Bilingual children have better critical thinking, problem solving skills, and also a greater mental flexibility.
Speaking multiple languages can help children connect with their cultural background and communicate with their other family members who may not speak the same language. And also other people. Children who learn to communicate in other languages develop an understanding that there are different ways to interact with people.
Children who are bilingual have a high academic achievement and have better career opportunities. Being bilingual may give children an advantage at school. For example, when I was in elementary school I had a really hard time learning English because I only spoke Spanish at that time. But there was a teacher who would help me with my English and that changed my whole life.
I’m very happy that my parents encouraged me to speak Spanish at home and English at school and because of that, and of course with the help of the teacher who taught me English, I’m where I am right now.
During circle time we teach Spanish to the children. We say our numbers and colors in Spanish and we do a lot of repetition and the children seem to love it.
Some parents might ask themselves “Why should my child learn a different language?” My answer is speaking a foreign language can be very beneficial for children and a wonderful opportunity.
Read more about growing up bilingual in our previous blog!
