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Back in early 2021 I set myself FOUR massively important life goals and I’d like to share how things have turned out during the most challenging, yet fulfilling 16 months of my my life.
My goals were clear. Achieving them well let’s see…
They were:
❓ Find an affordable long term solution to the missing English education in our 2 trilingual children’s lives.
❓ Take control of my working life and schedule to have the flexibility to support family life, be there for our boys.
❓ To be able to work doing what I’m most passionate about. The education of my kids and other young people who don't fit into boxes when it comes to language education.
❓ Learn how best to support kids like mine who attend non-English speaking schools or feel they are missing a more tailored approach to learning
I set about trying to achieve this in March of 2021 using my experience:
👍 raising 2 trilingual children living in Spain and the middle east
👍 working with young people in teaching, summer programmes and overseas expeditions
👍 using educational technologies in the classroom and out
👍 Ninja DIY IT skills
👍 Bags and bags of motivation!!!
SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOALS???
🤗 1 The solution to my kids’ Education?
I launched Next Level English! An online after school programme supporting the specific needs of bilingual language learners.and connecting small groups of English speaking kids. We have weekly lessons with 4 - 16 years olds and to play and learn in English supporting their literacy for future work and study opportunities.
Now both our children are reading more confidently and all of our students have signed up to continue next year!
⏳ 2. And my schedule?
Now I decide when I teach, the tools and resources I use and when my meetings can be scheduled. Gone are they days of arriving home when the kids were going to bed. And finally I can use modern up to date resources in my teaching
Now I drop the boys off and pick them up every day from school, and read a book on the way most mornings together. I'm finally more involved in their lives.
CHECK!
🥰 3. What do I do now for a living?
I now work full time doing what I love! I run weekly online classes working with a small community,
mostly in Catalonia, Spain, but also
Germany, Italy, and France offering tailored support and literacy courses that run alongside school education.
I also started a local English immersion
programme in and around Barcelona where kids can play, create and learn in person, often with their classmates, a true first in blended learning for multilingual kids.
CHECK!
🔗4. A blended learning programme was born!
Few English language programmes suit bilingual children or heritage language speakers and there is a severe lack of any type of support for literacy for these kids.
I've learned a lot this year about the challenges and opportunities that our multilingual children face but I am tackling this problem head on and super excited to continue to offer fun, engaging English that excites and motivates!
CHECK!!!
🥳🤗🤪🥰🙏💪🤓😫😳🤔😁
To wrap up, there's like a switch in the way you work and look at daily working life if you are truly passionate about your aims.
I just want say thanks to all of those who have supported, advised, encouraged and frankly put up with me over the last year.
This is truly a project from my heart and it has changed my life and my family's profoundly.
My heartfelt gratitude 🙏 to the families and kids we work with, those who have supported my mission along the way and those who are starting to work with us next year!
Let's get kids reading again!
If you support our efforts and share our values please share with a friend to continue growing our community.
#bilingual #bilingualeducation #bilingualkids #bilingualtoddler #bilingualtoddlers #multilingualeducation #multilingualfamily #niñosmulticulturales #multiculturalkids #familiasbilingües
Congrats!!! 🥰