Supporting Language Development in Multilingual Settings: Part 3
Action Steps for Parents Just as there is not one “correct” way to raise children, there is also no one “correct” way to introduce and nurture the learning of multiple languages for children. Each family has its own language circumstance, needs and priorities that must be taken into account. However, although there is no one size fits all approach to language learning, there are several guidelines and recommendations based on research and experience that can be taken into consideration when...
Read MoreSupporting Language Development in Multilingual Settings: Part 2
Part 2: Common Questions Parents Ask Read Part 1 here What language should I use with my child? Research shows that children’s language development is enhanced when they are engaged in meaningful, rich, interactive conversations with people who listen to them and respond to their interests and questions. The more language children hear, the bigger their vocabulary will become. However, the quantity of words a child is exposed to is enhanced by the quality of the interactions and the language...
Read MoreSupporting Language Development in Multilingual Settings: Part 1
Part 1: Introduction In today’s globally transient world, many children are exposed to multiple languages from birth and parents may well wonder how best to support the language development of their children. Some families may be comprised of parents whose native languages are not the same. Mom may have been born and raised in France and although she speaks English, her “heart language” is French, while Dad speaks English exclusively. Other families find themselves living in places where the...
Read MoreMulticultural Birthday Celebrations
Birthdays are a time to celebrate another year of life on this planet. A time to look back, reflect, remember and to be amazed at the passage of time that has slipped by, practically unnoticed through the haze of the never-ending, mundane, day-to-day routines. In our family, a birthday is a day that belongs to the person whose day it is: the entire day exists to celebrate the birthday child! Birthdays hold great significance for us, but we realize that that not every family shares our...
Read MorePlaying With Knives: Fostering Autonomy in the Kitchen
“[A Pirahã child] was playing with a sharp kitchen knife, about nine inches in length. He was swinging the knife blade around him, often coming close to his eyes, his chest, his arm and other body parts, when he dropped the knife, his mother—talking to someone else—reached backward nonchalantly without interrupting her conversation, picked up the knife and handed it back to the toddler/” (Everett, 2008, p. 89) Anthropologists and ethnographers have long studied parent-child interactions and...
Read MoreOther Children’s School Lunches
Children need to eat and we, as the adults in their lives, are responsible for feeding them. I enjoy cooking and consider it to be a creative outlet for me, but if I’m honest with myself, making sure the kids have healthy lunches that they will want to eat is a challenge. Today, I’d like to share a special treat with my readers: an inside look at what other parents are making their children for lunch. I have the privilege of seeing the lunches of 20 children every day, children...
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