English For Parents

Magda Posso is from Colombia.  She’s lived in Hartford for six years.  Now, she’s decided to learn English. 

 

“El por que?  Tengo mis ninos en la escuela…”

 

Why?  Because her children is in school and she couldn’t understand what their teachers were sending home.  Her son needed to see a neurologist to help him with a walking condition.  But there wasn’t an interpreter, and the doctor didn’t speak any Spanish.  Posso says this class helped her communicate with both teachers and doctors alike.

 

Maybe most important is this:  

 

(Posso)

 

Posso says the class also took away some of her fear of speaking in English. 

 

Former Hartford State Representative Art Feltman runs the program, called The Academy For Parents. Feltman says  the funding for the classes comes from corporate sector donations and from foundations.  And he says the point is to teach parents so they can teach their kids.

 

“They’re all mothers of young children.  Two of the criteria for entering the program is they’re not fluent in English, they’re not literate in any language – be it Spanish or English – and they have to have at least one young child [in] preschool.”

 

The classes involve teaching English, and teaching parenting skills.  They’re offered twice a week in the evenings – along with childcare, food, and transportation.

 

“This is a test of the approach of parent as teacher. The home is a English language rich environment where the parents are actively motivating and stimulating the kids.”  

 

And that’s what’s happening for Posso.  A member of the program’s first graduating class, she may be too shy to speak fluently...

 

Cohen: Can you tell me what your thoughts in English are about the program…

 

(Posso)

 

But she says she can read a book to her four-year-old girl, every night, in English. And her daughter understands.

 

Posso: Porque a mi hija le leo…

 

That, she says, is a good thing. 

 

For WNPR, I’m Jeff Cohen.