First, know that the amount of words spoken to your child in the first three years of life is so important. Researchers, Hart and Risley found that the number of words a child hears in the first three years of life was a better predictor for the size of the child’s vocabulary at age 11 than any other factor that was studied including the parents’ IQs, the family’s socioeconomic status, or the school that the child attended. The more words your child hears in the first three years, the more likely your child will have a larger vocabulary later in childhood.
There are many things you can do to help your baby learn language skills. What is so important is the quality of verbal interactions. Parents and others should be talking and interacting with their babies as much as they can.
How do you start? -by talking to your newborn baby in a loving and joyful manner. Also keep in mind, to change the way you talk to your baby as your baby acquires language skills.
These are only a few tips to help your baby learn to speak the spoken language. I'll be adding more tips on this topic, so keep an eye out for more...
]]>Read about my experience with language at an early age and what we passed on to our children...
]]>I was born in the Philippines. My parents spoke Tagalog (the main dialect in the Philippines) to me as an infant, up until the time we moved to the United States at 1 year and 11 months. They spoke to me in English thereafter, without ever being encouraged to learn Tagalog again. When I was older, maybe around high school, I asked my parents why they never taught us Tagalog and they explained that they thought my sister (who was younger than me) and I would have a greater chance of achieving success in the “New World” if we only spoke English. As a young girl, even growing up in New York City, I felt different, as if I didn’t quite belong. I saw myself as different from other children because of my skin color and the way I looked. I’m not sure why I felt so different since New York City is the melting pot of cultures and languages, but I realized at a very young age that I was different. At that time my thoughts were far from learning my native language. After a few years in NYC my family moved to upstate New York to a predominantly Caucasian community, where I felt even more alienated and just wanted to “fit in.” It wasn’t until my second year in college, that I embraced who I was and asked my parents why they never taught us our native language.
And so, with that not so brief introduction, here I am a few decades later, still yearning to learn my native tongue. Luckily, for myself, I recall bits and pieces of the language which I pass on to my boys now; the bits and pieces, that is. Additionally, when my first son was a toddler, he embraced learning in every way. We took advantage of the free language programs on Comcast including sign language. He loved learning French, German, Spanish, Mandarin and sign. Later, we thought that if we were to help our son be successful in the future, why not teach him the language of the majority population in the world...Mandarin. Actually, one of the TA’s in his pre-school would teach him words he and there. She told us about the Newton Chinese School. We enrolled him in the kindergarten Mandarin writing and reading class when he was in Pre-K and we both continued to learn for the next 4 years. It’s never too early to learn a language and it’s a lot of fun; not to mention, it also promotes healthy development.
Not only is learning a foreign language easier for children than it is for adults, but children who are exposed to other languages also do better in school, score higher on standardized tests, are better problem solvers and are more open to diversity, says François Thibaut, as well as other researchers.
Dr. Titzer, PhD, infant researcher, says that in many areas of the world, infants learn two languages and in some areas of the world learning at least 3 languages is common.
Dr. Erika Hoff, PhD says that the acquisition of language is one of the more remarkable achievements of early childhood and that by age 5, children essentially master the sound system and grammar of their language and acquire a vocabulary of thousands of words.
Not only do the cognitive benefits of learning a language have a direct impact on a child’s academic achievement compared to those without an additional language, but it also nurtures their curiosity, cultural sensitivity, empathy and tolerance for other cultures.
Young children are not confused by the introduction of multiple languages at the same time, as the popular belief may be. They are able to naturally navigate multilingual environments. Acquiring a second language early in life actually prepares the brain to learn multiple other languages.
Cognitive benefits of being bilingual:
Because I was also learning Mandarin, I wanted to get as many resource books and tools to help us learn. I must have spent hundreds of dollars on books and DVD’s. I downloaded several apps as well that were never really that great. Had I known about Your Baby Can Learn! Language programs, I would have purchased them right away. What I like about this program is that it’s not only books and DVD’s, but it’s a whole kit with an assortment of tools including sliding picture cards and word cards, milestone cards and Audio of native Mandarin Chinese speakers reading the books and word cards + Digital parent guide Dr. Titzer's Guide to Early Learning in English and Chinese. I would highly recommend any of Your Baby Can Learn! Language programs, to parents considering teaching their young babies and children other languages.
So, in creating this website, my husband came across a bunch of very interesting and fun sites promoting learning and enriching opportunities for kids and parents. One site in particular, was a site called Brain Building in Progress. This site was launched in 2010, which I found amazing because I had no idea it even existed. I'm wondering how many parents who stumble across this site are thinking the same thing. This is what we are talking about here. As we do our research and learn about new opportunities and events and products, we're thinking,"We have to share this!" This website is amazing, www.brainbuidlinginprogress.org, and chock full of child-friendly goodness :)
Brain Building in Progress was launched as a joint initiative of the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. It is a statewide campaign in Massachusetts to raise public awareness and involvement in young children's healthy development and early learning. The content is based on current science and research on early childhood development. Their mission is to raise awareness of the crucial importance of fostering the cognitive, social and emotional development of young children by emphasizing its future impact on the economic prosperity of everyone in Massachusetts. We could not agree more with this mission! I/we encourage you to take a look at this site and take advantage of what it has to offer!! I think we're so lucky here in Massachusetts to have campaigns for our kids, our future, such as this.
(From 2017 Blog Post) by Mary Jane Estrada-Lyder
I take every opportunity to make learning fun. Make it a game.
Finding time to teach your child. It’s not really a matter of having to find the time to teach your child, because really you can teach your child at any moment. There is always a teaching moment. The key is taking advantage of every moment as a teaching moment. So, in the car on the way to school, prime example, my husband and I take advantage of this time. We share a car so we are all together in the mornings. This is a great time to go over counting and saying the alphabet with our 3 y/o while Jonathan reads a library book or his big book on animals (he takes in animal facts like a sponge). Or I will ask Jonathan questions in Mandarin for him to answer in mandarin. We practice our conversations in the car. If you are fortunate enough to have an I-pad, there is a wealth of free apps specifically age-appropriate for my pre-schooler and my kindergarten/first grade-level son.
There is a teaching moment while waiting in the grocery line. You can talk about the facts of healthy foods and have them repeat them back to you. My kids can tell you a thing about eating meat for protein, calcium for strong bones and teeth, etc. Or count numbers, do the alphabet. Play I spy.
But if you find it as difficult as I do to find time to teach your child, we find that the time in the car before getting to school and the time in the car going home is as good a time as any; especially since my work schedule is 8:00a-5:00p. So what that means is that I have to make sure I leave my house at the very least 45 minutes before 8:00 so I have time to drop my kids off at daycare and account for traffic. Once in the car, I ask my kids questions, sometimes in Mandarin and/or my oldest teaches my younger son to count. Can I say it again? Morning is a good time to learn. Then I pick them up after work, so that is anywhere between 5:15 and 6:00 pm. Again, same teaching opportunity going home, but now we also have a chance to discuss what they learned at school today. I am glad that I am able to have conversations with my children. My parents never had conversations with me when I was a child growing up. They blamed that on their culture and upbringing, which I totally get. From the stories I’ve heard of my parents growing up in the Philippines, family conversations did not happen. Hard work was expected. Respect was expected. I feel bad that my Lolas (grandmothers) and Lolos (grandfathers) never talked with my parents as children. I won’t let that happen with my children. I have spoken with other friends of other cultures whose parents were the same; and with those differences also came strictness, a topic for another discussion.
So back to the art of conversation (digressing actually, from the initial topic of learning at any time, but just as interesting. I find that it is so important just to be able to engage your child in conversation. I was such a shy child. I think mostly because I never knew what to say. Even at the dinner table....quiet. A few words here and there, but I do not remember any long and interesting discussions with the family during dinner. My children, you get them in front of a stranger, they will tell you about their favorite superhero, what they did 2 minutes ago and what is going on at the present moment, all under 1 minute. And I say stranger, but my children know very well, not to speak to strangers, of course, unless I am with them, then they are to be very polite, saying “please” and “thank you” and “have a good night.” I often think of them in the future, and because of our conversations, they will be able to hold their own very well. I am confident that they will be good conversationalists which will open doors to great opportunities.
]]>