Language of learning

Education Mexico offers textbooks to schools in Orange County and across the nation to enhance Hispanic children's knowledge of their ancestral home.

SANTA ANA—Maria Meza wants her two American-born sons to have the best possible education. The country she left behind has sent a gift that she hopes will help that happen.

The Mexican government is giving textbooks studied by elementary children in Mexico to schools all over the United States. Orange County schools will receive 15,000 of the new books.

For parents like Meza, the geography, math, science, Spanish and history books could become a way to supplement their children’s education and to help immigrant adults become more involved in what they are learning. The shipment also includes books about sex education, substance abuse, nutrition and domestic violence that parents can share with their children.

I would like to show my kids how I learned in Mexico and how important Spanish is,” said Meza, 39, who came from Durango 14 years ago.

The textbooks were on display Friday in Santa Ana at Pio Pico Elementary School, where Meza’s sons attend school. The Mexican government says the goal is to help children like them understand their roots and to promote an educational partnership between the two nations that could be as beneficial as free trade.

Thousands of books will also arrive across the country in cities with large Mexican populations including Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. So far, 9,000 books have gone to Santa Ana and others will be donated to schools in Anaheim, Placentia and south county, said Miguel Angel Isidro Rodriguez, Mexican Consul in Orange County.

Santa Ana and Mexican officials stress that the materials will not replace American curriculum or the teaching of English. The books will help assess where students arriving from Mexico should be placed.

They can also have a valuable role in helping immigrant parents participate in their children’s education and also give teachers important insight into the school system where so many students come from.

For instance, if a child who came from Mexico is struggling in math, a teacher could consult a Mexican math textbook to see if the subject is taught differently.

This was a gesture by Mexico to provide some support, but definitely not to run our schools,” said Howard Bryan, director of programs for English learners for the district.

We have a state curriculum that we continue to follow and that we will answer to.”

The paperback books include photos of ancient Mayan ruins, murals by Mexican artists and math problems about crops of chilies, corn and beans. There are stories about children named Ramiro and Socorro and poetry written by Mexican authors.

At Pio Pico Elementary School, 89 percent of students are English learners. The school received three sets of the Mexican textbooks covering first through sixth grades, and already parents are asking Principal Judith Magsaysay if they can borrow them.

In Santa Ana, about 15 percent of students have obtained waivers to a state law that restricts bilingual education.

I think our families, our parents, will make the best use of them,” she said. They can check them out and read to their kids in Spanish.”

Isidro said the books are the same as those used by public school students in Mexico, where school is required only through junior high. He said there is so much movement on both sides of the border that today’s Santa Ana schoolchildren may one day move to Mexico to study or to live.

On Wednesday, the state Senate passed a bill that would create a reciprocal education program for 1,000 Californian residents to attend college in Mexico and for 1,000 Mexicans to attend college in California.

Any kid who can speak two or more languages has more chance to be a successful adult, to have a better job,” Isidro said.

Contact Perkes at (714) 704-3709 or [email protected]



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