OXNARD : Parents Take English Classes to Help Kids

With a child on one arm and another clinging to her pants, Lidia Araoz of Oxnard tried to repeat the words as the teacher instructed.

“Every day, every week, every month,” Araoz intoned. But then she was interrupted by her 2-year-old son, who wanted to show her something outside.

Araoz, 41, is one of 60 adults taking English language classes at Oxnard’s Driffill School so that they can help their children.

“As a mother of English-speaking children, I need to know the language, too,” Araoz said. “If I don’t, I lose part of my authority as a parent and I won’t be able to feel comfortable with my own children.”

Like other mothers in the group, Araoz came to the United States years ago and has kept Spanish as the primary language spoken at home. But when her oldest son began school in Oxnard, Araoz realized that the family also needed to speak English.

“I need to help my children with their homework and help them to function at school,” she said. “If I don’t speak the language, I’m limited at what I can do for them.”

The program began in September after several parents expressed a willingness to learn English but were unable to attend the evening classes offered by some schools, said Martha Flournoy, who helped develop the program.

So three times a week, while their older children attend school, the group of mostly mothers also hits the classroom, taking their younger children with them.

During the three-hour class, they learn to write, read and speak English as their toddlers play with each other and the toys nearby. Older students who are off school sometimes baby-sit.

“I can’t go to classes in the evenings because that’s when my children and my husband are home,” said Isabel Chavez, mother of two. “This is a great opportunity for me to learn, and it’s also a convenient time.

But mothers are not the only ones taking advantage of the class.

Retiree Gregorio Figueroa, 66, is one of the few men attending the class.

“I never had the time to learn English. I was always either working or taking care of my family,” Figueroa said. “Now that my children are on their own, I’m taking time to do the things I always wanted to do.”