Is It Ever Too Soon To Begin A Second Language Journey By: Beth Butler | - Having command of more than one language provides sure entry into a higher paying job, the ticket to some pretty amazing opportunities and perhaps even the ability to forge friendships with millions of other people you may never have connected with should you remain monolingual. Being able to speak in more than your native language most often makes you aware of other cultures, other people and other places.
Why Do They Keep Telling Me To Stop By: Beth Butler | - No one gives us a full semester class on how to be an amazing parent. There is not one course in our high schools or in our college that ever focuses enough on the most important job many of us take on at some point in our life. That is the job of being a parent.
Top Five Ways To Raise A Bilingual Baby By: Beth Butler | - Thank goodness the English only mentality is disappearing, slowly but surely, from the heart of the United States of America. For years we have proudly called ourselves a melting pot, one that welcomes immigrants, cultures and languages from around the world. Yet all of us realize the hypocrisy with which our system has executed the embracing of the melting pot.
Why Subtract When You Can Add? By: Beth Butler | - Have you ever given thought to how different your life might be if your parents had chosen to enroll you in that summer enrichment program, that fall football camp or that study abroad during your school years? Often times simple decisions such as those shape who we become in our adult lives. I recall a good friend of mine who chose to live in Spain for a year of her college study. She met a native Spaniard and continues to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning a bed and breakfast in that beauti ... Tags:teach child languages, introduce languages to child, foreign language for child, bilingual education
Three Simple Steps For Adding Spanish To Your Summer Fun By: Beth Butler | - Forget the worksheets for the summer! Skip the verb conjugation lessons for the next ten weeks! Did I hear some of you shout out a request for play? Now, if you have teens like I do, some of the shouts were for sleep! But today I want to talk about the strong desire of our younger set, between two and ten, who want to play, play, and then play some more!
Educators Report Immersion Is Making Our Children Ill By: Beth Butler | - No child, not yours, not mine, nor the child of someone we do not even know, should ever have to go off to school feeling anxious. Yet as adults we realize it happens. Perhaps it is the first day of the school year jitters or knowing that you will have to take a spelling test for which you are not prepared. Nervousness over school does happen some days for some children.
We Will Take Our Languages Together Please By: Beth Butler | - It has been almost three decades since I received my teaching degree from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. Way back in that time of ancient history very little was spoken about teaching young children a second language. In fact, the most I heard about introducing a new language to a baby, toddler or even a preschool age child was when I was living in Chile as an exchange student!
Ready! Set! Go! Start Your Bilingual Journey Now! By: Beth Butler | - The children are lined up at the starting gate. Toddlers and preschool age children are poised, ready to launch off the starting block and win the race to becoming the best global citizen they can be!
Banners of sponsors line the path of this great race. All the way from companies who make bilingual CDs and DVDs for babies to those who run private institutions designed to give Junior the best life has to offer during the first five years of his life. What? You did not know tha ... Tags:early childhood learning, teach kids languages, early literacy, spanish for children, kids learn
What Does Music In Our Schools Mean To Your Child? By: Beth Butler | - Since 1985, March has been officially designated Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM). Who designated it as such? The MENC, The National Association for Music Education is the group responsible for heightening the awareness of the importance of music in our schools. It is a time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation.
Three Things To Do As You Discover Languages With Young Children By: Beth Butler | - With each passing day of our lives we are faced with the realization that this world is ever shrinking. We encounter new neighbors from other countries, colleagues who speak more than one language, and friends of our children come from various walks of life and far away countries. It is evident that our own children need to be prepared for this global society in which they will travel as young adults sooner than we care to imagine.
My Journey In A Backpack To The White House By: Beth Butler | - Never could I have guessed when I was being made in Indonesia, a place where our new President of the United States used to live, would I one day be living in the same house as that same President, President Barack Obama. It has been really amazing! Take this historical day of the swearing in of the first African American President, combine it with a collection of dignitaries, celebrities and just millions of proud Americans, and moving day for the new First Family is upon us.
Second Language Plus Child Equals Smarter Child By: Beth Butler | - Many of you reading this already are on to the fact that being bilingual is no longer an option, it is a necessity. As a mom of three children, all of whom are bilingual to varying degrees, and as an educator of thousands of young children over the past twenty years, I have watched first hand the growing demand from our society to prepare our young children for a global economy.
Resolutions For The New Year From A Toddler By: Beth Butler | - I realize I am a lot! There is no hiding the fact that us two year olds demand a lot of attention, require a lot of time from anyone within a two hundred yard radius, and create total exhaustion for those caring for us! I try really hard to be good each and every minute, but all of us know that is not in the realm of possibility.
Do Not Try This At Home By: Beth Butler | - So you have made the commitment to give your children a jump start on learning a second language. The Time Magazine you picked up during all of your free time as a parent of three told you the window of opportunity to learn a second language is between birth and the age of ten or twelve. You even heard a little four year old girl at the preschool your child attends speak to her mom in Spanish yet turn and talk to your daughter in English.
World Class Education For Our Children By: Beth Butler | - Who knows, by the time you read this article many of you have already voted for your candidate via the early voting provisions made in many states. And if that is not the case, most of you have well made up your mind on which presidential candidate you will vote for come Election Day.
Give The Gift Of A Second Language To A Special Little Child By: Beth Butler | - We live in an increasingly global society. Our neighbor is from Puerto Rico, our co worker is from South Africa and the teacher in preschool class is from Sweden. We realize as adults how hard it is to learn a new language at this point in our life, but it is not too late for our children.
Tools To Raise Bilingual Children By: Beth Butler | - You are not bilingual. You skipped high school Spanish class one too many times! Now you have your own children whom you realize need to speak more than just English, but you have no clue where to start. Based on a book titled The Bilingual Edge by Dr. Kendall King and Dr. Alison Mackey you are just fine to give your child a jump start on learning a second language.
Four Fun Activities For Kids To Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month By: Beth Butler | - National Hispanic Heritage Month has been celebrated for 39 years on September 17, 2007. Enacted into law on that day in 1968, this Public Law set aside a week to honor our Spanish-speaking citizens. When the 100th Congress enacted a new Public Law, the celebration period increased to 31 days, from September 15, 2008 to October 15.
Music In Our Classrooms Help Children Learn By: Beth Butler | - I remember the listening center I set up in my elementary school classroom as if it was yesterday. It was my first year of teaching, and I was so proud of that blue denim beanbag chair and cassette tape listening station that I had put together to introduce Spanish to my second graders. I had decided not to subject the little seven year olds to me singing acappella on the tapes I made at home, but I did incorporate some rhythmic beat to make the learning easier. I chanted the vocabulary word i ... Tags:music for children, teaching with music, music in classroom,
Start The School Year Speaking Spanish By: Beth Butler | - As a mom of two school-aged children, I feel the impending end of summer and the excitement and nervousness of a new school year. Many parents are concerned with having enough funds this year in the family budget for the normal back-to-school spending frenzy. While children concern themselves with the social aspects of the educational journey connected with the school year ahead. It is amusing to witness the differences between the two areas of concern, anxiousness and nervousness.
... Tags:back to school, education, spanish as second language, teach children language, early learning,
Do You Want Your Child To Be A Lifetime Language Learner? By: Beth Butler | - Did you realize that ninety percent of our brain is developed by age five? Have you heard how the first five years of life are the most crucial to the cognitive development of a human being? Even if you do not have the time to read the latest statistics or scour the journals reporting on the most recent research of brain development, I hope to share with you just how much of a difference you can make as a parent during the very early years.
Bilingual Beats Lead To Language, Literacy And Math Fun By: Beth Butler | - Never has it been this easy to find materials to bring education into your home as a stay at home mom, a grandparent given the distinct and honorable task of watching your grandchildren or as a homeschooling parent striving to do the best you can do. The internet has provided us the means to seek and download countless varieties of educational materials along with the medium to research other instructional products for purchasing.
There are the moms controling most of the family's discretionary buying power who, when faced with screaming children and end-caps galore this holiday season,will surely succumb to the wails which imply there is no caring of the country of origin (just buy it!!!).
The Gift Of Language Learning For The Families Of Today By: Beth Butler | - We are all fairly savvy to the fact that we live in an increasingly global society in which our neighbor is from Ecuador, our colleague is from France and the person who teaches our child is from Sweden! We realize as adults how difficult it is to learn a new language after our youth, but we keep reading that it is the perfect time for our own children to begin the language learning!
Why Would You Want To Introduce A Second Language To Your Young Child? By: Beth Butler | - There seems to be a general tone among parents today when it comes to the topic of helping their child learn a second language, particularly English-speaking parents of young children. Just this morning, in our local Starbucks, a mom approached me after seeing the magnetic signs on my car that tout my business and its benefits. She asked me if I also taught adults Spanish, to which I quickly and definitively replied with a negative, a no. Her feeling was that she had to know the language before ... Tags:foreign languages for kids, children learn languages, bilingual children, bilingual education, learn
Bilingual Activities For Children During Hispanic Heritage Month By: Beth Butler | - Parents nationwide often times do not even know the meaning of or reason behind National Hispanic Heritage Month. It has been celebrated for 39 years since September 17, 2007. Enacted into law on that day in 1968, the United States set aside a week to honor our Spanish-speaking citizens. Later the 100th Congress enacted a public Law which increaded the celebration period to 31 days. This year National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15, 2007 to October 15.
Road Trip To Cultural Diversity: A Map For Language Learning By: Beth Butler | - Who said the road to understanding your neighbor and traveling through foreign countries cannot be paved with golden moments of language fun? Summer is time for relaxation, reflection and road trips to places new and old.
Make the most of these treasured trips with learning opportunities you and your children will talk about for years to come. Below I hope to share with parents several tips for making the most of summer vacations; taking them from mundane to language learning mo ... Tags:second language learning, foreign language for kids, travel and education, road trips with family,
Summer Sponges: Minds Of Children Soak Up Knowledge By: Beth Butler | - The time is upon us parents, teachers and care givers. We have the charming challenge of keeping the troops happy. Most of us know that there is a probable decline in cognitive development in our children during the summers if in traditional school settings. In fact, the latest report from a professor of Duke University states that most children lose approximately one month worth of learning over the summer time - many losing math and reading skills.
Spring Into Spanish: Seven Simple Steps For Bilingual Bliss By: Beth Butler | - Running around the neighborhood I bet you have heard this once or twice, "I know she knows how to say it. I heard her singing her colors in Spanish just this morning. Lisa, tell my friend what red is in Spanish right now!" Or perhaps this scenario rings a bell, "Jorge, I am warning you! No more English. If you want something, you have to ask me in Spanish starting ahora!"
That was absolutely one of the least effective methods used to teach a second language! Not to mention it was at a point in our lives when our brain was no longer capable of acquiring a new language easily. Combine those labs with workbooks and lots of verb conjugation and you have generations of students ... Tags:bilingual baby, second language learning, multicultural world, teach Spanish, learn new langauge
Morning, Noon And Night - The Stages Of Our Lives With Languages By: Beth Butler | - What does a baby listening to a bilingual music CD, a school age child learning two words in two languages for the same object and an elderly person sitting in a retirement community have in common? They all will experience a wide array of benefits derived from being bilingual.
New Year - New Language - New Benefits For Your Child By: Beth Butler | - Remember those language learning labs in junior high school? Those labs with headsets, the classrooms with written workbooks full of verb conjugation and a teacher who followed a curriculum vs. her students' capabilities combined to create absolutely the worst (and least) effective method used to teach a second language. That is why those of us who took languages back in the days of middle school being called junior high school remember just a few choice words (and probably pronounce them inco ... Tags:language learning, second language for kids, children learn languages, family new year resolutions
Bilingual Boomerang: The Amazing Effects Of Teaching Children Two Languages By: Beth Butler | - The sooner you begin introducing a second language into your child's life, the sooner your child begins to acquire a lifetime of language skills. Did you know that the most recent research suggests that the ability to learn a second language is highest between birth and age six?
Give The Gift Of Languages This Holiday Season By: Beth Butler | - We live in an increasingly global society - our neighbor is from Puerto Rico, our co-worker from South Africa and our child's teacher from Sweden! We realize as adults how hard it is to learn a new language at this point in our life, but it's not too late for our children!
Terrific Tips For Parents Who Want To Teach Their Child A Second Language By: Beth Butler | - You realize the benefits of having a second language but do not know where to turn or how to begin the process for your little one? You recognize the fact that your child will need to speak more than just one language in order to travel successfully through this global society of ours? Read through the following second language learning tips provided by a bilingual mom of three, educator of thousands and leading expert on the subject.
