Three Vallejo moms educate Filipino kids nationwide

VALLEJO — A Filipino educational effort started by three Vallejo mothers in 2020 has grown into an international parenting collective which organizes reading groups throughout the U.S. and Canada, distributes Filipino-centered books and connects schools and families with cultural resources.

The three founders of Kababayan Kids – Charlene Argate, Christine Lucero and Bien-Elize Roque-Nido – wanted to share their Filipino heritage with their children, but they couldn’t find any resources. “There was no Filipino programming in a city that has such a rich history of Filipinos,” Roque-Nido said, “so we said, ‘I guess we have to start it.’”

They all met as undergraduate students at UC San Diego, when they joined a student organization called Kaibigang Pilipino (Filipino Friends). After graduation, coincidentally, the three moved back to Vallejo, where their families resided.

In March 2020 they founded Kababayan Kids and programmed their first activity: a story time at the John F. Kennedy Library in downtown Vallejo. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the library closed and they had to cancel the event.

Undeterred, they launched their offerings online, starting in the summer of 2020 with a virtual story time every third Saturday of the month. They promoted it on social media and it quickly took off.

“It wasn’t just a story and then you’re done,” Argate said. “We taught how to introduce yourself in Tagalog; the kids learned common phrases like ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon.’ We sang a song together in Tagalog and English. Then we’d read a book and sometimes the author would join us. And then we’d do a craft.”

Kids joined from all over the Midwest, Vermont, New York, California, and even internationally. Once the world reopened, the events went back to local libraries because they were competing with outdoor activities like sports or family outings and online attendance decreased.

Kababayan Kids presents their story times on Saturday mornings in libraries all over California, with an emphasis in Solano County. Most of the kids attending are Filipino, but the events are open to the general public. “We get maybe 20% of kids that are not Filipino, and that’s awesome,” Roque-Nido said.

They also sell books on their website that include Filipino characters, stories and language. There are many more books available now than five years ago, when the business launched, and Filipino authors contact the founders directly when they publish something new. Roque-Nido herself just published a book of Tagalog activities for kids with more than 80 games to learn Tagalog while having fun.

Parents and schools can also find other resources on the website or by contacting the founders, including worksheets, lesson plans, slideshows, videos, and songs.

“There are parents in our generation who want to teach their kids more about Filipino culture, history, and language, but they are not sure how to do it,” Argate said. “We help them do that. If you want to make that Filipino lantern that we hang on the window at Christmas (the parol), we’ll give you the supplies and teach you how to make it.”

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Month and October is Filipino History Month, so that’s when they get most teachers' and parents’ requests. “They’ll ask, “How do I teach this?” or ‘How do I present this in my kids’ class?’ And we’ll prepare a coloring sheet or an activity sheet,” Argate said.

It helps that both Lucero and Roque-Nido have a background in education. Lucero, a former elementary school principal and high school history teacher, now works in Vallejo’s district office while Roque-Nido is an assistant principal at Caliber Changemakers Academy. Argate is a lawyer.

The three dynamic founders also bring activities for kids to many festivals, such as Filipino arts and crafts, singing, dancing and cooking. This year they will participate for the third time in the Vallejo Pista Sa Nayon Festival which will take place Saturday June 7 on Mare Island.

“We wondered, what is a six-year-old going to do all day at the festival? So we thought of activities for them,” Argate said. Kids will be able to color, read, find vendors that cater specifically to children and learn dances with local Filipino high schoolers.

According to the three founders, Kababayan Kids was set up as a small business because it was the fastest way to get it going, but it operates more like a nonprofit. They get a small stipend from libraries when they do story time and a percentage of book sales, but the proceeds only cover the supplies used in all their activities.

One of the most exciting new developments is that for the first time ever they will offer a Filipino summer camp in collaboration with the Greater Vallejo Recreation District. The camp will take place June 30 through July 3 at the Foley Cultural Center. 

“I think this is going to be a new staple for us. We already have a lot of parents asking us if we will do it in their cities,” Roque-Nido said. “Yeah, we need to clone ourselves,” she added with a laugh.

These three moms started with a simple vision board and a few books, but have now grown to over 3,200 followers on Instagram and have accrued a loyal group of parents and kids that attend many of their activities. Not an easy feat when Argate, Lucero and Roque-Nido work full time and are raising young kids.

“We had these wildly important dreams about connecting our children and ourselves to our culture,” Lucero said, “and I think one of the greatest successes of Kababayan Kids is that it has brought a community of kids, parents, and grandparents together in Vallejo, across the Bay and even nationwide.”

Lucero and Argate both said that they tend to downplay what they do, but they have realized that it’s important. A Ph.D. student in Vermont chose Kababayan Kids as a case study for her dissertation about alternative learning spaces. And they were recently asked to speak at a conference of the Asian American Psychological Association, Division of Filipinx Americans at UC Davis.

“We don’t realize our impact. We just saw that there was a need, so we said, ‘Let’s do this work.’ But there is a ripple effect, and it’s impacting in ways that we probably don’t even realize,” Argate said.

Last year the three moms were able to take their kids to visit the Philippines and saw the fruits of their labor up close. “For them to see all the things we talk about in story time, and say, ‘Oh, that’s a Jeepney’ (a public transportation vehicle) or say ‘Maganda po” (beautiful), it was full circle,” Roque-Nido said. “What we’re doing matters. Seeing the kids excited about being Filipino, that’s the goal.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Kababayan Kids' history at the Pista Sa Nayon Festival and the conference organizer at UC Davis.