CHARLOTTE — When one Charlotte mom’s daughter came home from school, worried about her friends being bullied, she took action.
Shylene Santiago has been homeschooling her nine children since 2018. And the idea sprang from a conversation with her daughter, she told Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis.
“Anita came home one day from regular school, and she was like, ‘Mommy... a couple of my friends are getting bullied because they didn’t speak... proper English.’ Their English was a little broken because they were from other countries,” Santiago said.
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And so Anita asked her mom for help.
“We’re going to learn different languages, and I’m going to go to school, and I’m going to show everybody how cool it is to be bilingual, so that my friends can start to feel good,” Santiago said.
From there, the idea blossomed into a homeschool with a large focus on language.
“27 Swahili, Russian, German, as many languages as possible...and the kids will pick,” she said. “‘Mommy, this week, let’s do Russian. Okay, mommy, nope, nope. This week, let’s do Shona next week. Let’s do Mandarin next week.’”
Santiago said she isn’t fluent in any of the languages she teaches, but that she creates a curriculum around the basics. And she said it opens up whole new worlds.
“It’s so amazing how learning different languages can just open up your mind,” she said. “It teaches them that everybody has a voice, no matter what language they speak.”
Since starting, Santiago has gained a large following online, with thousands looking to hear more about her time teaching foreign languages.
Now, she and her kids work together to create beginner bilingual books.
Some of Santiago’s children are now adults, ranging in age from 5 to 24. Some have chosen to go to traditional schools, but they all came through Santiago’s classroom at some point, taking a journey around the globe.
“Nelson Mandela said, ‘If you speak to a man in his language, it goes to his heart,’” she said. “So now you’re connecting with everybody’s heart.”
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