Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

Communication. Comunicación. Koh-moo-nee-kah-see-OWN. No relationship can thrive without clear and respectful interchange, especially between parents and teachers. Why is this concept so widely accepted but the implementation often so difficult?

There are enough challenges facing educators called upon to tell parents how their child is doing. Add to this challenge the lack of a common language and the anxiety level increases dramatically. With the growing number of English language learners in early nationwide, many educators are struggling with how to bridge the communication gap with parents from Spanish-speaking cultures.

Some suggest that the sole remedy is to become fluent in Spanish before the next parent-teacher conference. Others recommend grabbing the first person they see who knows some Spanish. What’s missing from both discussions is how cultural norms affect interpersonal communication.

It would be great if we were all multilingual. But it takes a long time to learn a language. Whether or not one pursues language study or not, the underlying recipe for success is to learn more about Hispanic cultures, which allows individuals to communicate in a way increases the chance of getting a response. Communicating through words without the appropriate cultural context is one of the main reasons why the memos sent home aren’t effective, even though they’re translated into Spanish. Words detached from their cultural context are sometimes meaningless.

A good starting point is to discover the difference between the notion of “well educated” in modern-day culture vs. “bien educado” in Hispanic culture. You’ll better understand that there’s more to communication than just language. Learn more by reading about The Cultural Umbrella at http://www.bentiva.com/Cultural_Umbrella.html.

Barbara Benjamin-Treviño
Bentiva Education Solutions ~ Resources for Cross-Cultural Communication
817/946-6162, barbara@bentiva.com, www.bentiva.com

I get tickled when other mom bloggers ask me to guest post or be interviewed for their blogs.  It’s probably a little thing to most folks, but the real world of mom-networking is truly recognized when moms find out what I do and then ask me to join them, in some way.

Truly, what I do is communicate.  That’s how I network.  I talk to others, and then talk some more.  And through those communciations and conversations, I’ve found some of the best folks ever to work with, to grow with and to sustain life’s balance with.

Therefore, when HybridMom.com asked me for a guest post, I was more than happy to do it!  You can CLICK HERE to see my article, How One Mom Does it All:  Through Creating Outsourcing.

Networking, ladies.  Never stop communicating with other moms and women - some days, it could be the bottom line between sanity and a rubber room!

Networking is used in business, right!  Wrong!  Networking is one of the best tools you can give to yourself.

Networking…

• leads to friendships
• creates playgroups
• leads to business opportunities
• generates social activities
• helps families make decisions, from pre-birth to after-college, to feeding issues to schooling options to everyday questions about life.

Networking

Necessary
Exchange
Toward
Welfare
Opportunity
Representing
Keeping
Individual 
Needs
Great
  
Copyright 2007 Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

What’s your favorite way to network?  Got any interesting tips for those of us who may find it a bit scary?

Are you living the life you want?  Is there something missing, something you want to do but maybe now that you are a mom, you think it might be too late?  Have you always wanted to fly a plane, go skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, parasailing or ride on a Harley? 

Okay maybe you are not the risky outdoor type, so how about write a book, take that dream trip or start your own business?

You need to ask yourself:  is there something I need to do and if so, what is it?  And then you need to go for it. 

Write down what your want to accomplish.  Writing it down reaffirms your desire.

Tell everyone about it.  The more people who know about it, the more people might be able to help you make it happen.  Ironically, sometimes it is the people that you do not know who end up being the most supportive along the way to making it happen.

Networking, networking, networking.  People make things happen.  You never know who that person will be.  Many times it is the person you would least expect, yet they seem to hold the key to something you need.  You will never know unless you ask.  So keep asking, you will find the answer.

Allow yourself to dream about it.  Visualizing your goal will help make it a reality.

Find someone who has already done it.  Via networking, you might find someone else who has already started a similar business, skydived, authored a book, or taken that trip.  Find them and find out how they did it and then make it happen for yourself.

Believe and you will.

Copyright 2007-2008 - Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

What are your dreams?  Close your eyes and see what dreams materialize.  Keep a notepad handy to write them down; then start taking those steps to make them a reality.  While you’re at it – share your dreams with us.  You never know – just the person you need to see it…may!