If you’ve read my “Why I love flashcards to teach Navajo?” then you’ll see how easy and effective flashcards can be to teach your child Navajo. Flashcards offer many benefits but it’s too easy to get caught up in the same basic routine – holding up a flashcard and calling out the word. Then watch as your child starts to lose interest fast or altogether. When my child would get restless, I knew I had to get creative and that’s when I discovered flashcard games. This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using thi ..read more

Yá’át’ééh Ghaaji! October (Ghaaji) means the beginning of fun holidays and festivities and the Fall season! And kids will be looking forward to all the holidays coming up. This means it’s a perfect opportunity to start teaching Navajo vocabulary! Which kid doesn’t love autumn, cooler weather, and dressing up for Halloween? (I’m not a kid anymore but I still love this season. I’m sure you do, too.) So why not help your child build their Navajo language vocabulary through this fun season? Here are some fall-themed Navajo words you can learn together and teach your child while you enjoy the p ..read more

So you want to help your child learn Navajo? The best thing you can do is start reading books. Many parents today are using books to teach their child another language, even as non-native speakers! So why not do it with our Navajo language? We live in a time where we have growing resources like bilingual books to help us (parents and caregivers) give our child exposure to our Diné language. I didn’t know how possible it was until I started reading Navajo bilingual books with my kids. Before that, I remember saying to myself, “How can I read Navajo to my kids? I can’t even speak Navajo.” But I ..read more

I have mentioned many times that now is a perfect time to start reading Navajo to your kids. Why? Because there are more resources than there were just 5/10 years ago. Yes, it’s not much when compared to other languages like Cantonese and Spanish but we should take advantage to start with what we do have. I am going to share the bilingual books I’ve come across and used in reading to my kids. Plus I’ll share as many books as I could find that are available for you and your child, so you don’t have to do much searching yourself. If you are unsure about building a library of Navajo books, read m ..read more

Teaching kids to learn another language (when you don’t know it at all) seems scary and challenging on the surface. I was there too. I thought I couldn’t do it and I didn’t know where exactly to start. I wasn’t around fluent family members every day and I was scared to ask, feeling like I would bug them.  But when the pandemic hit and my mom ended up living part-time with me, I realized this is now or never. I mustered up the courage to ask her and started learning and teaching my kids Navajo and I’m here to tell you: YOU CAN TOO. What is it like teaching the Navajo language to your child ..read more

Did you know that there are Children’s books that are written in both Navajo and English? And it’s growing because our community knows the importance of language revitalization. And with the threat of our language slowly disappearing with each generation, we need as much help as we can get. If this was 10-15 years ago, we wouldn’t be able to find many books and resources to help us with Navajo language learning. I know that the resources today aren’t quite as massive as other languages but it’s growing and I have no doubt it will be more accessible to our people. But right now I am so apprecia ..read more

I’ve mentioned before that when I started out, there weren’t a lot of readily available resources out there for the Navajo Language. But there are some good resources you can use right now. How many of these resources have you heard of or come across? I’m going to share top 5 resources for Navajo Language that is really changing my life for the better or that I really like. And by the end of the article, you will discover that you have a few resources at your fingertips and that Navajo language learning can be possible.  Ready? Let’s dive in! #1: Gomyson.com This website has been around ..read more

There’s some debate about flashcards in the education world. I’ve read articles that say flashcards are good and highly effective and others that say to stay away from flashcards. I think there are pros and cons in many things and I agree that flashcards are one of them, but here’s why I love them to help me teach my kids Navajo. This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details. 5 Reasons I Love Flashcards Visually interesting for kids They can be colorful ..read more

A Game that became a hit!  My desire to learn Navajo began in the classroom.  I always wanted to learn my language but I never did anything about it. That changed when I became a youth leader for an afterschool program focused on Native American youth. Some of the students were enrolled in a Navajo language immersion program. And when students took out their homework, I couldn’t help learning the language with them. However, not all the students were in this language program, and I thought about how beneficial it could be for all of them to learn their language or at the very least ..read more

As a parent who grew up not knowing my native language, I know how unfortunate it feels to not speak the language of my parents and grandparents.  Our language, Dine Bizaad, unfortunately, wasn’t passed down to the majority of our generation. And sadly, at one point in history, we weren’t even allowed to speak our language.  Today, there are many leaders advocating for the revitalization of the Navajo language. I know how important it is to us as parents and will be to our children one day. Our language is our culture, our identity, and our spirit. This is why relearning the Navajo l ..read more