Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm the MB you're asking (w/ the spanish speaking nanny). She is paid above market, but not because of her language skills.

We hired this nanny because she had the best references, was a referral from two other families in our neighborhood for whom she'd worked for the past 14 years, and because she had experience with twins.

Twin experience, honesty, excellent tenure and references from prior employers, and a comfortable "fit" with us were our requirements. Spanish language in the home was a bonus - not something we sought.

When we hired her she quoted us a salary she wanted and that's what we paid. We have given her annual raises of $1/hr or more, added reimbursement for health insurance, given generous bonuses and gifts for holidays and anniversary dates, and have also supported her in other, non-monetary ways (help locating a new apartment and moving, support during some medical stuff, extra leave time for personal needs, etc...)

We retain her and pay her well for all the reasons we initially hired her, and for the fact that she has done nothing but earn our complete trust and confidence.

The spanish remains a bonus, but not a core requirement. Her English isn't perfect, but it is more than adequate for me to have full confidence in her communication skills. Her judgment re the care and safety of my kids is pretty darn near perfect and that trumps the minor language issues.

So no - we don't pay a premium for her language skills. We pay a premium for her experience and trustworthiness and now proven track record with us. I trust her with my children's lives and with everything in our home, and the compensation she receives is commensurate with how important a part she plays in our lives.

I love that my kids are hearing spanish, but what I pay for and reward are the non-negotiables of good childcare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a nanny for whom english is a second language. She's fairly fluent but not fully fluent and the english quality decays under stress or if she's been on vacation in her home country for a few weeks.

My kids have extremely verbal native english speaking parents and are surrounded by highly educated people all the time. My kids speak excellent english.

They also speak some spanish and understand a great deal of spanish. They also will sometimes teach us (the parents) some spanish as they know the words in both languages and if they're excited will accidentally use spanish with us and then explain themselves but using the english word also.

They are 2 1/2, boy/girl twins.

I see no negative impact on their english from having a spanish speaking nanny. I see second language knowledge emerging where there would otherwise have been none, and I fully believe that their critical thinking and ability to learn languages in the future are being positively impacted.

Since you and your DH don't speak Spanish, you do realize that they will lose the Spanish they have learned unless you intend to enroll them in an immersion school or have continued lesson? Sure its cute to be able to say my two year old is bilingual, but it won't make any difference in the end unless you make a concerted effort to continue exposing them. If I were a parent, it'd be much more important to me that the person spending the majority of waking time with my child is reading, talking, and interacting with them on a high level. If you don't speak Spanish, you really don't know the quality of Spanish your children are learning.

I have read your responses saying these identical things every time this issue comes up on a thread.

I did not say my kids are bilingual, they are far from it. I said they speak some and understand a fair amount of spanish. We are exploring immersion programs in our district when they go to school. Regardless, they speak terrific english for their age and I am firmly convinced that the additional language they are gaining is training their brain in important ways. There is actually a growing field of research that points to language exposure at an early age expanding the neural pathworks. It doesn't require fluency, or perfect grammar, the act of learning the different sounds, the multiple meanings, etc... does the brain good.

I don't particularly care about the quality of the spanish they're learning, I care that they're being exposed. They're not even three - perfection isn't my goal, capacity to learn is and I remain convinced that their spanish speaking nanny is a great asset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a nanny for whom english is a second language. She's fairly fluent but not fully fluent and the english quality decays under stress or if she's been on vacation in her home country for a few weeks.

My kids have extremely verbal native english speaking parents and are surrounded by highly educated people all the time. My kids speak excellent english.

They also speak some spanish and understand a great deal of spanish. They also will sometimes teach us (the parents) some spanish as they know the words in both languages and if they're excited will accidentally use spanish with us and then explain themselves but using the english word also.

They are 2 1/2, boy/girl twins.

I see no negative impact on their english from having a spanish speaking nanny. I see second language knowledge emerging where there would otherwise have been none, and I fully believe that their critical thinking and ability to learn languages in the future are being positively impacted.

Since you and your DH don't speak Spanish, you do realize that they will lose the Spanish they have learned unless you intend to enroll them in an immersion school or have continued lesson? Sure its cute to be able to say my two year old is bilingual, but it won't make any difference in the end unless you make a concerted effort to continue exposing them. If I were a parent, it'd be much more important to me that the person spending the majority of waking time with my child is reading, talking, and interacting with them on a high level. If you don't speak Spanish, you really don't know the quality of Spanish your children are learning.

I have read your responses saying these identical things every time this issue comes up on a thread.

I did not say my kids are bilingual, they are far from it. I said they speak some and understand a fair amount of spanish. We are exploring immersion programs in our district when they go to school. Regardless, they speak terrific english for their age and I am firmly convinced that the additional language they are gaining is training their brain in important ways. There is actually a growing field of research that points to language exposure at an early age expanding the neural pathworks. It doesn't require fluency, or perfect grammar, the act of learning the different sounds, the multiple meanings, etc... does the brain good.

I don't particularly care about the quality of the spanish they're learning, I care that they're being exposed. They're not even three - perfection isn't my goal, capacity to learn is and I remain convinced that their spanish speaking nanny is a great asset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a nanny for whom english is a second language. She's fairly fluent but not fully fluent and the english quality decays under stress or if she's been on vacation in her home country for a few weeks.

My kids have extremely verbal native english speaking parents and are surrounded by highly educated people all the time. My kids speak excellent english.

They also speak some spanish and understand a great deal of spanish. They also will sometimes teach us (the parents) some spanish as they know the words in both languages and if they're excited will accidentally use spanish with us and then explain themselves but using the english word also.

They are 2 1/2, boy/girl twins.

I see no negative impact on their english from having a spanish speaking nanny. I see second language knowledge emerging where there would otherwise have been none, and I fully believe that their critical thinking and ability to learn languages in the future are being positively impacted.

Since you and your DH don't speak Spanish, you do realize that they will lose the Spanish they have learned unless you intend to enroll them in an immersion school or have continued lesson? Sure its cute to be able to say my two year old is bilingual, but it won't make any difference in the end unless you make a concerted effort to continue exposing them. If I were a parent, it'd be much more important to me that the person spending the majority of waking time with my child is reading, talking, and interacting with them on a high level. If you don't speak Spanish, you really don't know the quality of Spanish your children are learning.

Anonymous wrote:We have a nanny for whom english is a second language. She's fairly fluent but not fully fluent and the english quality decays under stress or if she's been on vacation in her home country for a few weeks.

My kids have extremely verbal native english speaking parents and are surrounded by highly educated people all the time. My kids speak excellent english.

They also speak some spanish and understand a great deal of spanish. They also will sometimes teach us (the parents) some spanish as they know the words in both languages and if they're excited will accidentally use spanish with us and then explain themselves but using the english word also.

They are 2 1/2, boy/girl twins.

I see no negative impact on their english from having a spanish speaking nanny. I see second language knowledge emerging where there would otherwise have been none, and I fully believe that their critical thinking and ability to learn languages in the future are being positively impacted.

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thank you for your responses! As an educator, I've met a lot of children who know very poor English (with an almost intractable desire to use double negatives) and inadequate Spanish. They are truly at a disadvantage. This language deficit has come from their parents, however, not from their nannies. I'm very supportive of true bilingualism.