Raising a bilingual child

I'm sure a lot of parents have gone through this process, for some, I'm sure it seemed easy, for others challenging.
Even since I said my "I do" in front of my future hubby, I knew I wanted my kids to know Romanian. And when I say "know", I mean: understanding it, speaking, it, writing it, reading it. Even if I'm way too early in this process to say: "I'm gonna be there" or " I will succeed", I just hope our kids will not be only fluent in Romanian and English but also French and at least Spanish.
I strongly believe "bilingualism" and further more "multilingualism" has more benefits then generally people realize.
Because I'm not only a first time mom but also a first timer in raising my baby bilingual, I wanted to have a different view of this matter from the point of view of 2 professionals and mothers in the same time whose kids are already bilingual. That's how I came across and read 2 books:

1. Raising a bilingual child  by Barbara Zurer Pearson, PhD

2. 7 steps to raising a bilingual child by Naomi Steiner, MD

As you may have already noticed the first writer is an academic teacher, the second is a doctor, but both of them are mothers and have raised bilingual kids.

The books are different in approaching the subject but at the end of the day, they draw the same conclusions: how important bilingualism is and that the best way to approach it is by being persistent and consistent.
Basically, the one important method to raise your kids bilingual is OPOL (One Parent One Language), meaning that, for example, in our family's case, I only speak with my kid in Romanian and my husband talks to him in English. It's also important to keep talking to him in the minority language as much as you can during daytime (even if you're out doors or indoors) Pearson would suggest an average of at least 4 hours a day in the minority language. Extra material (like books, songs, Tv etc) in the minority language also helps a lot, as well as the exposure to other people talking in the minority language (like grand parents, cousins, aunts etc)
Always keep in mind that your kid will always be more advanced in the community language (ex. English) than the minority language he/she hears at home.
And also, in the first years of life, it is very normal for the bilingual kids to mix words from both languages. (my son, who is 25 months, mixes words from English and Romanian, having a tendency of learning the easiest words from both languages, but he is perfectly understanding both English and Romanian).
Don't get intimidated by people telling you to stop talking in another language 'cause it will confuse the kid. There's not such thing as that because the human brain is set up in such a way as to absorb as many languages from an early age without any problem.
Bottom line, having read the 2 books, I can not tell I got the winning recipe or the right way to do it! I believe every experience is different as every situation is different. But, by reading the books, I got to understand some situations that I would't have otherwise and I also became more confident I was doing the right thing.
If you want to raise your kid bilingual, first you need to commit yourself to it, stick with it and be persistent. Reading these books or some other material about it also  helps a lot.
As our bilingual journey continues, I will write more about it.

Pre-schooling days

My little one started preschool. 3 days a week, 4 hours a day. It's his 3rd week already and things are getting smoother.
If in the first week, my husband had to stay with him all the time, now we bring him in the morning and leave after about 30 minutes. He still cries a bit after we leave but it goes away really fast and he starts playing with the kids or miss Monique with no more drama.
When we go to pick him up @ noon, he is both happy to see us but also very proud of himself and his accomplishments. He shows us what he did, what he painted, how he played. He really likes his little preschool.
More to write about it...

People have names

Every day there's something new in his vocabulary. But today, in particular, I just found it so awesome that he started saying people names:

Bryce is Bais
Myrna is Mana
Dan is Nan
Rica is Ica

Toddlerhood is becoming even more interesting.

The preschools tour

Well, I guess I never thought this time will come so quickly and it did. It was time to look for a preschool for our son. He's 19 months right now and we would like to start something short from 2-3 years old and, like a transition phase, then move towards 5 days/ week, half a day kind of thing.

But where to start? Especially in a city as big as LA? What to look for? What do we actually want in a preschool?

We knew for sure we didn't want strictly day care. For us, it's not important how long the hours are but what he learns and discovers in those hours. I don't want to get back to work yet (yes, it's a choice and I'm happy we can afford to do it) so finding a place to take care of him was not an issue.

We knew we didn't want huge preschools that were also elementary schools; the kind that starts at 2 y.o. and go all the way through 5th grade or 8th. We just didn't feel we'd want to decide for such a long term, as they say, one step at a time, plus we just wanted a very cozy, comfy feeling, just like he would go from our house to a bigger house full of kids and big playground.

We wanted a place where our son would learn through play (it's the best way for his age), and through discovery, where his creativity would be nourished and challenged, where he would have the freedom to roam with older kids and learn from them.

And again, where do you start your search?

Well, the first thing we did was to buy The Whitney Guide. It is truly a vey good point to start with. It has a good selection of preschools from all zones of Los Angeles and it's very well written, pointing out the questions and answers a parent should get. Plus rating the schools was an amazing tool to have an idea about that establishment.

After we read the guide, we started making a list with the pre-schools we wanted to visit (the ones which  came close in the philosophy and curriculum we've wanted and also the ones near to the place we are living).

I called each and every school we wanted to tour and set up appointments over the course of a month and a half (February through March).  One recommendation would be to start sooner as some schools have a very long waiting list.

And here's our journey.
First, I'll list the pre-schools in the order we toured them:

1. The Country school- is situated in North Hollywood. Their philosophy is: "all children should be given the opportunity to grow socially, emotionally and cognitively in a supportive, nurturing environment at their own pace". You can enroll your little one of he's 2 y.o., but first you will go through a transition phase where you would come with your toddler and stay with him and then gradually move away from him.
We loved the layout of the school and the outdoor space. The preschool classes are well appointed and the kids seemed genuinely happy and interactive with each other. The teachers were interactive very well with the kids. We loved they had a music room and the opportunity for the kids to learn other languages. They also have a library and a science class in the campus.

We didn't like that much that it was on the larger size of what we were looking. Here, kids can go til' 8th grade if you want them , too, so the campus seemed a bit too big for a toddler and too small for having all these different age categories together (although the outdoors space is set up for each age group).
The tuition is on the higher end, as well. They are not a year round school, so basically you would have to pay starting from $9,300/year for 3 days a week and going up to $16,720/year for Pre-K.
I don't want to be mean or judgmental  but when you ask this kind of money you expect the BEST of the BEST, the Sorbonne of the preschools and Country School does not fall in that category.

If I would give them stars ( * - being WORST and *****- being BEST ) I would give them ***.

2. A,B,C Little School - situated in Sherman Oaks. Their philosophy  is "on the Whole Child". Well, A,B,C Little School is a clean school. That's the first thing that stroke me to the chore. Everything is very well taken care of, organized and put in place. The outdoors space is not too grate; they are like 3 different play areas for 3 different category of kids, but no green or sand space what so ever. I didn't get the feeling that kids are too creative or challenged to be creative. It was more like a " laisser faire" kind of feeling.  It's a year round schools and the tuition starts at $155/week (for 2 days/week) and can go up to $195/ week (for 5 full days).

For us, it did not bring anything we were interested in, except for being clean and well appointed.
Stars ranking: **

3. A,B.C Little Schools - I know it's confusing. It's not the same one, but as far as I understood, the owners of the schools are in the same family, that's why they kept the same names. Anyway, this preschool is situated in the Studio City area but they have some other branches.
The same kind of vibe and attitude as the one above but far more dated. Tuition about the same as the one I've mentioned above.
Overall impression: not so good.
Stars  ranking: *

4. The Doheny School (they don't have a website)- is situated in West Hollywood. Their philosophy : "Only a secure child learns at a pace approaching his full potential." The moment we stepped in the school, we were welcomed by a bunch of happy kids working like busy bees around the tables. Then, Paula Carter, the director, came and showed us the school. And let me tell you, she knows exactly how to win you over. The size of the school is just perfect: 3 class rooms and a very nice backyard with a transformed garage that serves as an arts and crafts workshop. The kids interact with each other and we loved the multicolored, multi cultural diversity. It gave you the feeling that yes, we can live in peace and harmony.
The tuition is quite acceptable: it starts from $650/ month for 3 half days and it can go to $985/ month for 5 full days and it is a year round school.

We loved it, loved it, loved it!! In fact, we even put an application! See what will happen!

Stars ranking: *****

5. Chalk Preschool - is situated in the Westwood area. It's a pretty new preschool, they've opened it one year and half ago. And by being a new school, it comes with those benefits: bright newly painted walls, fun and colorful designs, everything is clean and organized. The outdoor space is quite acceptable and fun.
Overall, it seemed a nice place where kids and teachers interacted very well together and the stuff is very nice and helpful.
We didn't like the fact that it seemed different age kids would not interact too much with each other : the twos would be outdoors only with the twos etc.

Stars ranking: ****

6. The Caterpillar cottage - is located in the Encino area. It's a home based kind of preschool for the moment but its founder, Heather, is absolutely an unbelievable teacher. She's started as a Montessori preschool teacher and after obtaining her Bachelor's degree, she spent eight years of work as an early education researcher and program evaluator. Her house that became the Caterpillar cottage is fun, well organized and kids are really, truly unbelievable happy and thriving.
Her approach of intentionally mixing 2/1/2 y.o with 3 and 4 years old makes this place even more special as the little kids have a leader to follow and the older kids have the opportunity to be responsible and take care of the smaller ones.

Stars ranking: ****

7. The Pinecrest preschool - the one we've visited is situated in the Van Nuys area. Mostly, I was not impressed by anything they showed me. I believe if you're actually looking for a little more than daycare but we the emphasis on the daycare aspect, then probably, this would be a good fit for you.

8. The children's circle nursery - for some bizarre reason, we've scheduled to tour this preschool at the end of our list. And good thing, we did. It gave us the chance to appreciate it even more. When we got to the Children's circle nursery, it was around 9:30 am and all the kids were outside playing. And what an amazing place to play in. Absolutely the best play area I've seen so far in a preschool! The kids were filled with joy, genuinely happy, thrilled with happiness and full of creativity.
Tim, the director of the school, told us that "infants and toddlers learn best by doing rather than by being shown or told. And at Children's circle " we do not so much "teach" them as we help them to learn."
And I believe another's parent review about this place tells it even better:

"If you believe that pre-school should be all about academics, this isn't the place for you. CCNS is a developmental pre-school teaching kids how to communicate and how to work as part of a community and I couldn't imagine a better education for a 3 - 6 year old. The classes are mixed ages so the little ones learn from the older ones and the older ones learn how to deal with the little ones. It's an amazing community and feel very lucky to have had a chance to be a part of it personally and for my child. "


After watching the kids at play, we had the chance to go in the classroom and watch them being creative in a circle time or drawing pictures, building farms etc. There was this unbelievable connection between the kids and teachers that just felt so natural and right.
All in all, it just seemed the right fir for our son's personality and our philosophy about how we would like the school for our kids to be.  Can't wait for him to be a part of that amazing world.

Stars ranking: *****

Well, my friends, this is our journey. I hope my post will help future parents who will start their journey into the world of preschools. :)

Little Blake

I know that we, as parents, and especially me, as a mom, a first time mom, we tend to see our kids as the BEST ones, the NOBODY is like you ones etc, which, generally is true, 'cause they are unique and so different, BUT, when most of the people around me tell me how smart, outgrown, unbelievable for his age Bryce is, I try to keep my grounds, look around and be realistic for what it's to come.
I know Bryce is special and I'm not saying it just because I'm his mom (trust me, I was born and raise in Romania, where we don't appreciate something just because that's the trend, you have to work at it), so even my little Bryce worked at it to impress me: first time when he started crawling at 5 1/2 months then developing skills and knowing what to do with things; he challenges himself every time we go to the park and takes on with no fear all the big, tall toys made for older kids, he puts the two and two together, makes connections, he talks a lot but still in his own language (which is cute).
So, that's how we get to the core of this story. You hear about those little toddlers who say all kind of things and you more or less believe it. That's until you meet one of them in person:
Yesterday, while we were playing in the sand this little cute, fair hair, blue eyes little girl comes to us and says:
"Hi"
Bryce looks at her and smiles while I answer back:
"Hi"
And then I ask her:
"What's your name?"
She says :
"Blake"
Although I completely understand the name, I just thought that maybe I just didn't get it so I looked at the nanny and she nods that's the name.
I continue my dialogue:
"How old are you? "Two"
She nods "No"
Then she says
"One - Seven"
I'm thinking to myself:
"17 months?? OMG, she's like fluent in English.
And then she confirmed it to me how fluent she was.
Perfect English in everything she told me or I asked her to tell me.
"Cup, sit, brown, fingers, red, spoon etc", I was just blown away.
Both of the parents were working, breastfed only the first 3 months and she was taking care by a nanny who barely spoke any English
Later that afternoon, I met this cute 8 years old boy who was fluent in English, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish. Such a well spoken young man. I started speaking with his mom (a Russian) and asked her when he started talking being a bilingual kid. And she answered me " Later than the other kids. I thought I was doing something wrong". But she was not, as it turned out, the boy is absolutely fluent in 5 languages. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
So, when I got to be all by myself and reflect a little bit I kind of realized that all kids are different and so unique. That, you, as a parent, are here to guide them and support them but that there are so many things inside of them that will concur to whomever he will be in life.
And as long as your feet are deep in the ground and you look around and recognize the best in others, you will be able to channel his goals to greater achievements.

Funky Gavroche

I know this blog is all about you and your future brothers and/or sisters.
But, just in case this little project will develop into something bigger or will just stay as little as it is now, I just thought would be a good thing to record it here. After all, you were and are my inspiration. :)
So, why Funky Gavroche ? Well, "funky" because I love to do cooky and chic styles, I love to dress you a bit unconventional and out of the ordinary. Gavroche - because, just to keep it simple, is for "the brave, little tots" out there.
The name of the website is in place. It's not ready, papa is working on it. Plus grand ma' will help with the logo, taking some nice picture and grand pa' will do the music.
Meanwhile, we've ordered the labels, and I'm still working in finishing up the designs. So far, I have 3 dresses, one skirt, 2 vests. I'm planing in starting with a 10-12 pieces mini-collection.
The plan is to launch a little on line boutique somewhere at the beginning of March and maybe to go into some stores as well.
As I mentioned before I don't know how this will evolve. But what I know for sure is that I do what I do with a lot of passion and so much love.
I will keep you posted as I go.
Below, a sneak peek into my collection: