The Colorful World of a Barrio Kindergarten

By Liza M Tilson

Like many of the students in her New York City kindergarten, Liza Tilson's first language was Spanish. Born in Columbia in 1919, of a Russian-Jewish father and a Spanish-Catholic mother, She immigrated to the U.S. in 1924. But unlike the children she taught more than forty years later, when she, herself entered kindergarten in 1925, she was the only non-English-speaking child in the whole school, and bilingual programs had not yet been heard of.

In her late forties, feeling considerable doubt and trepidation, she was recruited into the initial group of teachers in New York City's experimental and controversial bilingual program, and placed in a school where 75% of the students were non-English-speaking Hispanic children. With patience, determination, and as a matter of personal pride, she survived a rough initiation and a stressful and challenging first year.

After that came the good stuff-the subject matter of this book-the wonderful kids In a series of enchanting, heart-warming "sketches" full of humor, mischief, and (much too often) sadness, Mrs. Tilson has captured the authentic flavor of each child's unique personality, and recreated for us, with all its joys and sorrows, successes and failures, the colorful world of an "inner city" bilingual kindergarten.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595273513
• ISBN13: 9780595273515
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Touching..written from the heart

This book is a beautiful collection of stories.... each one a child and a reminder that we must take greater care of them... but most of all that we ought to listen to them... it is also a testimony to the devotion of the author for her work and the huge difference that a single adult willing to listen can make. The book is very well written allowing the reader to understand the feelings of both the child and the author and the occasional paraphrasing of the children's expressions in spanish works admirably well. I recommend this book to anyone interested in children or who has children of their own

An Inner City, Ethnic World in Miniature

The characters in the book, good and not-so-good, are described in perceptively loving detail. You won't forget them. It's kindergarten life, but you'll recognize the human traits similar to those you have met in your adulthood.It's kindergarten life, a collection of vignettes, each told beautifully by La sabia maestra del jardin de la infancia.

A Colorful World Indeed

Liza Tilson's Colorful World of a Barrio Kindergarten is humorous, poignant and thought-provoking. The author has a real gift for portraying the young but memorable characters who form the nucleus of the book, as well as their diverse backgrounds. This book could be primer on what it means to be a teacher. I highly recommend it.

The First Teacher

What an emotional crisis, for the child, the parent and the teacher, when that first day of leaving home and placing that particular son or daughter in a stranger's hand, is to all involved! And here in this book, it is compounded by a new language world in a strange country with parents crushed by poverty and fearful of the future. All of this is revealed in the sad and humorous anecdotes of the children portrayed in each chapter. The readers find themselves in that classroom with bated breath, as in a play, wondering how the day will end. What memories will linger after the school is closed for the day?But then are not these children living and expressing what all teachers know? Behind the curriculum, there is that individual personality and will, that is inherent to any child. It makes no difference what the situation is. Here is a destiny ready for them. All we can do as teachers is to nourish this. We can hope that life will be good to them.The style of the author is witty and realistic. It portrays a sketch of each personality with all the flavor of the the Spanish idiom with English side comments. And the hovering parents serve as an insightful background as to what is revealed in the child's behavior. And of course, there is the system which produces this history: the school board, principal and the committee. All teachers can relate to that as a barrier for an imaginative teacher.Read this book for pleasure and to learn what the word Barrio means.

Kids are kids

As a retired teacher, with thirty years experience teaching young students, this book is a real treat for me. I had my own private kindergarten for seven years and while my students came from privileged backgrounds, still, kids are kids and have many traits in common. The description of each child enabled me to be in the classroom with them and to feel their joys and pains. I also was able to sense the teacher's caring and compassion for each of her little ones.I am confident that all teachers will enjoy these excellently written stories.