# data[].attributes.headline
How to use English learners primary language in the classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
How to use English learners primary language in the classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Use English Learners’ Primary Language in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It’s important for multilingual students to feel that their first language is valuable, seen as an asset, and a welcome part of their identity.

# data[].attributes.body
Presentation 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
KG TEACHER Workshop Language Myths_Nov21, 2022

# data[].attributes.headline
Language variance is an asset: The power  of removing barriers

# data[].attributes.subject
Language variance is an asset: The power  of removing barriers

# data[].attributes.body
How to value students competence beyond performance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Language Variance Is an Asset: The Power of Removing Barriers

# data[].attributes.body
Literacy expert Timothy Shanahan shares best practices for teaching reading and writing. Dr. Shanahan is an internationally recognized professor of urban education and reading researcher who has extensive experience with children in inner-city schools and children with special needs. All posts are reprinted with permission from Shanahan on Literacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Literacy expert Timothy Shanahan shares best practices for teaching reading and writing. Dr. Shanahan is an internationally recognized professor of urban education and reading researcher who has extensive experience with children in inner-city schools and children with special needs. All posts are reprinted with permission from Shanahan on Literacy.

# data[].attributes.headline
Research shows bilingual babies identify different sounds as early as 10 months old

# data[].attributes.subject
Research shows bilingual babies identify different sounds as early as 10 months old

# data[].attributes.body
Results are shared in minute 6 of the video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creating bilingual minds | Naja Ferjan Ramirez | TEDxLjubljana

# data[].attributes.headline
WIDA Early Years Guiding Principles (research-based)

# data[].attributes.subject
WIDA Early Years Guiding Principles (research-based)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WIDA Early Years Guiding Principles of Language Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The WIDA Early Years Guiding Principles of Language Development provide practitioners with a broad perspective on key concepts related to the language development of young children learning multiple languages. To further clarify the guiding principles, these research highlights provide practitioners with research-based descriptions and examples of effective practices.

# data[].attributes.body
How to develop family connections through home languages

# data[].attributes.headline
Ways to develop your child's language skills at home (in home language)

# data[].attributes.subject
Ways to develop your child's language skills at home (in home language)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During the peak of the pandemic, the most common question asked during my speech therapy sessions was: "If we aren't going anywhere, how do I continue to help my child with their language skills at home?" Parent concerns sky-rocketed as preschools and daycares closed their doors, playdates were canceled, and they were left to juggle working from home, virtual schooling, and many other roles.

But even now that the pandemic fog is lifting, this continues to be a primary concern of parents, as many are just not ready to return to group classes and play dates. And that's OK! The key to increasing your child's language skills while continuing to stay at home is quite simple: limit technology, model language, and get messy. Children learn best through play-based interactions and many language opportunities can be created with items you already have in your home.

Here are some different tips and tricks for parents to use to help build their child's language skills.

Model for Them

The number one tip I give parents is to verbally model everything! When playing with your toddler, narrating their actions helps them understand their environment. It is important to use short direct phrases that they can easily process like "go car," "blue car," "car up." Simple and concise phrases, though sometimes grammatically incomplete, will help your child understand the fundamentals of language.

The finer concepts of language can be learned later, once the child has a better understanding of communicating their desires. Avoid using the phrase, "Say [plug in any word here]" and model the exact word or phrase you want them to produce. It is OK if your child does not imitate you right away; they are soaking up all the rich language you are providing them.

Put Technology Away

Research shows spending two hours or more a day on screens can have negative effects on a toddler's cognition which may delay language acquisition. Technology is a great tool for education, but in moderation. Set aside time each day for technology, but also encourage parent and child play throughout the day with tangible toys and objects. Also, be present with your child when they are using technology by interacting with them, asking questions, and continuing to model language.

Don't Make Everything Accessible

When I ask parents how their child makes their wants and needs known at home, I am often told that, "They just get it themselves." Making everything accessible to your child throughout the day leaves limited opportunities for purposeful communication with you. Placing your child's favorite toy on a shelf out of reach or giving them a cup without juice forces these purposeful interactions. If your child is still at the pointing phase with no words, verbally model for them what they are pointing to.

Include Kids in Daily Routines

Children love to be involved in "grown-up" activities. Having your child help you with chores around the house like laundry and cooking are great activity examples to increase language skills. Give your child simple directions to follow like, "flour in" or "give me sock." Continue to label your child's actions throughout these activities such as, "you are mixing" and "we are folding."

Give Them Open-Ended Toys

Another big question I am often asked is, "What types of toys are appropriate for my child?" and my answer is always open-ended toys. Open-ended toys are ones that can be used in a variety of different ways across age ranges. For example, blocks can be used to build a tower or castle, as a telephone, or a car to drive around the carpet. Open-ended toys promote creative thinking and increase pretend play skills, while close-ended toys, like puzzles and bubbles, only serve one purpose.

Get Creative

While these tips and tricks for increasing language skills seem simple, parents often struggle deciding which activities to do at home. There's no need to run out and buy new toys-some of the best language interactions are exhibited doing activities with items already in the home.

Sensory bins

Sensory bins are small containers which hold items of various textures, shapes, and sizes, mixed together to encourage child engagement. These must-haves not only promote speech and language skills, but they also ignite various other aspects of the brain, including emotional regulation and fine motor skills. You and your little one can fill these with all different kinds of items, such as their favorite trucks and cars, water beads, Easter grass, and sand. Of course, the fillers will vary by age (avoid choking hazard items for younger kids) and a child's ability.

Arts and crafts

Simple arts and crafts, especially around a holiday, is a great activity to promote speech and language skills. It helps with learning to follow directions, talking about items needed for each step, and requesting. Pinterest is a great resource for great arts and crafts ideas!

Cooking together

Allowing your child to help cook a meal is great for following directions, requesting, labeling verbs, and so much more. Some great cooking activities can include having the child prepare their own lunch, cook playdough to play with later, or making a sweet treat to enjoy after dinner. Cooking with children is also a great activity if you have a child who is a picky eater. Involving them in the meal preparation may result in better consumption at the dinner table.

Turn-taking games

Board games and other turn taking games (like catching a ball) are great for working on patience and requesting. Even a simple board game like, Pop the Pig, can be simplified to fit your child's needs. Turn-taking games can be utilized to promote social language skills as children often need to ask for a turn, wait their turn, follow rules of a game, and engage in good sportsmanship.

Another great routine, that is often viewed as a hassle, can be turned into an opportunity to elicit a plethora of language skills. Bringing toys into the bath, adding bubbles, singing familiar sing-along songs, or making tub paint are perfect additions to tub time.

The Bottom Line

Even if you don't want to jump back into a pre-pandemic schedule, you can still provide enough stimulation for your language learning child right at home. You just have to get a little creative!

Samantha Lynch is a certified speech-language pathologist and owner of Light the Way Pediatric Therapy in Bardstown, Kentucky. She has a passion for play-based therapy as well as augmentative and alternative communication and working with children with speech sound disorders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creative Ways Parents Can Increase Their Child's Language Skills At Home

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some families are just not ready to return to their pre-pandemic routine and may be worried that their child will fall behind with their language skills. Here are some creative ways to set up a language rich home to prevent that from happening.

# data[].attributes.body
It can take 1-2 years to develop social English, and 5-7 years to develop academic/cognitive English. If a child doesn't have strong literacy skills in the home language, this can be up to 10 years.

# data[].attributes.headline
The silent period with English language learners

# data[].attributes.subject
The silent period with English language learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Author

Author

If you have a new English language learner in your class who is not speaking, don't worry. According to language researcher Stephen Krashen, most new learners of English will go through a "silent period," where they are unwilling or unable to communicate orally, even though they understand much of what is going on around them. They are not comfortable speaking in the new language, because it is difficult for them to express their thoughts orally. Children in this silent period should not be forced to speak before they are ready. They need time to listen to others talk, digest what they hear, and observe their fellow classmates' interactions with each other. Because they are silent, it doesn't mean they are not learning the language.

It is easy to understand the concept of the "silent period" if you look at the language learning of babies. Babies in any culture can understand far more than they express. In a class of children who speak many languages other than English at home, you will often have children in the "silent period"-they are learning many English words, ideas, and idioms, but they are not comfortable speaking as part of the group or individually.

The length of the silent period can vary greatly for students in classrooms from a few days to a year, simply because their experience with language, their personality, and their emotions around learning a new language can vary so greatly. Because the child is silent in the dominant classroom language, it can be hard to know where they are in acquiring English.

When conferring with English Language Learners in our kindergarten classroom, we use these strategies to communicate verbally and nonverbally:

We ask questions that allow the child to respond with nods of "yes" or "no". These prompts include guesses of what the child is drawing or about the marks they are making on the page (i.e., "Is that your mother?" ; "Is this writing in Russian? " "In English?").

We accept as response facial expressions like smiles. Â Nonverbal cues from children in conferences include establishing eye contact, flipping through pages of writing for us, pointing to specific pictures or letters, or grabbing our hands to touch the page or help the child draw a letter.

We share a word or two in the child's language.Â This might be the Spanish word for "butterfly" if we are studying butterflies in science, or the Russian word for "mother" if we think the child has drawn a picture of their mother. Because there are so many different first languages in our classroom, we rely on bi-lingual dictionaries and suggestions from native language speakers. If the alphabet is the same as the English alphabet, simple web translators can be helpful - "Babblefish" ( www.babblefish.com) and "Free Translation" ( www.freetranslation.com). These are only useful for basic literal translations, but children appreciate the attempt. (These websites will also translate several sentences into another written language such as Vietnamese, Russian or Chinese, which can be helpful for brief notes to parents.)

We ask the child to teach us words in their language.Â They usually know the word "Chinese" or "Spanish" when you ask how to say something like "pencil" or "book" in their language.

Many children draw pictures of their family, and we ask for details. Â We point to each figure and ask if this is the mother, or sister, or brother, and if they nod, we ask the name of the family member. The first words of children in the silent period are often related to family.

We watch the child on the playground. Â If there is no verbal communication in the classroom, there are often early words around play.

We ask children to mime the action of what they are trying to convey using their bodies to communicate.

We ask the child to draw a picture of what they are trying to tell us.

The silent period at any age can last many months-even children who understand a tremendous number of words and concepts are overwhelmed at the thought of trying to speak in the language. But if we convey through our verbal and nonverbal cues that we want to communicate and trust the communication will come, children will eventually speak. Classrooms that are engaging, nonthreatening, and honor a child's native language and culture can help each student's motivation, risk-taking, and ability to learn.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding the "Silent Period" with English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Author Author If you have a new English language learner in your class who is not speaking, don't worry. According to language researcher Stephen Krashen, most new learners of English will go through a "silent period," where they are unwilling or unable to communicate orally, even though they understand much of what is going on around them.

# data[].attributes.headline
A Neuroscientist explains the benefits of multilingualism

# data[].attributes.subject
A Neuroscientist explains the benefits of multilingualism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A neuroscientist explains why being bilingual makes your brain more robust

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
People who speak more than one language get better grades, better jobs and lead healthier lives, says Dr Mariano Sigman

# data[].attributes.headline
The Science of Reading and Multilingual Learners (Jim Cummins and Claude Goldenberg)

# data[].attributes.subject
The Science of Reading and Multilingual Learners (Jim Cummins and Claude Goldenberg)

# data[].attributes.body
If you watch one video about the Science of Reading, make it this video!
Some highlights are:
Holly Scarborough's Rope (2001)
The Simple View of Reading
Literacy Socialization

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coffee & Conversation with Jim Cummins and Claude Goldenberg

# data[].attributes.body
In grades 3-8, all students have Google ReadWrite on their laptops.

Watch this video with your child to know how it can support their learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read&Write for Google Chrome - A how to guide for students