Last week, I posted a question to our Facebook page asking parents who use the mL@H method to raise their children bilingual to share some of the difficulties they’ve encountered with it. I wanted to write a post around those answers based on some of my own difficulties with the method. But then, one of the parents asked what mL@H stands for and I figured I needed to step back a bit.

Inadvertently, I assumed everyone who’s raising bilingual children knows what acronyms like mL@H, OPOL (one parent/one language) and T&P (time and place) stand for. Maybe it’s because we throw them around here all the time or because I’m so used to them ever since we started this journey nearly four years ago. But the truth is that it’s always good to go back to the basics.

If you’re new here, you might find this information useful. If you’re not, then maybe you can share your experiences using the particular method you use to raise your kids bilingual.

Minority Language at Home (mL@H)

It’s no secret that when I embarked in the journey of raising bilingual kids, I had no idea that the “method” I planned to use had a name. Making sure my children spoke both Spanish and English was not something I decided to do once I became a mom. No. For my husband and I, there was no other option but to raise our kids bilingual because we need to ensure they grow up speaking Spanish. Since Spanish is our first language, it seemed completely logical to us that we’d be speaking Spanish at home and we’d let them learn English in school.

In essence, that’s the definition of the mL@H method. Parents speak the minority language — the one that the community at large doesn’t speak — at home while their kids learn the majority language (in our case English) elsewhere, usually in school. The interesting thing about this method is that although it says that we use the minority language at home, the reality is that we actually use it everywhere whenever we are with our kids. In other words, it’s really has nothing to do with the place where you use the minority language.

Another amusing observation, at least in my case, is that because my kids spent the first three years of their lives strictly at home — as opposed to at a daycare setting — Spanish was actually their majority language until they were introduced to English in preschool.

Read: 3 Methods to Raise Bilingual Children

Either way, the mL@H method has worked extremely well for my family… so far. At 6 years old, Vanessa is bilingual and is doing great in her non-bilingual school. She has no problems going from one language to the other, but it seems to me like she has a preference for Spanish. At 3 years old, Santiago is just starting his bilingual journey and I see him following his sister’s progress.

It’s important to point out that neither you nor your partner have to be native speakers of the minority language you’ll be using to raise your children bilingual. In other words, as long as you are both fluent in the minority language – which in this country is anything other than English – this method will work for you.

Now that I’ve explained what the mL@H method is, soon I’ll be sharing some of the disadvantages or difficulties I’ve encountered with it. Can you share some of yours?

I love having a child who’s a perfect example of how well the Minority Language at Home method (or mL@H) really works. If you’ve been following SpanglishBaby for a while, you know that, at this point, my daughter Vanessa, who’s almost 6-years-old, is fully bilingual and biliterate. Although the days of me worrying that Vanessa wouldn’t get enough exposure to English because we’ve only spoken to her in Spanish since the day she was born are long gone, the funny thing is that I’ve barely ever heard her speak English… until this weekend.

I mean, I’ve obviously heard her read and say a few words and phrases in English here and there because, even though some people find it hard to believe, we really ONLY speak Spanish at home. Therefore, I’ve never really been around her as she goes about her life in English. But this weekend, we had a long-time friend come visit us from Miami with her 4 1/2-year-old son whom Vanessa met when he was a baby. Although they didn’t really know each other, they became inseparable little friends almost instantly.

While Vanessa’s little friend understood everything that was said to him in Spanish, he only spoke English and so Vanessa knew to switch languages instantly. Since they were staying with us, I got to see and hear Vanessa interact in English more than I ever had. It’s not like I had any doubts about her abilities, but I have to say I was pretty amazed by how truly fully bilingual my daughter is. I know that might sound kind of weird, but I’d never had an opportunity to hear communicate in English for such extended periods of time. I felt like I was eavesdropping, but for a good cause!

In any event, I only wanted to share this with you because I know that using the mL@H method can be kind of disconcerting — especially at the beginning. I know I’m not the only mom who worried about the amount of exposure to the majority language our children get at the very beginning, particularly if they’re mostly staying at home. In other words, for Vanessa’s first two years of life she really mostly heard Spanish pretty much all day long since I was home with her so her exposure to English was minimal. And yet, both her languages are now flawless and, while I’m obviously biased, she seems to speak both like a native.

Do you have any of your own stories that prove the mL@H method really works? Please share with us.

I have a bright 7 year old son. I’ve spoken to him since infancy in Spanish (OPOL). He used to speak only in Spanish to me, but now speaks and responds in English 90% of the time (this began in Kindergarten).

He is really quite bright and just started 3rd grade (he skipped 1st). He has a hunger to learn and to communicate. And the things he wants to talk about are getting more complex than my Spanish can handle! When he was under age 5, short simple phrases were fine, the topics were nature and home and love and names of things, and my Spanish was perfectly sufficient. Now, I need to use nuance and lots of vocab about castles, historical periods, math, conservation of endangered animals, orchestra and music terms, the subjects go one and on! I can speak in a basic way in Spanish but to get into great detail I need to mix in English. I hate it.

As an OPOL parent, what do I do when the minority language is getting more difficult for me as my son’s education advances? I feel that sticking to Spanish that lacks the depth and vocab of English prevents me from properly educating him about so many things that are important now that he’s older! He wants me to teach him about so many things, but I am missing the fluidity in Spanish. My responses to him are a bit choppy and less colorful while he goes on and on expressive, descriptive English!

Do I need to transition to another method? And how do I explain it to him?

Carla

Dear Carla,

I think it would be a shame if you stopped speaking Spanish with your son and threw away what you have been building for the past seven years. It appears that his current preference for and proficiency in English has already made him a passive bilingual (he can understand Spanish but really has difficulty or no motivation to speak it). So, at this point, if you give up Spanish, his odds of becoming a productive bilingual will really be low. Is this what you want?

I understand that he is a very bright child whose command of English might be beyond most average children. If this is the case, why don’t you exploit his talent and ‘his hunger to communicate’ to make him fluent in Spanish? Let school, books, and the environment teach him everything he wants to know about castles, historical periods, and music terms (living in the US will easily provide these opportunities). But let him further develop his cognitive skills by learning to speak another language. In fact, while the majority of monolingual children will eventually learn the vocabulary associated with all the ‘complex’ topics you mention, very few might be fortunate to learn another language in childhood.

So my suggestion is that not only you continue to provide Spanish input to your child but that you encourage him and socialize him into speaking only Spanish with you. Challenge him to use Spanish-only sentences (no mixing to English!) and to learn even simple words that he might have forgotten or never have learned. Introduce him to the complexities of Spanish literacy and challenge him to become not only bilingual but also bi-literate (even if his Spanish skills will not be as high as in English). At the same time, work on improving your Spanish skills by taking an advanced Spanish course, and use books and media to teach yourself and your child vocabulary in a wide range of topics. This is no easy feat as you will need to put in a lot of time, effort and motivation. But if you succeed, you will not only have a quite common child with a single, well-developed language but a special child who can navigate between languages and cultures and who possesses all the skills necessary to live in the 21^st century.

Simona Montanari, Ph.D.- – Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University in Los Angeles. She is the department’s expert in early multilingual development and has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Southern California. Simona is Italian and she’s also a mommy to trilingual daughters aged 3 and 4 1/2. In addition, she conducts a workshop titled: “How to Raise a Bilingual Child” in the LA area. You can read her answers here.

This post was originally published on February 18, 2009.

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.

I know, for a fact, that my daughter, Camila, is learning words much faster from her little friends at daycare than she is at home, even though she only spends two days a week with them. We also have an English-speaking playgroup we meet with every week and other activities in which she actively takes part in. Most of them in English. I know, my bad.

Make the Second Language Cool

Why is it “my bad?¨ Well, because I know, from all the reading and research I’ve done on the topic of raising bilingual kids, that one of the most important ways to enforce language learning is for your kids to engage in activities with other children in the language you want to promote. In our case, that would be Spanish. Simply put, my daughter needs to feel that Spanish is cool (yep, even at 18-months she can figure out what’s “cool” for her) and widely accepted by participating in situations where she can easily express herself while also having a blast. After all, children learn best through play–especially with other children. Parents, and “their” language, soon enough become “not cool.”

So, how to do it? What are some of those outside-the-home, cool activities in which children can engage in to stimulate language learning? Here’s our list:

1. Playgoups, Playgroups, Playgroups!

Perhaps the most important and enriching activity for both child and parent is a playgroup in the second language. Why? Because it exposes your kids to others his same age speaking his same language and gives you a chance to meet parents going through the same things you are. Plus, it’s free! Preferably, try to find a group which will commit to speaking only Spanish, or whichever language might be your case, around the kids. A good idea is to structure the playgroup to include music or storytelling in Spanish. Can’t find a playgroup in your area? Start one! You might be surprised at the response you’ll get. Very soon, Roxana will be writing about tips on how to start your own playgroup. She’ll interview a Denver mom who made it happen and now has over 40 members in her group.

2. Storytime in the Second Language

Recent research suggests that children learn more vocabulary when being read to than through normal conversation. Of course, you can read to them anytime, but you can also make it more special by incorporating it into their regular activities. Storytime allows them to interact with peers as well. Many local libraries and bookstores have storytime in Spanish, check with those in your area. If you can’t find one, call and suggest it. Libraries are always eager for volunteers, so why not volunteer to read a story to kids every other week or so? Major bookstores are also open to anything that will bring them traffic. I recently talked to the children’s section coordinator of a major bookstore chain about the possibility of starting a Spanish storytime with them and she loved the idea. Of course, I need to help spread the word and find a storyteller, but they will provide the venue, the books, art supplies for crafts and snacks.

3.  Structured Language Classes

There are many music and arts classes designed especially to motivate children’s learning through interactive play. Music is an excellent way to motivate language learning as it is repetitive and a great whole-brain exercise. You can also reinforce it by playing the CDs at home and in the car.

4.  Heritage Festivals in Your Area

One thing is for sure: we Latinos like to party and we have our share of festivals to prove it. Just to name a few: Cinco de Mayo, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Hispanic Heritage Month, Posadas, Carnaval, and so on. Mark the dates on your calendar and check your local listings for celebration events. This is a great way to transmit part of your cultural heritage to your child, while enriching him with new experiences. Talk to him about the foods, the beliefs, the traditions. Plan arts and crafts projects related to each festival. Feeling his second language connects him to a wider aspect of his family that will nurture his learning.

5.  Travel to your Native Country

I know times are difficult and this might not be a realistic option for all of us at this time, but if you only plan one trip a year, try to make it to a country that speaks your child’s minority language–especially if there’s monolingual family to visit. Being absolutely immersed in the language will leave her no option but to speak the language and eventually boost her confidence. Travel will also broaden her horizons and give her global and cultural perspectives which are priceless.
In short, make language learning interactive and fun for both of you. Actively search or start your own activities. It will be rewarding for the two of you.

Share with us the ways you promote language learning outside the home? Have you started your own playgroup, circle or storytime? We’d love to hear about it. Let’s motivate each other through this process.

If you like what we’re talking about and want to stay up-to-date with SpanglishBaby, subscribe by email or RSS. You’ll like it.

Photo by przemko.stachowski

As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, we are dedicating this whole week to looking more closely at the OPOL method, after realizing that the majority of our readers are using it to raise their children bilingual.

Today we are honored to present you with the expertise of pediatrician and author of 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, Dr. Naomi Steiner, who has been interested in teaching and discussing bilingualism and multiculturalism for a very long time. In fact, her book – written with Susan L. Hayes – came about after more than 10 years of working closely around these issues with many families. Dr. Steiner is herself multilingual, she speaks English, French, German and Italian, and is continuing the trend with her own children by raising them multilingual, too.

A developmental-behavioral pediatrician and clinical researcher at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts, Dr. Steiner is also an assistant professor in pediatrics. She is interested in how children develop awareness to cope with their emotions, behavior and learning.

In addition, she is co-director of an early developmental assessment clinic for children between zero and three years of age at the Center for Children with Special Needs, at the Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts Medical Center. This clinic evaluates primarily children on the autism spectrum and with developmental delays. Yoga training in schools to help children cope with stress is a special interest to Dr. Steiner, and another on-going project that she has.

Why did you write a book about raising bilingual children?

Dr. Naomi Steiner

When I was pregnant, because my husband and I are both multilingual, we had to think about which languages we were going to speak to our child in. So as a pediatrician specialized in child development and in behavior, I went around the office asking colleagues, speech and language therapists, linguists, teachers, education specialists, what they thought. I got so many different answers, that I was quite confused. In the end I did extensive research myself, and have continued since then to be interested in this field. I wrote this book because it is clear that parents are asking very thoughtful questions, yet they are not getting answers that are based on research that is explained in a lay way.

• Dr. Steiner’s tip for parents: as you gather information regarding raising your child – even in general – ask yourself: “does this advice make sense to me? Will it work for me and my family?

What you have found continues to be the biggest misconception about raising bilingual children?

What really fuels my engine to talk about bilingualism to parents is not only the myths themselves, but they way that they negatively affect parents, who then give up on transmitting their heritage to their children. This continues to keep me going. That is why “speaking” on blogs like this is so important.

• Dr. Steiner’s tip: you are not alone! Keep communicating with other parents, support each other, exchange ideas and energy to raise healthy bilingual children.

What would you say is the number one concern you hear from parents thinking about or in the middle of raising their children bilingual?

I have interviewed hundreds of parents about raising children bilingual. What comes back over and over again, is that parents know in their guts raising their child bilingual is the way to go – and they are right – however they hesitate and this stalls them. Often important people in their child’s lives (from teachers, speech and language specialists, even their own family) send conflicting messages. So parents’ number one concern is: am I doing it right? Is this o.k.?
And parents have to understand that the answer is: “yes, you are doing great”. Even if your child does not speak perfect Spanish – yet- , whichever steps your are taking are moving her and your family along.

• Dr. Steiner’s tip for hesitating parents: Persevere and you will get there!

FIVE REASONS WHY OPOL IS THE WAY TO GO:

“I love the One Parent-One Language method because it is the most successful,” Dr. Naomi Steiner says. “And here is why I encourage OPOL:”

1. It supports consistency: what I mean here is that this is the easiest way for you to be speaking with your child Spanish consistently because you are doing it all the time. Period. I also recommend speaking to your child in Spanish when in public. But I know that a lot of parents switch to English. Each family has to make this personal decision for themselves.
2. It is simple: that’s because you are speaking Spanish, and that’s it. There is not room for “oh we are taking a bath so let’s switch languages now. Simple parenting strategies are important in our busy lives. A certain amount of steps just become automatic. For instance, if you are at the library you look for the Spanish book section.
3. It is effortless: you don’t need to be handling and dealing with your child that “now is Spanish time,” because it is always Spanish time with you. And if you child does tell you at one point “no more Spanish,” then you sit down with your child and explain why Spanish is important to you and your family and that this is part of you that you are giving to him.
4. It naturally encourages your child to respond to you in Spanish: as a young infant, your child will literally automatically answer you back in your language. And will continue to do so as long as it remains your house rule.
5. It enables a child to receive a maximum language input in two different languages: This is very important. So for instance if you are speaking Spanish and your child is hearing English at day care, your child will also be learning to speak Spanish fluently because when you are with her you are always speaking in Spanish. If you speak to your child half the time in English, that decreases the exposure to Spanish in half, which in turn will slow down your child’s pace of learning Spanish.

You can find a lot more information about the OPOL method and more of Dr. Steiner’s helpful recommendations and tips in her book, 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, which – lucky for you – we are giving away once again today and every day this week.

To win a copy of Dr. Naomi Steiner’s book:

Tell us why you would like to win this book? How and why do you think it will be helpful in your family’s situation? Pretty simple, huh?

Remember we’ll be giving away one copy per day and you can enter once per day. Today’s giveaway will end tonight at midnight EST. Make sure you’re subscribed either by RSS or email so you don’t miss out on this highly informative and useful OPOL week.

Giveaway rules.

We hope you are enjoying and learning from our OPOL week! If you missed yesterday’s introductory post, you can read it by going here. And, don’t forget to come back for more tomorrow, when we bring you our weekly Ask an Expert series with an OPOL-specific question answered by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert, author of Language Strategies for Bilingual Families – The One Parent-One Language Approach and the blog: Notes from the OPOL Family. Plus, remember we’ll be giving away yet another copy of Dr. Naomi Steiner’s book.

It’s been five months since the official launch of SpanglishBaby. In this time we’ve come to the realization that, although it’s not the one Ana and I use, the majority of you out there are raising your kiddos bilingual by means of the One Parent-One Language (OPOL) method.

We first started noticing the trend from the questions and comments we got from all our readers and then through the answers to a survey we recently conducted. Out of the responses we got to the question: “I use this method to teach my child a second language…” the overwhelming one was OPOL. In other words, according to the results, 44% of those of you who participated in the poll use the OPOL method.

Truth be told, the results come as no surprise. According to Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Zurer Pearson, one of our very own experts, “In 1902, in the first printed advice that we are aware of on how to raise a bilingual child, (Maurice) Grammont proposed OPOL. It has continued to be the favored strategy in many parts of the world, especially in Europe and Canada.”

Even though we’ve touched upon this subject before, Ana and I figured it was time to give a more in-depth look at this ever-so-popular method of accomplishing the task of raising bilingual kids. Thus, we’ll be dedicating this whole week to the OPOL method including our regular Ask an Expert series – which is moving to Wednesday this week only – and a Your Story guest post by someone who has been doing the OPOL thing successfully for the last four years.

Today, we’ll start with a look at some of the top concerns of parents using this method. You probably noticed that for the past few weeks, we’ve had an on-going poll regarding this subject. Thanks to all who participated and in case you didn’t get a chance to look at the results yourself, here’s a snapshot:

The results actually confirmed what we’d kind of deduced all along. Most of you using this method worry that your children are not getting enough of the minority language which, for those of us living in the U.S., means anything but English. Obviously, this makes a lot of sense since we are surrounded by English yet many of us don’t have the luxury to live in “bilingual communities” where Spanish – to use the most common minority language as an example – is spoken and heard as much as English, i.e. Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, you get the point…

This issue is perfectly reflected in this comment from Maria that we got in our Forums: “For us the biggest challenge is getting enough minority language input. Although I am home with the kids (Spanish ml) they still hear lots of English, including most conversations between my husband and myself since his Spanish is not fluent and so us speaking English is often most practical. Plus in general despite my constant efforts to search out Spanish in any/every way shape and form, the community still surrounds us with English and I feel like its a constant effort to keep Spanish in the mix.”

We’ve written extensively about how to deal with this concern and you can find that information in this Ask an Expert post, in this one about boosting the minority language and in this post about creative activities to help your children keep up with their Spanish.

What to Expect:

Following is a taste of what we have prepared for our OPOL Week. We hope you find it useful and, as usual, we encourage you to leave comments, questions or to just share your own experiences. Remember this is the best way for all of us to learn!

• TUESDAY – Pediatrician and author of the book, 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, Dr. Naomi Steiner, will share with us why she believes the OPOL method is the way to go when raising a bilingual child.
• WEDNESDAY – Our weekly Ask an Expert series with an OPOL-specific question answered by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert, author of Language Strategies for Bilingual Families – The One Parent-One Language Approach and the blog: Notes from the OPOL Family.
  
• THURSDAY - A guest post from one of our loyal readers – and the founder of my bilingual playgroup. Many of you who are just starting your bilingual journey have asked if the OPOL method actually works. This post will be proof that it does!
• FRIDAY - A list of resources/articles/websites compiled specifically for those of you using or thinking about using the OPOL method.

***And, as if all this weren’t enough, we will be giving away a copy of Dr. Steiner’s 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, every single day this week, starting today

Before signing off, I want to say kudos to all of you who are raising your children bilingual using the OPOL method. Ana and I are both in awe of your discipline and commitment and we know your kids will eventually be forever grateful for your efforts. Keep up the awesome work – you inspire us all!

This giveaway is now closed. You can still enter for another chance every day this week. Congratulations to our winner: NATHALIE SIMMONS JORGE!

To win a copy of Dr. Naomi Steiner’s book:

All you have to do is leave us a comment sharing something about the OPOL method, whether it be a question, a concern, a challenge, a tip, pros/cons, an anecdote, anything that will add to the online conversation about this popular method.

We’ll be giving away one copy per day and you can enter once per day. Today’s giveaway will end tonight at midnight EST. Make sure you’re subscribed either by RSS or email so you don’t miss out on this highly informative and useful OPOL week.

Giveaway rules.

{Photo By UNC – CFC – USFK}

Photo by Eleaf

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 of experts has been dishing out, go here.

Liza Sanchez

We welcome back Liza Sánchez, founder and Board Chair of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) in Oakland, California. EBI is the first independent school in California to offer a Spanish-English dual language program, extending from pre-K through 8th grade. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is fluent in Spanish and English, speaks conversational German and can understand quite a bit of French, Portuguese and Italian. Learn more about her here.

Will My Children Learn English?

This week’s question was sent by Blanca Pedroza:

“Hello! I am so excited about this website and that I have access to asking you a question. My daughter is 20 months of age and my son is two months of age. My husband and I only speak Spanish to them and we TRY to only speak Spanish to each other as well. We only read Spanish books to her. Should I trust that she’ll pick up on English when she starts school? Is this ok? Should we be considering the OPOL (One Parent-One Language) approach so that they can also start to learn English? I’m researching about two-way immersion programs for when the time comes to enroll my young ones in Kindergarten. Is this a good choice, or should I only consider enrolling them in an all-English school?

Thank you!”

Dear Blanca:

How wonderful of you to be giving your children the gift of bilingualism! They will thank you profusely in years to come. It sounds like your children are getting plenty of Spanish exposure. This is what they will need in order to stay bilingual. You are right in your thought that they will eventually pick up English, especially in school. In fact, they may eventually only want to speak English with you. A dual-immersion program can be helpful in reinforcing the Spanish they are learning at home. Also, remember that each child and family is different and that what works for one child doesn’t necessarily work for another. Two children within the same family can respond differently to the same language exposure.

So, remember that there is no one correct method but the ultimate goal is bilingualism.  However, keeping them speaking Spanish is generally the real challenge.

Here are some things you can do to help that have worked for many other parents:

1)      Only speak to your child in Spanish. I know that sounds obvious, but there are many parents who switch to English when they are around other English-speaking people. It may feel rude but a simple explanation to the people around you can go a long way.  If you feel uncomfortable, let the person or people around you know that you only speak to your child in Spanish and you don’t mean to be rude. Some parents also start to use English when their child’s English ability gains strength. They begin to worry that their child won’t understand them so they decide to use English. Of course, that is counterproductive and decreases the amount of exposure the child is receiving in the home language.

2)      Don’t let your child speak to you in English. This can be challenging. I mean, really challenging. The trick is to not respond when your child speaks to you in English. If she asks for a cookie in English, pretend you didn’t hear her, act like you have no idea what she is saying. Don’t be worried that she might not know how to say something. She’ll find a way to let her desires be known without using English. If you start this when she is young it will become second-nature as she gets older. Eventually, speaking in Spanish at home will become the norm. But you will really have to be strict for a while to make it that way.

3)      Provide lots and lots of Spanish language opportunities for your child. Be sure your child interacts with other Spanish-speakers such as family, neighbors and friends. Your child will feel better about and be more motivated to speak in Spanish knowing that speaking Spanish is normal and that they are not the only ones who speak it, especially if they are in an English dominant community.

4)     Reinforce pride in speaking Spanish. Remind them how great it is that they can speak two languages and how important it is to speak Spanish.

5)      Get her reading and writing in Spanish. Children need to learn to read and write in a language in order to obtain a more advanced level. Children who are only exposed to daily interactions in the home language have a limited vocabulary. Books are usually written with more eloquent expressions than what we use in our daily lives and cover a much wider variety of topics. This helps to expand their vocabulary and as a result, their language ability. And don’t forget that spending time on Spanish language literacy is not taking away from their English language literacy but strengthening it. Children who are literate in Spanish and English typically have a stronger English vocabulary, are better spellers and are able to analyze the structure of English in a way that monolingual students can’t.

Best of luck with your bilingual family and write back with any other questions.