By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – For many childcare providers in Tucson, getting better at their job means learning in a language that is not their own.
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Many providers speak Spanish as a first language, but finding professional development in Spanish can be difficult.
Provider Elvira Gomez teaches the basics of what students need to succeed.
“The colors and numbers, learning mom and dad’s phone numbers,” Gomez said.
Gomez and other providers attended nine workshops at the Tucson nonprofit Make Way for Books, as part of the organization’s “The Story Project” series.
“We hope to support them in providing rich language environments, where there’s a lot of books, there’s a lot of talking, because we know that’s really important for children,” said Rosa Lira, The Story Project Program Manager.
The Governor’s office estimates there are around 2,500 licensed home care providers in Arizona. That is more than 200 in Pima County. At Make Way for Books, they can find professional development in English and in Spanish.
“It’s really important to be able to have professional development in Spanish for the people that speak Spanish and ensure that information we’re giving them will be information that they can understand and go and implement in their programs,” Lira said.
Most training is not offered in Spanish.
“If we have a majority of providers who speak Spanish, why would they put this in English. This, I don’t understand it, and it makes things difficult for me,” said provider Garcia.
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Garcia is one of 40 childcare providers who completed the Make Way for Books workshops in Spanish this year.
“For 14 or 15 years, I’ve been taking care of children, even babies. I just went to a quinceañera two weeks ago for a baby I took care of,” Garcia said.
“Yesterday, three children I looked after said hi to me, the kids and their parents, and this for me is really beautiful because I know they took away a special memory of me,” Gomez said.
Make Way for Books offers workshops for teachers as well.
Isabela Lisco is a Report for America corpsmember covering education solutions for 13 News. Her position is made possible through funding from Report for America and the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.
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