“Parents need to make a conscious effort to seek out quality, diverse and inclusive books that represent other communities.”

Ashley Montano

Welcome to Navigate STL Schools, a podcast.  

Today’s guest is Ashley Montano, the founder of Juntos We Read, an organization that supports families raising bilingual children. In this episode, Ashley sits down with Staci to discuss the importance of building a strong foundation in a child’s home language, the benefits of being bilingual and biliterate, and what families can do to help their children become bilingual. 

• Ashley’s K-12 story
  • Went to Miami Dade County public schools, the 4th largest school district in the country.
  • Ashley’s school system valued bilingual education. 
• Juntos We Read
  • Ashley founded the organization as a passion project in February 2020.
  • She connected with a lot of families who were raising bilingual children who were struggling with a lack of community and resources to support their ability to raise a bilingual child. 
  • St. Louis was lacking in bilingual resources for families. 
• What are the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy? 
  • Students need support to build on their home language and to make sure they’re building biliteracy skills. They need to be able to read in both languages. 
  • It’s tough with ESL programs to help children learn bilingualism. 
  • Research shows that children who have a strong foundation in their first language have an easier time learning English. 
  • As an adult, students who are bilingual have more opportunities in the job force, they are able to empathize with others who are different from them, and have better cognitive skills. 
• Inspiration behind Juntos We Read
  • Ashley connected with parents who were struggling. 
  • One of the common challenges faced by bilingual parents, it’s called subtractive bilingualism. Children refuse to speak their home language in order to assimilate to the majority language. They lose their other language skills, and that’s how we end up with adults who are bicultural but don’t speak the language.
  • Language is part of our identity, and when children lose this, they lose a part of themselves. 
• What is the importance of exposing children to characters and stories from different cultures and languages?
  • Diverse literature gives children an opportunity to see their lived experiences reflected. They need to see themselves in the characters in the stories they’re reading. 
  • There are a lot of Latina and Latins authors who are recognizing this and a lot of them have started their own publishing companies because traditional publishing companies aren’t diverse. 
  • For children who aren’t bilingual, books offer an opportunity to see other communities, cultures, and races who are different from theirs. These books help build empathy. 
• What can parents who aren’t bilingual do to support their children that are bilingual?
  • Parents need to make a conscious effort to seek out quality diverse and inclusive books that represent other communities. 
  • There are online resources for parents like: 
    • Diverse Book Finder Website
    • Juntos We Read
• How can parents support teachers in enhancing their child’s bilingual experience?
  • Books are an easy way to encourage multiple perspectives. If parents can purchase books and donate them to the child’s classroom, that’s a great thing to do. 
  • Locate community members who can come in and speak to children. 
  • Teachers have a lot on their plate and if parents can aid in this journey that’s a positive thing. 
• What is an area of opportunity for parents to build a bilingual community?
  • Cultural reading nights
  • Finding ways to connect with other families who speak your language is really important.
  • Bringing kids together for play dates is an easy way to engage in their home language. 
• If parents are considering biliteracy and bilingualism, what are some things they should consider if they are primary English language speakers?
  • Parents can find schools like language immersion schools to help their children.
  • Connect with other families who speak the language can help children build their language skills.
  • Watching TV in another language is an easy way to engage in language skills. Try changing the audio to the target language on your children’s favorite cartoons.
• Movies, Books, Authors, and Resources for Raising Bilingual children
  • Go to your local library to access free bilingual literature.