National Teacher Day Memoirs
Guest blogger Thea Hogarth currently works in product development in Little Pim, and today shares some of her experiences as an English teacher in France. She taught in France during the 2011-2012 academic year. Today is National Teacher Day, and it’s hard to imagine that almost exactly a year ago today, I was preparing to leave behind a year of teaching English in France. This time last year, I was attempting to pack an entire bedroom’s worth of stuff into a suitcase. I had spent the previous eight months assistant teaching English in three primary schools in the French city of Angers with the French Éducation Nationale’s TAPIF program… and I was exhausted. Mind you, I had no reasonable excuse: I worked 12 hours a week and got two weeks of vacation for six weeks of school (totaling a whopping two full months!). Plus I was living smack in the middle of a wine region in the Loire Valley; I was living, by definition, the good life.
But many of my students weren’t. Two out of my three schools were officially classified as being in the ZEP (Zone d'Education Prioritaire), the French classification for high poverty schools - the kind of environment that can really wear a teacher down. I entered the school year expecting my students to be little French angels, enchanted by the idea of meeting an American straight from New York. And, indeed, my first few classes were peppered with adorable questions along the lines of, “Do you have to take an airplane home after school everyday?” but my novelty quickly wore off. Many of my students were born outside of France and were already familiar enough with the experience of the foreigner. Class time with me quickly became an opportunity to throw paper at the back of my head, imitate me to my face, and kick me in the shins (who knew how easily Simon Says could become a contact sport!). By the beginning of my second week, I was taking breaks to secretly cry between classes.
Yes, I was basically living the first half of “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” but with 8-year-olds… and in France. And, yes, my story also has a reasonably happy ending. By the end of the year, we had grown accustomed to each other; we had learned each other’s boundaries, but more importantly, we had learned to laugh together. Teachers in the ZEP and in schools around the world work hard to create safe, supportive classroom environments – becoming masters of the alchemy of turning aggression and frustration into laughter and trust.
As I said goodbye to the kids who made me cry, one boy came up to me on the playground and pulled this note out of his sleeve (transcribed exactly as written): “Dear Théa, We miss you already, you are fantastic. We were happy end when you were in our class room. We wish you good holidays. Hello Théa good bay thea!” Undoubtedly, he and his classmates had put their heads together to compose this masterpiece (with outside help, I’m sure), and I was grateful. Of course I was thrilled by this somewhat unexpected display of affection, but more than that, I was gratified that they had created something for me in English even though they knew I understood French. They had reached across a gulf much larger than that between teacher and student.
Today, of all days, I’m thinking back not only on my year in France, but also on all the amazing teachers who made my experience in France possible. My engaging, imaginative French teachers ultimately enabled me to apply (and be accepted) to this teaching program, and inspired me to smile through the tears. Today, let’s all think about the amazing educators in this country and around the world who practice patience and compassion to create a classroom environment that is both supportive and inspiring.
