BETH BUTLER: THE PASSIONATE CREATOR OF
THE BOCA BETH PROGRAM
When
Beth Butler starts talking – in English or Spanish – about teaching kids a
new language, watch out. Her enthusiasm
is positively contagious! This delightful
bilingualteacher and mom has created
a system for teaching Spanish to English-
speaking little ones – and English to Spanish-speaking little ones – that
is succeeding in making bilingual education as parent-
friendly as pre-mixed formula and paper diapers.
Beth Butler
is the creator of the BOCA BETH Program - a bilingual educational program
geared towards helping young children
get a head start on becoming bilingual. She motivates and assists
educators in developing a bilingual environment for children,
and she has developed a program that makes bilingual education
a fun and easy part of the normal,
child-raising routine for
today’s parents.
Starting when
babies are born, and designed to work for
children through age eight, Beth Butler’s program provides the tools
and techniques to motivate and stimulate in a home atmosphere where
learning language is part of what makes life a joy for
everyone. Her DVDs/videos, music CDs, flashcards and
soon-to-be-releasedcomputer software engage every age child with
puppet fun, music, movement and creativity.
Having lived
in both Chile and Mexico, Beth has had Spanish as a second language for over
27 years. Beth Received an Honors
BA degree in elementary education from Stetson University in Florida.
She also spent over 12 years in the classroom, teaching
kindergarten through 4th grade. While setting up listening
centers in her classrooms, she started making her own audio-cassette
tapes to teach Spanish and English side-by-side to her students. Teacher
Beth noticed that the children in her classroom
responded wonderfully to this side-by-side instruction, which is more
formally known as the bilingual approach to language
development. She began to understand that she had stumbled upon
something truly extraordinary.
The daughter
of a restaurant owner, Beth logically became the general manager of a high
profile restaurant while she pursued
her teaching career. She maintained contact in preschools locally as
“Ms. Music”, going into local preschools and conducting
music and movement classes during the mornings and working in the
restaurant by night.
Ten-plus
years in the classroom gave her a wealth of added experience. Meanwhile, she
married and had her own children.
Living in Tampa, Florida, with her husband, Dennis, and three children,
Mitchell, Matt and Megan, Beth was profoundly affected
by the horrific events of September 11, 2001. She concluded that what
she really needed to do was to spend more time at home
with her family. This meant leaving a secure, high-paying job with a
nationally known restaurant group. But it also gave her a
chance to put into action with her own children the concept she had
pioneered during her Ms. Music classes. And thus the BOCA
BETH Program was born!
Now a
full-time work-at-home mom, Beth is enjoying the best of both worlds. She
was delighted to trade the long hours away
from home and family for her two greatest passions: — spending time with
her own children and developing the BOCA BETH
Program for bilingual education.
Over the last
six years, word of her program has spread. A vibrant and articulate
speaker, Beth Butler is frequently called upon
as a keynoter. She has addressed educational conferences including
Project Child Care, Manatee County, Florida; Pinellas Early
Childhood Association, Clearwater, Florida; and Florida Family Child Care
Home Association, Annual State Conference. She is a
also member of the National Association for the Education of Young
Children and local affiliates, Florida Family Child Care Home
Association and Florida Children's Forum, as well as a devoted advocate
for women who run businesses from home.
Beth’s little
puppet, Boca, is a frequent guest of honor in many a classroom. “It’s hard
for me to turn down an invitation,”
she says. “No matter how often I do it, I still get an incredible thrill
out of watching little children respond to Boca and start
learning new words in a new language without even realizing they’re doing
it. The learning capacity of small children cannot
be overestimated,” she said. “And I have to believe that raising the
next generation bilingually can only contribute positively
to creating a better world, a world where communication between peoples
and compassion for other cultures can thrive.”
