Michele Montierro - Fil Am Learners

Michele Montierro began blogging her homeschool journey in summer 2016 when she decided to put together supplementary Tagalog home school curriculum for her children. She soon created and incorporated Tagalog lessons and activities, shared them on her blog and soon started Fil Am Learners. “A Taglish discovery of our cultural roots”, FIl Am learners creates digital activities and curates physical products to encourage use and learning of the Tagalog language. Digital activities and printables include children’s songs, Tagalog phrases, Filipino alphabet, and family. There are also Filipino children’s book activities and author interviews, and seasonal posts. Michele has worked with Julie Cruz of FilAm Fam to create Lil’ Balikbayan as a Filipino Cultural Exploration box series and Joy Francisco of Little Yellow Jeepney to launch “Bulilit: Tagalog Exploration Through Literacy & Play.” There is more coming in October for Filipino American History Month! Michelle believes, “it is important to share and pass down the Tagalog language (as well as other Filipino languages) to the next generation because many of us have lost or are losing touch with the languages of our ancestors. It is my hope that one day our children will continue to share pieces of Filipino culture and language to their children, and that it carries on from there.”

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When did you start Fil-Am Learners and what is the inspiration behind it?
During the summer of 2016, I started blogging as a hobby, reviewing home school curriculum and resources. As we were entering our 2nd year of homeschooling at the time, I wanted to incorporate more Filipino language and culture into our lesson units. I began searching for Tagalog curriculum that was targeted specifically for children, but found very little at the time. I took the initiative and started creating materials and lesson printables for my own children. ] Although Tagalog is not our first language, this process was a way for me to review and strengthen the language I learned growing up from my Lola and parents.

As I created several Taglish (Tagalog/English) lesson activities for my kids, it dawned on me that I could use my blog platform to share them with other families, who may also be in search of Tagalog activities, and so I refocused my blog and Fil-Am Learners was born in November 2016.

How important is the sharing and passing down of the Tagalog language to the next generation?
I believe it is important to share and pass down the Tagalog language (as well as other Filipino languages) to the next generation because many of us have lost or are losing touch with the languages of our ancestors. It is my hope that one day our children will continue to share pieces of Filipino culture and language to their children, and that it carries on from there.

How did you choose the educational concepts, activities, activities, and themes for learning?
I choose activities and themes that my kids are learning about, that are relevant to them and their surroundings, and that we feel others may be interested in learning as well. We also like incorporating songs and play in our themes.

What are some of your popular activities and lessons?
Some of our popular activities/lessons include:
- The Abakada booklet & song activity
- Colors Activity (Unit activities & Playdough Mat)
- Body Parts Tagalog Memory Game
- Tagalog Numbers mini booklet
- Pandesal Saves the Day Lesson Unit
- Philippine flag craft

Do you have more themes and subjects in the works?
Yes. We are working on releasing more Fil-Am Learners themes and activities. I hope to include more themes that are interactive, can incorporate play, and that can also engage both parents and children to learn together.

What has been the response by the Fil Am community?
We so far have received positive feedback and gratitude from the Fil-Am community. People have been very supportive and expressed their appreciation for the lesson activities and resources that we share. I have also noticed a growth in the community of other fellow Fil-Ams and Filipinos sharing their skills and passions with others to educate each other about cultural aspects including language, history, customs, music, dance and food. It is incredible to see the passion and preservation of culture among the community.

Do you create all the illustrations and graphics?
The 3 children (my kids) that are a part of the Fil-Am Learners logo was hand-drawn by me. Otherwise, for the rest of our activities, we use clipart and also Canva to create our printables. My kids have grown up seeing me create, and have also learned alongside me. They too have become a part of the “design team” as my junior designers, and I not only run by my ideas with them to get their feedback, but they have also had a major hand in developing activities and designs.

Side note: My kids are an integral part of the Fil-Am Learners team, most importantly as the reason and inspiration behind Fil-Am Learners, then also with the following roles as cheerleaders, as activity testers, as spokespeople/models, the planning team, fulfillment, and as part of the junior designer team (as we call them).

Can you share more about Lil' Balikbayan, your collaboration with Julie of Fil Am Fam?
Julie and I created Lil’ Balikbayan in May 2020. The collaboration seemed to be the perfect timing for us, as we both shared a vision and mission of providing educational and cultural experiences for children. With the pandemic, we were led to creating Lil’ Balikbayan as a Filipino Cultural Exploration box series that could be delivered straight to family’s homes and that they can experience together. We plan themes that will help children of Filipino heritage to dig deeper into their cultural roots. We have launched 4 themes so far including The Birthday Box: Pancit + Pabitin Party, The Philippines Delivered: A Multi-sensory Experience & National Tribute, Craft & Snack: A Trip to the Sari-Sari Store, and Paint & Bake: Paint Your Pandesal, & Eat it Too!

Aside from the Filipino cultural exploration boxes, we also collaborated with many talented artists over the summer to put together “Colors of Us: A Coloring Book Inspiring Unity In Diversity.” The mission behind this project was to encourage multiculturalism and an appreciation for diversity, and we also would donate all of the proceeds to 3 amazing organizations: Embrace Race, The Loveland Foundation, and Project Katutubong Pilipino.

We are grateful for the positive response from the community so far and look forward to sharing more products in the near future.

What are some Filipino and Filipino American children's books you recommend?
It is so wonderful that the list of Filipino/Filipino American children’s books has been increasing since we first started our homeschool journey. Years ago, I barely found any books available here in the U.S., and in the past couple of years the list seems to be growing and growing! There are many to list, but here are some of our family favorites:
• Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant,
• The Opposite Day (Araw ng Kabaligtaran) written & illustrated by Jomike Tejido
• Jack & Agyu by Justine Villanueva and illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao.
• From Manila with Love by Amy Luna Capelle, illustrated by Auri Asuncion Yambao
• Rom-Rom & Lola by Rowena Similar, illustrated by Jhucel del Rosario
• Filipino children’s book series written by Joy Francisco, illustrated by Jamie Ortiz (titles include: Abakada, Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo ... Ito ay Obalo!, Oh My Kulay!, and Pamilya Ko)
• Francesca: Isa, Dalawa, Sorpresa by Cel Tria, illustrated by Gel Relova
• Keyk Paakyat ng Langit (A Cake Reaching to the Sky) by Norico Chua, illustrated by Rebecca T. Añonuevo

Do you have any upcoming designs, projects, collaborations that you are excited about?
In August, I collaborated with Joy Francisco of Little Yellow Jeepney to launch “Bulilit: Tagalog Exploration Through Literacy & Play.” Our vision for the Bulilit Kits is to promote early literacy, to introduce basic Tagalog through reading and through hands-on activities. We put together our first Bulilit Kit theme: Shapes & Numbers. We plan to create more Bulilit Kit themes in the near future that will introduce concepts from Joy’s book series. So stay tuned for our next release!

For Lil’ Balikbayan, Julie and I have several projects lined up, especially as we approach Filipino American History Month in October as well as for the holiday
season coming up. We will share more soon as we finalize more details, but we are excited for what’s to come!

Photos courtesy of Michele Montierro