Trying to raise a bilingual child when the rest of your family is not on board is not easy, but it's definitely not impossible. Maybe it's your in-laws who think your child will get confused if he's exposed to two languages at the same time. Maybe it's your own mother who doesn't see the need to introduce your child to a second language so early on. Or maybe it's your own husband who's not completely convinced it's such a great idea.

Whatever the case may be, I'm going to share some tips with you that will hopefully help with your situation. 

Last week I wrote about the importance of reading when raising bilingual children. Books are the best way to expose children to new vocabulary and to expand their knowledge in both their languages. I also mentioned that a great option for families in which one parent is bilingual, but the other one is not--which seems to be the case for many families in this country--are bilingual children's books. These are books that are written in both English and Spanish and are perfect for dad to read in one language and for mom (or grandma) to read in another language. 

Although it's not like there are hundreds of these types of books, there are some really great ones out there and today we'd like to share our 10 favorite ones:

If you have children, you've heard time and time again how important it is to read to them on a daily basis. Well, this is even more so when you're raising bilingual children. While listening to you speak Spanish is by far the best way to ensure they're getting direct exposure to the language, listening to you read in Spanish is wonderful too! Books can make a huge difference when it comes to enriching your child's vocabulary. The more varied the topics of the books, the more diverse your kid's vocabulary will be. 

This is particularly true if you don't feel like your own Spanish vocabulary is extensive because you'll most likely be learning a lot of new words along the way too.

Although letting your kids play Spanish apps on your tablet won't make them fluent, the truth is that these devices have become such an integral part of our daily lives, why not use them as one more resource in your journey to raise bilingual children? Like most of the technology I allow my kids to use, the rule is that to use my iPad they have to use it in Spanish. My kids have gotten so used to it by now that they don't see it as a big deal at all.

Although the amount of apps in Spanish is very limited compared to those in English, it seems like they're being developed more and more often. The ones I'll be sharing today are both fun and educational and they've been tested and approved by my own bilingual kids.

Although my kids haven't gone through it yet, I know the time will come when they will rebel against speaking Spanish--and I'm so not looking forward to it. Part of me wants to believe this will never happen to my kids, but who am I kidding? I know this is a reality for many parents raising bilingual kids, so I want to make sure I'm prepared when they refuse to speak Spanish to me.

Maybe you're already going through this stage with your kids and you're not sure what you're supposed to do. So I figured I'd share some of the tips I've gathered from the experts in the last few years I've been writing about raising bilingual children. 

Traveling is, by far, my favorite thing to do. If I had more money, I'd do it more often. My parents are the ones responsible for my love of travel because they took us everywhere when we were little. Not to mention that I grew up in five countries in three different continents. 

Ever since I became a mom of two kids I'm raising bilingual and bicultural, traveling has a whole new meaning. My husband and I try to take our children back to our respective home countries every year so they can visit family and be immersed in Spanish and our Latino culture. Although not cheap, traveling is very important for bilingual and bicultural children for the following reasons:

here's no question about it: the best way for kids to learn is through play. That's why I'm always on a quest to find quality bilingual toys for my kids. The best are those that teach my children something without them even realizing it. And while things have changed a lot in terms of options since I first became a mom more than six years ago, I'd be lying if I said there are a ton of bilingual toys out there that are worth your hard earned dinero.

Luckily, my kids have tried and tested many of them and today I'd like to share the ones I highly recommend buying if you're raising bilingual kids. Not only are they fun and interactive, but both Spanish and English are used correctly. That might sound ridiculous, but you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that's out there!

I've been raising bilingual kids for over six years and I've been researching and writing about it for almost four and yet, I'm still very surprised when I hear people say that bilingualism causes confusion. I've found this is a particular concern of new parents who've been thinking about adding a second language, but are worried that their kids will get confused. Truth is this is just a myth. One that has been perpetuated through the years thanks to old and erroneous information about bilingualism.

Sadly some of those responsible for keeping this myth alive are unusual suspects like pediatricians, speech therapists and teachers—professionals we normally trust. 

Before my first child was born, I knew I'd be raising her bilingual. But I'd be lying if I said I knew there were actual methods with established names to do so. It wasn't until my daughter was about 2 years old and I started researching the topic for a blog that I discovered the way I was raising her to learn both English and Spanish had a name: the mL@H method.

The initials stand for "minority language at home" and, basically, it means just what it says. You speak Spanish (or whatever other second language you've chosen for your kids) when you're with them and they learn the dominant language--in our case English--elsewhere, usually in school.