Literacy Skills And Bilingual Children

Literacy skills begin early - by the age of five or six. Before they even begin school, bilingual children have already absorbed the grammatical structures, sounds, and vocabulary of a language. This assumption takes into account that parents speak with their children in their own mother tongue from a very young age. What brought me to write this article is the desire to get my Hebrew speaking son to increase his literacy in English despite the fact that he is only two years old.

The sooner parents and teachers begin reading to children, the better. Even if you have only a limited period of time to spend with your children, then read, read, read. Aim for a 15 minute reading period every day. Children who are read to develop better language