La familia.

January 9, 2023.

It’s with honor y orgullo that we meet with Rosa Verdugo to learn about her journey as an immigrant, a mother, and an advocate. Her journey begins in Santa Bárbara. A small town in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. We start our dialogue with her story as an immigrant, and the pull factor that ultimately lead her to move to the big city of Chicago, el amor.

Rosa Verdugo | súper mom

“Nosotros como papás decidimos que su idioma español tenía que ser primordial.”

Rosa Verdugo


¿Cómo cultivas la cultura chihuahuense en tu familia?

Rosa notes her household priorities in order for the family’s culture and language to flourish in her US-born children.

So how did Rosa take those first steps in becoming an educational advocate and active community member in the schooling of her sons? And where did that desire come from? We spoke to Diana Juarez, a Latina and a leader in the area of Family Services for a public school district in northern Chicagoland, about her experience on this topic.

She explained that there are extensive benefits to there being a strong family-school-community partnership as it relates to multilingual students. As was Rosa’s experience, multilingual children often have parents with vastly different educational experiences than them. “Families depend on schools and community support to explain both the expectations of students and their families, and the resources available to them through their organizations. This connection and partnership means they’re building a community of invested adults who are able to, and are eager to, help students succeed in school and out of it. ”

Diana Juarez | Family Services Expert

This sounds amazing, so what are common challenges that prevent that type of partnership from developing? There are many different reasons these partnerships don’t happen easily and effectively. For a long time, the common thought was that schools knew what was best for students, and this one strategy was applied to everyone, regardless of specific needs or individual experiences. Schools expected families to equally maneuver around their goals and expectations, and any shortcomings were blamed on lack of family participation. This dynamic was difficult, especially for multilingual families, who often have both parents working outside of the home, have language barriers with school staff, and who generally feel that schools are the education experts and thus, experts on their children.

Many multilingual families had the educational experience of schools working independent of families to educate children. “In my experience, my parents dropped us off at school and we were fully in their charge mentally and physically until it was time to come home at the end of the school day. This thinking is still pervasive and because so many parents/guardians come with these experiences, it takes time and work to shift the thinking into a partnership where parents take a more active role in their children’s education.”

Let’s listen in on how these ideas came to life in Rosa’s experience.

We asked Diana,

“What starter tips would you provide multilingual families who are interested in developing a stronger partnership with their local school?”

Here are her top recommendations!

  • Find time to connect with your school outside of Parent/Teacher conferences, graduations, and other scheduled events

  • Share with child’s teacher/principal something you can contribute to the school. Examples: Share a special recipe or offer to be a guest reader of a book in your home language.

  • Schools do not always know if your child needs some extra books, or winter clothing. These are needs they can provide support with!

  • It can be intimidating to reach out! If there still is some fear, do it with a friend! Find someone else who has the same question or similar skill they want to share and approach as a team!

In a similar light, schools that are interested in developing a stronger partnership with the multilingual families they serve should consider the following:

  1. Keep in mind that multilingual families have a different educational experience than school staff, and they might also have a different educational experience than each other!

  2. Activities that encourage discussion about what kids like with a focus on their strengths in school can really help support setting goals and approaches to best serving multilingual students and their families.

  3. Be open and available for families to share their backgrounds including parents’ educational history, languages are spoken, and immigration story if they were not born in the U.S., all of this information will help schools understand students and how to best serve the “whole child” encompassing school and life outside of school.



Rosa took purposeful and courageous steps to share her needs and share her gifts with her school community. We applaud her vulnerability and strength during the course of this journey. She also has been proactive in the development of her children’s bilingualism and biliteracy. Listen in on how she tackles these big concepts at home!

“Al ser bilingües ellos van a tener a largo plazo, un éxito profesional porque se les van abrir las puertas... Nuestra lectura es súper importante porque cuando lee uno, se le abre el horizonte.”

Rosa Verdugo

Rosa took simple and important steps as a parent to nurture bilingualism and biliteracy in her children. These decisions, not only functioned for her family but are considered highly effective practices in the field of Bilingual Education. Proving, that parents are truly a child’s first teachers.

We spoke with Patricia Chamberlain, an expert in Bilingual Education with a specialty in Early Childhood and Special Education, regarding Rosa’s decisions and the alignment with best practices for young multilingual learners.

She shared that, ‘The basis for all literacy is oral language. So building a strong oral language base for any child is the best gift you can give them. Good oral skills lead to good literacy skills.” This approach also is a strong method to transmit your native culture, and nurtures the formation of self-identity.

Building biliteracy at home doesn’t come without it’s challenges. Here are some that Pat identified as most relevant to families today:

Patricia Chamberlain | Early Childhood Expert

  • There’s also a cultural piece to this issue. Access to libraries.

    Some spaces aren’t as welcoming to all families.

    This represents an institutional barrier.

  • Parents are super busy. Here are some simple solutions: If you are singing a song, that’s literacy. If you are playing a game, that’s literacy. Talking about illustrations in a book is literacy.

  • Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for parents to receive the message that biliteracy may delay or confuse their child. This is a MYTH that has been disproven for a long time.

Rosa took steps early on in the life of her boys that represent superb literacy activities in the home to begin Spanish language development. From building routines or simple habits to reading for 10-15 minutes every night, and play! Pat shared that, “…embedding literacy in play is meaningful for early learners. If you are playing kitchen with them, help them think of items they would like to buy and build a grocery list together! Writing birthday cards, and playing with PLAY-DO are other great ideas as it continues to build literacy and attention to detail.”

Don’t forget that oral traditions are passed down through storytelling. This is a great way to transmit culture and language in a family.

The success of multilingual communities, as illustrated in Rosa’s journey, is one of strength, vulnerability, and connections. A willingness to take uncomfortable steps for the benefit of children is not an easy path for immigrant parents, but one that can yield many rich fruits for all. Familias, step into schools orgullosos of all that you offer because your culture & language represent a true treasure chest for our communities.

We celebrate Rosa as an immigrant, as a mother, and as an educational advocate.

And for that, we say, ¡WEPA!