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3 Language Tips To Bring Out The Best In Your Child

Let's first just talk about intelligence.

Is it possible to increase your child's intelligence? Times Magazine published a study entitled "Fertile Minds" by J. Madeline Nash suggesting that brainpoower can be boosted between 0 to 6 years old.

The recent discoveries by neuroscientists confirm what psychiatrists and educators have long recognized - the value of early experience.

The article reported that during the first years of a child's life, the brain undergoes a series of extraordinary changes. And, that being deprived of a stimulating environment, a child's brain suffers.

Have you ever thought of enrolling your toddler into a language program? It may be a good time to start considering as "There appears to be a series of windows for developing language" which may prove to be a plus to your child.

What lessons can be drawn from the new findings? Among other things, it is clear that...

Foreign languages should be taught to a child in elementary school, if not before.

Whether your child is at that pre-school or elementary age, they will surely benefit from learning a foreign language.

What you can do for your child

What can a parent do to get a child into a language with the least effort? Allow us to share 3 simple tips with you.

1) Play those foreign language CDs

Findings published in various science journals suggest that children as young as 20 months is able to begin learning a foreign languages. If that is true, your child can begin to take in proper doses of the language even before he or she can utter tthe first word. Play a lullaby or a rythme or a song in a foreign language. It may be in Spanish or it may be in Portuguese. You will be surprised at how the child will marvel at the language without a frown.
As the child grows and begins undertsanding speech, you can gradually introduce simple and short stories read by a native. There are lots of materials out there actually.

2) Flash those cards

We have all heard about flashcards. Whether we are learning a mother tongue or a foreign language, this tool has proven itself to be very useful. For young beginners, we suggest using cards that have interesting animal pictures on one side and the language equivalent word on the other. Besides animals, other objects of interests may also be used for this exercise.

3) Reward your child.

Every child loves rewards for good effort. It makes learning fun. Add a little challenge to it as the child progresses, raise up the level as he or she progresses. And remember to encourage them with genuine words whether or not they do well is imprtant. While helping a child to learn a foreign language, id id important to keep the motivation level high. It will go a long way.

Read the article for yourself here.

Have fun with POCOYO ! Watch POCOYO in action, watch it with your child and learn some Spanish together! NEW!

Every parent will want this. Help your child learn Chinese faster. Click Here!

Where can I get language materials for my child

There is no lack of wonderful materials for learning a foreign language, and particularly for learning Spanish. Allow us to just introduce a few of them here.

Are You My Mother (in Spanish) Are You My Mother? is a classic for beginning readers. A baby bird has hatched while its mother was away. Fallen from his nest, he sets out to find her and asks everyone he meets--a dog, a cow, a plane and more--"Are you my mother?" Children adore the little bird and are thrilled with the happy ending.

Get it here

For a child, injecting fun is crucial to learning. Engaging the child in funny stories and rythmes catches the attention and increases the span of learning.

"Cat In The Hat" is a silly book with a serious purpose — to help children recognize, remember, and really enjoy using a basic Spanish vocabulary of 1350 words.

Get it here

"Horton Hears Who?! First published in 1954, this classic story features a sensitive elephant Horton that one day hears a tiny sound coming from a dust mote. He listens very hard and finally discerns a plea for help. The kindhearted elephant gladly undertakes the role of saving the society of minuscule creatures who have made this dust mote their home because "una persona es una persona, por muy pequena que sea/for a person is a person, no matter how small." Check it out here.

Some of the above comes in VHS version as well.

For more choices of Spanish versions of Dr Seuss' books, click here.

Get your little ones the Perfect Gift this Christmas. Other Award Winning Spanish Books.

Children Spanish Carefully selected, this English-Spanish Foundations Series is a prized group of picture books specially designed to reflect the joy, spontaneity, and energy of infants and toddlers. These bright, colorful and engaging books were created by the principals of me+mi publishing, Gladys Rosa-Mendoza and Mark Wesley, award-winning publishers and the parents of bilingual children, who saw a need for high quality dual language books. They have been creating books for major US publishers for over 20 years and have been honored with numerous awards for design and development of educational books. Click here to find out more.

Other useful resources

Check out a wonderful resource right here! In fact, you can engage in a learning process with your child together! With this little tool, you no longer need to be a Spanish teacher to teach your child Spanish.

Spanish for children Multilingual kids are common nowadays and many parents relocating abroad choose to teach Spanish to young children via DVD learning programs.

Trying to decide when to get your child into the language? AHORA es la hora! Now is the time!

¿Eres latino? Haga clic aquí ya.

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