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Your Child's Journey

wisdom for the big steps little children take

You are here: Home / Archives for bi-lingual

Is My Child Normal?

May 2, 2014 By Diane Constantine

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Are you afraid your child isn’t normal? Just about every parent has this fear at one time or another. The media reports huge increases in autism rates. There are more and more children being diagnosed with mental disorders like bipolar disorder. Then there’s the preschool and kindergarten teachers telling parents their boys are hyperactive. So what is a parent to do?

I’m going to give you some common sense considerations to help you decide if there is need for intervention.

1. When looking at the benchmarks for development, is your child young or past the average age for that skill? For example, a baby usually learns to sit unsupported between 4 and 9 months. If your baby is not sitting unsupported at 6 months, this is not a sign of possible developmental delay. If however, he is 10 months and still not sitting well, then you should let your pediatrician know and seek further evaluations. Also, if your baby was premature or has had serious medical conditions in the first months of life, he may lag behind developmentally for as long a year and not be considered delayed.

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Filed Under: All Ages Tagged With: bi-lingual, developmental delay, normal, preschool

Language Development

October 26, 2012 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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There are many resources on the internet to help with understanding your baby’s language development and ability to read. Here are some good materials from reliable sources. Follow the links to gain even more information on these topics.


Language Milestones

Mayo Clinic has some simple guidelines for language development.

For a checklist that you can use to evaluate your child’s language development go to: National Institute of Health

To better understand what is normal or average language development see: Kids Health


Strategies to Encourage Language Learning

The teacher’s voice was warm and caring as she soothed Katrina after a fall. Katrina, 9 months old, crying intensely, stopped and looked up at the teacher. The teacher continued comforting Katrina with calm words. The teacher then stopped and waited expectantly for Katrina to take a turn in the conversation. Katrina started babbling, as if telling the teacher all about the nasty fall. This communication exchange seemed emotionally satisfying to both Katrina and the teacher, as Katrina stopped crying, gave a big sigh, and began babbling excitedly.

The teacher in this example is using responsive language. She is empathic and waits for Katrina to take a turn in the conversation. We have identified a dozen strategies like those represented in the scenario with Katrina that parents and teachers use to support children learning to express themselves, to hear and understand language, and to become competent communicators.

1. Build Relationships—Be an Empathic Language Partner

When a person cares about another person, he or she usually wants to communicate with that person. An infant or toddler will want to communicate with you when she feels safe and cared for in loving ways. Infants and toddlers communicate when it is pleasant to communicate, when the affect or feeling of the communication is warm and loving, and when they understand that their communication attempts will get a response.

2. Respond and Take Turns—Be an Interactive Language Partner

Read the rest of this very applicable article at: Education.com


 Why Bi-linguals are Smarter

SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a child’s academic and intellectual development.

They were not wrong about the interference: there is ample evidence that in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isn’t so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.

To read more: Benefits of Bilingualism

The Brain-growing Magic of Foreign Languages


Stammering

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Filed Under: All Ages Tagged With: bi-lingual, language, speech milestones, stammering

Raising a Bilingual Child

April 3, 2012 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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Language learning always fascinates me, so I took a fresh look at language learning and bilingual learning. As usual, I found some very interesting information to share with you.

The New York Times, on March 17, 2012, published an article titled, Why Bilinguals Are Smarter¹. They say, “Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.” Those are pretty sweeping claims. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: All Ages Tagged With: bi-lingual, language learning

The Brain-growing Magic of Foreign Languages

August 4, 2011 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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Some of you are already raising your kids in a multi-lingual home. Congratulations! Here’s some proof that it is worth the trouble. Some of you have your children in day care or preschool where a foreign language is spoken as well as English. Good job! If you haven’t considered exposing your children to a foreign language, read on. This article was published by GreatSchools.org

“I’m so atrocious at languages,” my Czech artist friend moans with her characteristic Slavic purr. “It vas always so harrrrd for me in school.”

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Filed Under: All Ages Tagged With: bi-lingual, language leanring

5 Months Girl

August 11, 2009 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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Key Thought

What an enjoyable time this is with your baby! She is usually happy and outgoing, and loves to look at new faces. Her sense of humor is beginning to develop. This month she will probably laugh out loud as she is beginning to “get the joke.” She will enjoy funny expressions and may try to make you laugh.

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Filed Under: Month-by-Month Girl Tagged With: bi-lingual, hearing, safety

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