Suddenly the city is very quiet. Most people – mommies and daddies, children, grandparents – are home. Hopefully everyone is safe and sound.

Did you notice the quiet? Take a moment. Listen around you. What do you hear? I can hear one car. I can hear some dogs. I can hear the elevator. I can hear quiet. Silence.

When things are busy, rushed and noisy, we dream of having peace and quiet. We imagine being able to hear ourselves think.

Bilingual families often think about our communication explicitly. Out loud. Remember, communication doesn’t always mean talking. There are quiet ways of communicating too.

Consider taking advantage of the quiet in your bilingual family. Here are some ideas:

• Sit down together, pull out some paper and crayons or markers or coloured pencils and draw. You don’t have to talk to each other (unless you want to). You can each draw anything that you want. A tree. A flower. A bug. Try with no erasers. No rulers. Just see what happens. Even if it lasts for only five minutes, it is a good start. Then, tomorrow, you can try a little more.
• Do a jigsaw puzzle. You might have a puzzle in your home, maybe you can borrow from or exchange puzzles with some friends or neighbors. Find a place where you can leave out your puzzle and anyone can work on it at any time. Together – or separately.
• Start a family notebook. Writing is a great form of quiet communication. Find a notebook, or even make one with recycled paper (used on one side). Write a note to your child and then explain that your child can write back to you, then you write back again. This might be a good way to document these days that we are studying and working from home.
• Play board games. In countries where we experience extreme winters, and we are homebound for weeks at a time, we play games like Monopoly, Scrabble, cards, etc. Your children often bring board games to school to play during special hours like Houses. Board games are a fun way to spend time together at home.

You can do these activities in Spanish, English or any other language that your family speaks. These are ways to enjoy your home and each other’s company. And, if it is quiet, everyone can hear themselves think in whatever language they want!

At SGS, we love being part of your family’s bilingual journey.

Send questions, suggestions, photos of family activities to anne.dye@sgs.edu.co so we can continue together.