You searched for: OPOL WEEK

The research I've read - and there isn't a lot out there - talks mostly about families using the OPOL method and it suggests that parents tend to be less strict about using the method once a sibling is born. Since this is not our case, I don't really know what happens in families using the mL@H method. I mean, we pretend to continue doing the same thing we've been doing all along, mostly because as I've explained in the past, it's what comes naturally to us. In terms of what happened at this weekend's party, I had actually expected Vanessa to use mostly English. But I was happily surprised, again! She actually did her own share of code-switching between English and Spanish and for no apparent reason. I wonder i ...

A day summer camp is exactly what the name implies. Your child attends camp daily for however many weeks you're interested in (or you can afford.) Obviously, the longer your child attends, the better the end result. As far as I understand, the daily curriculum is taught in the target language, which depending on the program you choose, can range from Spanish to Arabic. Normally, age requirements are a bit more lax in this type of setting. At the one I've been looking into for Vanessa - the Denver Montclair International School - for example, they accept kids as young as three. By the way, their Spanish program is so popular, it's pretty much sold out for the entire summer! "Day camps work really well for really young kids," says Carl-Martin Nelson, the director of communications at Concordia Language Villages in Minnesota. "We find that half the time it's the parents who are not ready for regular summer camps and the other half it's the children" ...

Last week we introduced you to bilingual English/Spanish speech language professional, Ellen Stubbe Kester, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, who debunked three common myths about speech development in bilingual children.  Now, we are excited to announce that Dr. Kester has joined the impressive panel of bilingual experts that collaborate in our weekly series-Ask an Expert. We invite you to visit Dr. Kester’s website, Bilinguistics, to learn more about her and her team. They are “dedicated to enhancing speech and language services for Spanish-EnglishRead More ...

We hope you all had a fun and relaxing Easter weekend. Camila got a hold of one too many M&M’s and now we know what a sugar-rush looks and sounds like! Nada divertido. Now back to business. Today, like every Monday, we invite an expert in bilingual issues to answer one of your questions. If you’ve never left one, go ahead and do it now by clicking here If you’d like to catch up on the advice our panel ofRead More ...

Monday is our favorite day of the week because, through our panel of amazing experts, we get to answer a reader’s question, as part of our weekly series: Ask an Expert . If you’ve missed previous entries, no worries, you can catch up on all their useful advice by clicking here. Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph.D., author of the resourceful book Raising a Bilingual Child, is back to answer this week’s question. ...

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to the winners:  Laureen & Middy06.  Thanks to all who entered. Today’s video of the week is an animated version of the popular song “Un elefante se balanceaba”.  This is one song I can bet we’ve all sang to our chiquitos several times. This version is simply titled  “Los Elefantes” and is part of the Habla blah blah Volume Dos CD. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXN0pLsUdbA What is Habla Blah Blah? Habla blah blah music and classes areRead More ...

One of the biggest challenges we face in our bilingual journey is being consistent and finding ways to nurture the minority language outside the home. No matter which method your family chooses to use–OPOL (One Parent, One Language) or mL@H (Minority Language at Home)–it’s important to have resources and strategies to immerse your child in the second language in fun and playful ways. ...