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Activity: Family Journey Towards Bilingualism

|  1)     Family Activity Description: I would have a literacy night with my families and have them make a book together with their children. It can be a picture book or a literacy book if they wish.

|  2)       Materials on Bilingualism to share with Families: I would have all the materials available for them to use. Crayons, paper, markers glue, scissors and different craft items.

|  3)      Supporting ECE Program Activities: Once done with the book they could share with the other parents as a group. The book can be taken home and shared with extended family members.

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This chapter talks about best practices and guidelines for preschool's with DLL learners. These practices are research based with children that come from different background and cultures and shows the importance of early literacy starting from infants .

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Literacy Rich Environment

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Supporting Diversity

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Supporting DLL learners

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This article talks about different ways to set up the environments The teachers should set the classroom to encourage the children to self engage, teachers should develop activities that promote their learning.

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This Chapter talks about a system named POLL that is used to interview the parents and come up with a goal for the child. It talks about the environment, the routines, labeling, morning which is important so children see script but also for parent to read what the children are learning while at the centers.

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Mission:
To help and strengthen the children's home language and to learn and use a 2nd language.

Goals for children who are DLL:

Provide a Rich literacy
environment.

Expand the conversations to broaden their oral speech.

Support the home language.

Individualize for each child's needs.

To ensure full and effective Participation of DLL's we implement POLL Strategies:

Classroom Lang. Models: English and Spanish. Transition Thur.

Lang. and Culture Questionnaire: Getting to know your child.

Handbook: Parent Handbook that is provided at Registration.

Environments: Rich labeling in home lang. -2nd lang. visual schedules, pictures of them doing the activities through out the day.

Oral Language: books, songs, stories and Ryhmes. Intentional Messages.

Family Engagement: home and center visits and  FPA's, Calendars

Child Language Assessment: Questionnaire on their Language.

Professional Dev: Training through out the season, Coaching with Proff. coach and outside training with local agencies.

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My experience overall on the speech was easy. I expressed how the primary language of the child is important. I explained how the center introduces the 2nd language. The importance of the teacher and the family working together so the experience can be a positive one for the child. Naomi, commented on myself highlighting some important facts. She said I did a good job. Naomi, is welcoming and warm so the process was fun.

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Being in this field of Early Childhood Education is important due to what we know now. How infants to pre-school aged children gather new information and thrive. We as educators need to apply what we have learned, encourage the "at risk" children that will be enrolled at some point and provide them with the encouragement. Low income children have so many disadvantages so having the centers open and having caring, knowledgeable caregivers will give these children hope.

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Our brains as infants are able to process millions bits of information per second. Our brain operates with two complex systems.
System 1: Cognition that happens outside of our consciousness.
System 2: conscious processing that we use for our daily tasks.
These two systems work together to help us understand the world.

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Being Hispanic myself and having lots of family, I can say that I know someone that was fluent in Spanish in their early childhood and then learned English later in life. She has even become an American Citizen, she continues to speak both languages fluently and encourages her children to keep our language going with their own children. It's very important to not loose that connection to our roots.

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Many Languages one teacher:
Mrs. Blakley was the teacher in this article, in her classroom she uses a strategy called POLL. She first has a family interview to establish a common goal for the child. Her classrooms environment is set for active -engaged learning. Her centers are set up to promote conversations amongst the children. She has print rich labels that are visible and represent all lang. She believes in having Intentional messages throughout the day that focus on what the children will learn. The US Census projects that by 2030, children that have their home language other than English will rise from 22%- 40% of all school aged population.

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I was raised with Spanish being my first language. I remember picking up some English words as a toddler, playing with neighbors, cousins or my older brother. My dad would emphasize the importance of speaking, and reading our home language first. He would have me read the bible in Spanish to him. He always said you will learn English as you get older. I was always told to respect everyone, be kind and always offer help to those in need. He would say believe it or not we are very fortunate to have a roof over our heads and always having food on the table. There are people not so fortunate. I never understood what he meant by being fortunate, until later in life seeing homeless people pushing around their belongings, and having no food, sleeping outdoors and being alone. I think being raised to be Proud of my Culture, Language, being respectful, and kind has made me the person I am today. Those are wonderful character traits to have when working with children.

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I think  programs that offer and support DLL are great because research has proven that infants that learn their home language and  later are  introduced to a 2nd language are successful. These children will flourish as adults and have better opportunities in the future. It is vital these children not  forget their primary language , so they don't disconnect from their family, culture and not loose their sense of self. Research has also stated that adults who speak 2 or more languages have less of a chance to develop Alzheimer's later in life. As you can read it has some benefits to be bilingual. The brain is a great muscle that should be used to the fullest.

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Infants till the age of 6 have a greater chance of learning 2 or more languages. They would need their parents and caregivers to lay the foundation for their future years. Infants should be talked to and read to in their home lang. by the age of three you can introduce a 2 or 3rd lang. after the home lang. is established.
Children develop mastery of sound, structure and functions of language by several factors. Similarities between 2 languages, exposer to each lang. and quality and quantity of exposure to the lang. by having a trustworthy relationship along with a rich environment would be key.

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I am kind and honest
I wonder about my future
I hear soft chirping sounds
I see small birds flying by
I am kind and honest

I pretend to fly
I feel the wind beneath me
I touch a soft bird
I worry about falling down
I cry when I miss you
I pretend to fly

I understand I'm not perfect
I say I believe in you
I dream of always being here
I try to be a great mother and better partner
I hope I have a long healthy life
I understand I'm not perfect

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Carlos was 4 yrs. old when he first came to the center had an IEP for speech, only spoke a few words in English mainly spoke Spanish. Very shy, had separation anxiety when left. Had a hard time making friends, 2nd year at center spoke mainly English, Speech therapist saw a huge difference in his lang.,social skills and being more confident in himself.

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That is the name of the center that I oversee, I have capacity for 42 children ranging from infants to pre-k. We have children that are DLL and some ELL, the majority of the children are Spanish speaking.

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I have been working for this Agency for 19 Years, have been in this current position for 6 years.

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Mother of 2 boys, 1 girl and a fur baby named Riley.