Reading bilingual books with bilingual children can be a wonderful way to help expand comprehension and vocabulary in more than one language. As you read in Dual Language Books Benefit Bilingual Children, children who can read the same story in more than one language reap many benefits. For example, they can transfer their comprehension and vocabulary of a story read in a stronger language to comprehension and vocabulary in a............. CONTINUE READING
LANGUAGE & LITERACY BLOG
July 20, 2011
We’d like to share with you a great opportunity to support early childhood literacy and language development to children in need with bilingual books and educational supplies!
Our friends at Give and Surf Inc. are starting a preschool for ages 3-5 in Bocas del Toro, Panama. The preschool will be educating children from the indigenous Ngobe villages of this underserved area. Their preschool will be the first of its kind in the area.
We all know the importance of early reading for children,............. CONTINUE READING
Whether bilingual children speak both of their languages well or are in the process of learning a second language, summer foreign language programs can be a great way to help them become more comfortable in their languages. Without the need to focus on daily schoolwork, summer provides a wonderful opportunity for bilingual children to experience a daily language bath without the pressure of assessment.
The key is to find a program that works well for your child. The first step is to............. CONTINUE READING
Bilinguals around the world will tell you that they do not have the same degree of fluency in all of their languages. A language that is used primarily in academic situations may come across as stiff and stilted when used in less formal situations. Family issues are often more easily discussed in a home language. Depending on where we live when our first child is born, we may only know the vocabulary for baby items in one language and find the............. CONTINUE READING
June 28, 2011
Summer is such a wonderful time for children: playing with neighbors in the sprinkler, splashing with friends at the local pool, eating popsicles on the back porch. Summertime freedom is expansive and overwhelming.
The downside of summer for many teachers, especially those teaching English Language Learners (ELLs), is that they often worry that all of the hard work that their students put in during the school year will decline during the summer months. Without daily input of spoken and written language, a............. CONTINUE READING
May 16, 2011
Research continues to show that support for the home language is an essential element in supporting children’s academic skills. Parents who engage with their children in their home language through discussion, reading books out loud and in everyday activities help children to do better in school, even if the school language is different from the home language. This is in contrast to research many decades ago that encouraged parents to speak the community language at home with their............. CONTINUE READING
May 15, 2011
By guest author: Heather Leaman
Elementary schools in the United States typically use the expanding environments approach to teach social studies in grades K-5. Under this curriculum plan, children learn about self and family in Kindergarten and first grade. In second and third grade, children learn about neighborhood and community. As they progress through the upper elementary grades, children expand their understanding of the world by learning about states and the nation.
During the past decade, the National Council for Social Studies has............. CONTINUE READING
Not Again, Red Riding Hood!
Written by Kate Clynes
Illustrated by Louise Daykin
Ages 3-8
Review by Maureen Pugh
Not Again, Red Riding Hood! is a whimsical and entertaining book. The tale begins after Red Riding Hood’s “terrible ordeal with the wolf” and follows her on a new adventure.
When her mother asks her to bring some cookies to her father, who is working in the woods, Red Riding Hood agrees to go, despite her nervousness. As she makes her way to her father, she encounters............. CONTINUE READING
By guest author: Heather Leaman
Schools and families have acknowledged the importance of extending children’s learning beyond an understanding of our country to include an understanding of the world. While social studies is an ideal school subject to help children understand the world around them, many schools have significantly reduced their social studies instruction due in part to the influence of No Child Left Behind.
However, reducing class time for social studies instruction does not mean that teachers must eliminate instruction about our world............. CONTINUE READING
Deepak’s Diwali
Written by Divya Karwal
Illustrated by Doreen Lang
Paperback
Ages 3-8
Review by Maureen Pugh
Diwali, also called Deepavali or Divali, is a festival that is significant in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is known as the “Festival of Lights,” and celebrates the victory of good over evil.
In Deepak’s Diwali, it is the eve of Diwali, and Deepak’s grandmother tells him the story of the demon king Ravana who steals the god Rama’s wife, Sita. Deepak spends the first half of the story worried............. CONTINUE READING