Social Emotional Learning: Implementing Sociograms

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Classrooms are fundamentally important for the intellectual and emotional development of children. What happens in the classroom has a lasting effect on the rest of a child’s life. Outside of the home, this is where children commonly learn values and behavior norms. To this end, preschools are incorporating the concept of Social Emotional Learning into their education.

Why is Social Emotional Learning important?

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) integrates various aspects of education and life skills into the school curriculum to help children grow in all aspects of their life. SEL involves coordinating several aspects of the child’s life together to create a dynamic education strategy; this strategy helps children succeed in school, in their careers, in their relationships, and in their lives.

Research shows Social Emotional Learning increases the achievement rate of an individual by 11 percentile points, as well as encourages positive habits and behaviors in a child. These behaviors include kindness, empathy, sharing, gratitude, and other positive traits. This education helps children grow up to be responsible adults who are comfortable with social interactions, reducing the risk of stress and depression in growing children.

There are 5 key skills that are taught through Social Emotional Learning:

  • Self-Awareness: SEL helps a child to understand her or his own emotions, judge his or her strengths and weaknesses and become self-aware of inner thoughts and the personal and societal consequences of their actions.
  • Self-management: It guides a child into independence as she or he takes control of emotions, behaviors, actions, and reactions.
  • Social Awareness: SEL also helps children become aware of other cultures and backgrounds, to understand them, and empathize with them.
  • Relationship Skills: It guides children into developing and maintaining healthy relationships and helps them act within social norms.
  • Responsible Decision Making: SEL teaches children to make responsible decisions for themselves, knowing the consequences of their thoughts, and actions for the community.

It is important for teachers to implement this kind of learning into their classrooms. SEL helps young children learn these valuable skills at an early age. This way, as adults, they are able to manage relationships, both social and professional, with ease. Teachers can implement these life lessons through sharing personal experiences, allowing the children to partake in daily social activities, teaching children about different cultures and social norms, helping them develop social skills, and creating a diverse social and cultural mix in the classroom where everyone interacts with each other. And this does not need to be stand-alone lessons. It can be incorporated into all learning.

Teachers can use the help of sociograms to map out social interactions and create a socially dynamic classroom, especially with older students.

How to construct a sociogram:

To begin, ask each student to write down the name of two other students with whom they would like to partner up with in a group activity.

Now, collect the names from all of your students and construct a flow-chart. Circling the different names in different sizes, you will be able to create a visual of the degree of popularity among students. Here’s an example of a completed sociogram.

You will be able to observe three distinct patterns on your sociogram:

  1. Isolates- These are students who have not been chosen by any other student in the classroom, or those who have been chosen only by other isolates. This could be a matter of concern for the teacher.
  2. Gender- Another division that is observable is a gender division. This can be very common among kids of a young age, yet teachers make take note to try and encourage greater unity across gender lines.
  3. Groups- This pattern involves a certain group or “clique” which has been formed, and could be a matter of concern in the classroom.

While sociograms won’t provide all the answers to social problems in the classroom, they are a useful guide and tool. By identifying the groups and patterns, teachers can concentrate their attention more specifically.

Sociograms can help a teacher identify the relationships between groups in their classroom. By using the data they have collected, teachers can implement SEL in a more organized fashion, tailored to the needs of their own, unique classroom.

If you have questions or concerns about Social Emotional Learning or implementing Sociograms, contact Tessa International School.

 

The Remarkable Advantages of Social Emotional Learning: A Case Study

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Educational paradigms are currently undergoing a profound and fundamental change. As we learn more about how children’s brains develop, educators are increasingly shifting away from a narrow focus on content, punctuated by occasional standalone lessons on social and emotional development, and into a new mode of instruction in which these formerly separate realms are integrated into one holistic curriculum. A recent case study demonstrates the success of these principles put into action.

CASEL, SEAD, and SEL

In order to understand the significance of the case study, we must first understand the principles of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has developed a coordinating framework to be utilized by educators, families, and communities to promote intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competencies in students. To that end, CASEL has developed a framework of 5 Core Competencies.

  • self-awareness
  • self-management
  • social awareness
  • relationship skills
  • responsible decision-making

The Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development (SEAD) works closely with educators, community leaders, families, employers, and partners like CASEL to fully integrate this approach into K-12 academic curriculum. The goal of SEAD is to compile and release a Report From the Nation, which will outline specific actions intended to usher in a new era of education. This model will support the full development of students, providing them with the skills and emotional maturity to excel not only in academics, but into adulthood.

Case Study: Capital City Public Charter School

SEAD’s first report in the series is a case study of a Washington, D.C. charter school. Capital City provides an innovative learning environment for its 1,000 K-12 students by being part of the Expeditionary Learning network, which emphasizes mastery of academics, production of high-quality work, and development of character.

In practice, this results in “learning expeditions”, such as when 3rd and 4th grade classes compared Washington’s temperate forests with tropical rainforests, incorporating trips to a local park and the National Zoo into the lesson plan. Another example is when 9th graders studied the ecology of local fish, with an emphasis on habitat preservation/restoration and the impact of human activity on fish populations.

This holistic and engaging approach to education makes Capital City fertile ground for the integration of Social Emotional Learning. SEAD’s case study demonstrates this by zeroing in on teacher Samantha Clark’s 6th grade math class. In this lesson, students have been learning geometric concepts by working, alone and in groups, on blueprints depicting their city. Clark calls a volunteer (Brandon) to the overhead projector to display a tightly scripted “peer critique” protocol for the feedback process.

  • First, Brandon describes exactly what he is working on and mentions problems he is having completing his portion of the project.
  • Next, Clark asks “clarifying questions” to fully understand Brandon’s concerns.
  • Then she provides specific feedback, leading with positive comments and following up with helpful guidance.
  • Brandon is then given a chance to respond before returning to his group to put into practice what they have just learned.

This process keeps students engaged, on task, and working together harmoniously. “I don’t see social and academic skills separately at all,” Clark says. “I don’t think first about designing a lesson and then think next about how to develop students’ social-emotional skills. It’s all one.”

To ensure high-quality instruction such as that provided by Clark, Capital City teachers are supported by instructional coaches, given dedicated time to create lesson plans, and frequently meet with other teachers across all grade levels to discuss overarching concerns and goals.

As a result, this charter school outpaces its overall district in growth of student proficiency (as measured by PARCC), and 100% of Capital City’s graduates go on to enroll in college. Despite these impressive achievements, head of school Karen Dresden is always striving to improve. “Our job is much broader than preparing kids for a test;” she says, “we’re preparing kids to do well in college, in careers, and in life. We want to make sure that they have all those skills.”

Other Examples

Also included in the case study are four other examples of successfully implemented SEL approaches.

  • San Francisco Unified School District – The pre-K – 12 math curriculum is taught using principles of “growth mindset,” in which students are taught to expect and embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. This approach focuses on enhancing conceptual thinking, problem-solving skills, and procedural fluency, avoiding the strict right/wrong binary that has led so many students to believe they are “bad” at math.
  • Facing History and Ourselves – This non-profit organization engages students in an examination of social justice issues throughout history with the goal of encouraging students to engage in and understand their role in an active democracy.
  • New Tech Network (NTN) – The NTN focuses on project-based learning, integrating content knowledge with critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and student responsibility.
  • Center for the Collaborative Classroom – This non-profit provides continuous learning for teachers to support the academic, ethical, and social development of children.

Integrating SEL into academic curriculum is clearly beneficial for not only students, but for teachers, parents, and communities as well. By utilizing these principles we can raise the next generation to be socially conscious problem solvers, effective communicators, and well-rounded humans, leading to a better future for all of us.

For more information on innovative approaches to learning, contact us!

Why Free Play Is Critical for Child Development

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Free play refers to activity that is child-centered, child-initiated, child-controlled, and above all, fun. Children have been engaging in this sort of play naturally, and with enthusiasm, for millennia. But as play has become more structured and planned in the modern era, child development experts have been raising concerns about the potential ramifications of a decrease in free play. It turns out that many crucial skills are developed when children are allowed plenty of unstructured play time. Free play benefits children cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically. In fact, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has declared that engaging in play is a universal right for every child on earth.

Cognitive Benefits

Children’s brains are designed by nature to learn and grow through play. Unstructured play is necessary to allow every child’s brain to flourish and reach its full cognitive potential.

The open-ended nature of free play lets children exercise their imaginations, thus enhancing their creativity. A group of children playing pretend will naturally engage in world-building, characterization, and storytelling. Activities such as building or designing structures can facilitate problem-solving skills and encourage innovative thinking.

Most importantly, free play helps children develop something called self-directed executive functioning. This refers to the cognitive control processes that regulate thought and action in support of goal-directed behavior. Developing executive functions as a child is critical for achieving independence as an adult. Free play is about children making their own choices, often in service of a clearly defined goal. Practicing this mode of thinking, in the low-stakes world of play, leads to habitual and natural decision making in adulthood. In fact, studies show that self-directed executive functioning is a strong predictor of academic performance and positive life outcomes.

Social Benefits

Collaborative free play teaches children social skills they will not pick up in any classroom. In order for everyone to have fun, each child in the group must practice resolving conflicts and must be flexible to accommodate the others. This kind of play fosters a sense of empathy and cooperation by reinforcing the idea of other children as individuals, each with their own set of needs and desires.

Physical Benefits

Any kind of rigorous physical play is good for children’s muscles, bones, and cardiovascular system, but free play can take this development even further. Children who are choosing their own physical activity are likely to be more engaged and focused, leading to longer play sessions and more devotion to mastering desired skills. By deciding on, and following through, with their own self-imposed challenges, children become stronger, faster, and more coordinated. They can also develop better spatial awareness by actively exploring and interacting with their environment.

Emotional Benefits

Any parent who has ever nervously watched their child climb too high, run too fast, or attempt to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time can attest that taking risks is a big part of play. The unbridled nature of free play leads to heightened risk-taking, as children are motivated by the desire to maximize their fun and to impress their friends. Trying and failing leads to resilience and perseverance, and successfully navigating risks enhances a child’s confidence and self-worth.

Free play can also help children practice self-regulation, or the ability to control one’s emotional responses. Children engaged in free play must learn to manage their own interactions rather than relying on an adult to facilitate. A child who frequently yells at his friends when angry will soon learn that it’s in his best interest to control his temper, especially if he wants those children to remain his friends. Learning to regulate one’s own emotions is an important part of becoming an adult.

Free play is a critical component in any child’s development. By fostering and encouraging more unstructured play, we are helping our children develop the tools they will need to succeed as adults. For more information on how to nurture your child’s development, contact us at Tessa International School, where we value free play and so much more, and encourage children to explore and express themselves in a safe and enriching environment.

 

Why Do Children Learn Languages Faster than Adults?

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By Tori Galatro

It’s a commonly held belief that children learn languages faster than adults. For the most part, science and research support this belief. However, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. For example, why do children learn languages faster? How much faster do they learn them? Do they learn them faster because of their environment, their brain chemistry, or some combination of both? Is it possible for adults to learn the same way children do? Let’s look at some of the factors that attempt to answer these fascinating questions.

The Environmental Advantages Children Have When Learning Languages

Children have environmental advantages when learning language that most adults don’t have. Very young children aren’t formally instructed in language the way adults and older children are. They learn by being immersed in multilingual environments. They passively “absorb” the language through contact. When formally instructed, it is through games and songs, not verb conjugation and exams. In fact, adults also learn much faster through immersion, but the cost of immersion is much higher for adults than it is for children. Children have virtually no responsibilities in life, so they have the time and energy to spend hours in environments that challenge their communication skills. Most adults don’t have that luxury.

Children are also better candidates for immersive language learning because they have fewer inhibitions. It’s much easier to learn a language if you’re comfortable making mistakes and sounding foolish, a hurdle that makes most adults extremely anxious. Also, the standard of language competence is much lower for children than it is for adults. They aren’t judged the way adults are so they don’t receive, or give themselves, as much negative feedback when they make mistakes. They also aren’t tested the way an older child would be, so there is less pressure. The learning process is more playful and natural.

As an adult, if you move to a foreign country and nobody speaks your language, you’ll quickly start to learn the new language because you’re motivated to communicate and connect with others. But few adults willingly put themselves in that situation. Young children are often exposed to language in such a situation, but they don’t need to deliberate the merits of their decision. They don’t even know they are learning a new language or know how it may serve them later in life. They just think, “this is how I talk to Dad” or “this is how I talk to my classmate”. It’s the pure desire to communicate that drives the learning.

The Cognitive Advantages Children Have When Learning Languages

Environmental advantages may be important, but it’s hard to deny the cognitive advantage very young children have when learning new languages. Babies and very young children form neural connections at a rapid pace. As the brain develops, it becomes more specialized, reinforcing the neural pathways that are regularly used. This is a good thing because it makes the brain more efficient, but it also makes learning new things more challenging. That’s why those who learn a language at a very young age have the accent of a native speaker. Later in life, those neural shortcuts our brains have created to increase efficiency force us to fall back on the sounds, or phonemes, of languages we already know.

It is because of the brain’s elasticity and rapid neural formation that babies and young children are able to learn languages at a faster rate. This is sometimes referred to as the “critical period”. It is theorized that if a child does not learn any language, including non-verbal languages, during this time period that they may never be able to learn any language, because the necessary neural foundation for it has been permanently damaged. We can’t know the answer to this question because testing it would be inhumane.

The Critical Period of Language Learning

It’s difficult for us to know just how important these factors are when judging the speed of child language learning against the speed of adult language learning. Whatever the primary factor, there are so many advantages to learning languages as a child that it would be a shame not to take advantage of those critical years.

To learn more about how you can enroll your preschooler in a fully immersive bilingual environment, where they can learn languages naturally, visit Tessa International School in Hoboken.

How Bilingualism Promotes Social Skills in Children

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by Tori Galatro

In 2016, two studies were conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago on the social effects of childhood bilingualism. Their findings suggest that bilingual children can understand different perspectives more readily than monolingual children. The two studies also remind us of how much we still have to discover about how children perceive and understand others, and how their early experiences transform their understanding. In addition, it provokes questions about how we ought to apply these findings to education and parenting.

The First Study: The Toy Car Experiment

In the first study, researchers took children 4-6 years old and presented them with three toy cars: a small car, a medium car, and a large car. Then, an adult, who could only see the medium and large toy cars, would say, “Oh! I see a small car. Can you move the small car for me?” Some children were able to understand that the car that the adult was referring to must be the medium car. They could understand that the adult could only see the medium and large toy cars so, to them, the “small car” was the medium car. The researchers found that bilingual children moved the medium car more often than monolingual children, who chose the small car instead.

This study suggests that bilingual children are better equipped to put themselves in the shoes of others than monolingual children. This makes sense in a way. If you have multiple languages to choose from, and you need to communicate, you need to be able to see from others’ perspectives. You need to modify your words based on context and perspective. This also suggests that exposing children to multiple languages can help them develop essential social and emotional skills, like empathy, compassion, and communication.

The Second Study: The Banana Experiment

After the results of the first experiment, the researchers wondered if the same result would apply to even younger children. In their next experiment, they chose 14-16 month olds who were just beginning to talk. They presented the children with two bananas. Like in the toy car experiment, one banana was hidden from the adults view, while the other could be seen by both the adult and the child. Then, the adult asked for “the banana”. The bilingual children more often chose the banana that could be seen by both themselves and the adult. Again, this suggests that bilingual children are more accustomed to understanding the experiences of others.

What Does This Mean for Monolingual Children?

Although both experiments showed how bilingual children have an advantage when it comes to interpersonal skills, follow-up experiments held good news for monolingual children. As it turns out, when the same experiments were performed with monolingual children who were sometimes exposed to multilingual environments, they acted the same as the bilingual children. In other words, simply being around different languages can help a child to understand different perspectives.

The researchers also ran cognitive tests for executive function on the bilingual children, monolingual children, and monolingual children who are sometimes exposed to multilingual environments. Scientists already know that bilingualism has positive effects on the brain so they were not surprised to find that the bilinguals scored higher on the cognitive tests. However, both kinds of monolingual children scored the same. This suggests that the social skills gained from being exposed to a multilingual environment are not effects of greater cognitive strength, but rather the knowledge gained from the social experiences themselves. In other words, the social benefits can be obtained without becoming bilingual.

For monolingual parents, this is great news. It means that you don’t need to speak multiple languages at home for your child to benefit from multilingualism. Even limited exposure can help your child to understand different perspectives. The social advantages of understanding different perspectives not only helps your child to think more critically, but it also helps them to become a more empathetic and well-rounded. Contact us at Tessa International School to find out more.

The Different Types of Preschool Bilingual Learning

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by Tori Galatro

You may already know that bilingualism can have a hugely positive impact on your child’s future. You may also know that the best time for your child to learn a new language is when they are young. However, there are many ways for children to become bilingual, and many factors that can influence the speed of their language education. When a child reaches preschool-age, from three to five, immersive language learning can be extremely helpful for children that have been exposed to two languages from birth, as well as children who’ve only ever heard one.

The following are common ways researchers distinguish between the differences in early language education. Learning these approaches may help you to think about how your child’s preschool language education can introduce, promote, or supplement their previous experience with bilingual learning.

The Six Models of Childhood Bilingualism

The Huffington Post recently published an article outlining the various ways in which children can learn languages at home, at school, and in their community. The article outlines six different models of bilingual language acquisition.

  • Model Example #1: Both parents speak a language at home, while a different language is spoken by the child’s school and community. Such parents may have moved from a different country, or simply wish their child to learn a different language than the one spoken at home.
  • Model Example #2: One parent speaks one language exclusively, and the other parent speaks the language of the school and community. In this model, the child would benefit from supplemental help during preschool in the first parent’s language, as they are getting only limited exposure, but would more readily absorb the community language.

The six language models referenced in the article are different variations on this general concept: the child’s preschool education should vary according to where, when, how often, and by whom each language is spoken. However, this research was published back in the 90s and many studies have since developed these models further.

The Two Types of Early Bilingualism

The models of childhood bilingualism mentioned above have also been grouped into two categories by researchers: simultaneous and sequential.

  • Simultaneous bilingualism occurs when a child is exposed to two languages equally, from birth.
  • Sequential bilingualism occurs when a child is introduced to one language after the other, during childhood.

Both are considered to be great methods of bilingual language education. Both methods fall under the category of “early bilingualism”, which means both languages need to be acquired roughy before the age of five, during the normal period of language development.

Children who learn sequentially, or learn their second language after the age of three, but before the age of five, actually learn the second language completely fresh, rather than using their first language for guidance, as older children might. This gives them an advantage since these younger children are less likely to rely on the grammatical patterns of their first language for support. They also tend to have a period of adjustment to the new language during which they may stop speaking in the environments where only the new language is spoken. They may use hand gestures only, until they begin to test out their new language. After that point, they have a high potential of becoming just as competent in their new language as a native speaker.

Understanding How Bilingual Preschool Education Can Help Your Child Learn

Your child is capable of becoming multilingual at a very young age, and speaking each language with the competency of a native speaker, but they are going to need the proper level of exposure, before the age of five. A child won’t become fluent in a new language by watching a foreign language TV show once a week. Their exposure to the new language must be consistent, immersive, and meaningful. Children don’t understand the long-term benefits of language learning, but they do have an innate desire to communicate and be understood. That’s why the new language must be more than a casual activity. It needs to be integrated into a meaningful and consistent environment for the child to truly care about listening and learning.

At Tessa International School, we create an environment where language learning is not just fundamental, but also enjoyable. Contact us today to enroll your young child in an immersive bilingual learning program, and encourage language learning that has already happened at home, or start completely fresh.

Fine and Gross Motor Skills of Preschoolers: What Parents Can Expect as Children Grow

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As the parent of a preschooler, you will want to compare your child’s motor skills to the average developmental skill level to gauge their growth and development. Motor skills are the motions that occur as a result of a child’s brain, nervous system, and muscles working together. Although each child develops different skills at different rates, it’s helpful to get a basic idea of the milestones they should be reaching at each stage. Since motor skills are supported by many areas of the body, they are a helpful guide for parents to access their child’s development early on. It’s also a great way to tell if your child in naturally inclined towards any physical skills, so you can encourage them to develop their unique talents.

Here’s what you need to know about fine and gross motor skills for young children and the average ages these skills start to develop.  

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills involve using smaller muscles and movements, such as grasping small items or holding utensils. It’s important that small children develop fine motor skills, so the small muscles of their hands, fingers and toes can become strong and dexterous. These skills also include the small muscles of the tongue and lips necessary for language. As fine motor skills in preschoolers improve, young children are able to do simple tasks, such as feed themselves.

Fine Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 2-3

  • Creating things, using their hands, such as building towers using wooden or plastic blocks.
  • Scribbling with crayons.
  • Molding Playdough or clay into simple shapes.
  • Inserting shapes into matching holes, such as placing round pegs into round holes.
  • Preferring one hand over the other one, which can signify if a child is right or left handed.

Fine Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 3-4

  • Showing more independence in trying to dress or undress themselves.
  • Manipulating zippers, snaps and other garment fasteners.
  • Starting to use round-edged or blunt scissors.
  • Using spoons and forks.
  • Being able to use large crayons, markers and other types of thicker writing tools.
  • Twisting off lids from jars.
  • Opening and closing doors by turning door knobs and pulling handles.

Fine Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 4-5

  • Continued refinement of fine motor skills, such as being able to unbutton or button clothing without help.
  • Improved artistic abilities, such as drawing simple shapes and stick figures.
  • Drawing large letters.

Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills don’t require as much precision as fine motor skills do. Besides involving movement, gross motor skills entail arm and leg coordination, in addition to moving other large parts of the body, such as crawling, running and swimming.

Gross Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 2-3

  • Running, hopping and jumping, which typically occurs after toddlers start to walk smoother, faster, and with more confidence.
  • Throwing and catching large balls.
  • Using the feet for pushing themselves when maneuvering a toy car.

Gross Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 3-4

  • Improved upper body mobility, which enables children to catch and throw large balls.
  • Hitting a stationary ball from a tee.
  • The onset of stair climbing, although somewhat awkward—At this age, climbing stairs is usually done cautiously, in which both feet land on a step together before proceeding to the next step. Parents need to assist their kids in stair climbing to prevent falls. They should especially be on hand when their kids descend stairs
  • Hopping and jumping higher because of stronger leg muscles with some children being able to hop on a single foot.
  • Starting to ride a tricycle due to the improvement of overall body coordination.

Gross Motor Skills: Milestones for Children from Ages 4-5

  • Ascending and descending stairs without assistance.
  • Skipping.
  • Spinning the body when throwing a ball.
  • Riding tricycles or even bikes with better control at faster speeds.
  • Running faster and smoother.

Considerations and Warnings

  • Toddling, which is a movement, which pertains to a wide-legged posture that resembles robot-like motions, can be a clue that walking will soon begin.
  • Before most young children start kindergarten, they’re able to totally dress and undress themselves without assistance even though it can take a while.
  • As parents, you can help your preschoolers develop their fine motor skills at home, such as showing them how to cut and paste, use a zipper, clap their hands, build with blocks, do simple puzzles and manipulate crayons and pencils.
  • Once young children learn how to twist off lids, it’s critical that parents keep containers containing harmful substance out of reach.

Do you have a child who will soon be old enough for preschool? Maybe you’re a new mom. If so, it’s not too soon to start thinking about preschool and giving your son or daughter a quality early childhood education. Besides helping preschoolers with basic motor skills and developing their cognitive and social abilities, at Tessa International School we also introduce them to other cultures and languages, which can prepare them to be leaders of the 21st century. Please contact us and learn more about our exceptional preschool in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Interesting Facts About Childhood Bilingualism That Might Surprise You

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by Tori Galatro

Cognitive development in children is a fascinating subject. Children have an incredible ability to absorb information. Parents who expose their children to multiple languages at an early age give their children a unique advantage in their language development. New research is coming out everyday on the subject of cognitive development in children as it relates to bilingualism and multilingualism. Yet there is still so much we don’t know. Below are some recent findings on the subject that may surprise you.

Children “Code Switch” Just Like Adults Do

Jumping between multiple languages in the same sentence or conversation is known as “code switching”. There are many reasons to code switch, and it is a natural part of being bilingual. Code switching can show emphasis, help clarify meaning, or evoke the cultural associations of a particular word. Bilinguals may simply prefer a phrase in one language over its translation in the other. Bilingual children also code switch. Parents of bilingual children often assume this indicates confusion or struggle, when in fact, it’s a natural part of language learning. In some cases, children may use another language to substitute for vocabulary they don’t know. Parents ought to make sure their child knows the correct word in both languages. Other than that, there is nothing to worry about, and code switching is perfectly normal.

Children Have the Unique Ability to Sound like Native Speakers

The term “bilingual” usually describes someone who is conversational in two languages. More than half of the world is said to meet this criteria, but only a small percentage can speak two languages as if they were a native speaker, with native pronunciation. Most people can only achieve this if they start at a very young age, which is why early childhood bilingualism is so fundamental to language learning. It is much easier for a child to learn the phonetic sounds of multiple languages before the age that they become too accustomed to the sounds of only one.

Children Will Follow the Language of the Community

Language dominance is a very common phenomenon among bilinguals. Very few bilingual adults and children speak two languages with exactly the same frequency and skill. Different languages are often used in different contexts, or different spheres. For example, one language may be spoken at home, while a different language may be spoken at school or in the community. It is common for children to gravitate towards the language spoken by their peers, rather than their parents, as they get older and embrace the community language as their dominant language. It is advisable to supplement the non-dominant language with classes and extra conversation.

Children Derive Non-Linguistic Cognitive Benefits from Being Bilingual

Years ago, parents and researchers believed that bilingualism was bad for children and slowed their development. Modern research has repeatedly shown that the opposite is true. Of all of the studies on childhood bilingualism, none have shown any negative effects, and several have shown positive effects, even in areas of the brain not related to language development. Some studies indicate that bilingualism can improve focus, attention, and selectivity. Others indicate that it can improve reading ability in cases where both languages share a common alphabet. Bilingual children may initially have a decreased vocabulary in each language, since less time is spent with each, so the more language, communication, and expression in their lives, the better for their language learning.

 

At Tessa International School, we use proven methods, creating an immersive bilingual learning environment where parents can take advantage of this special time in their children’s lives, helping them to develop their minds while having fun. Contact us today!

How Children Learn Languages Naturally Through Immersion

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Immersion language learning may sound like something that can only be done living abroad, but this is absolutely not the case. Even monolingual people have experienced the central premise. If you’ve ever made a new group of friends who use a phrase you’re unfamiliar with, then find yourself using it constantly in a week or two, you’ve already been through a very minor form of language immersion. Parents who want their children to learn a second language during their early linguistically-adaptive years can understand why their preschoolers won’t learn a language by rote memorization of vocabulary sheets and grammar rules, but instead through immersion.

Immersion and Fluency

When babies are learning to talk, we don’t start them off with written flashcards. Instead, they start experimenting with phonemes (the smallest audible parts of a word like “ba” and “ko”) that sound like the sounds the adults around them are making. As they start to speak, they also pay close attention to how others around them speak and the responses they get from their new words. Eventually, they form meaningful sentences to express needs based on their understanding of what the words they are using mean by experience and observation. In other words, all children learn their first language through immersion. Learning their second language is no different.

family, children and people concept – happy mother and daughter drawing and talking over green background

The Bilingual Household

‘Naturally’ bilingual children are simply applying that adaptive language learning stage to two different language sets. Bilingualism occurs when a child is regularly exposed to communication in both languages. This can occur at home or at school, as long as the exposure is consistent and immersive.

In the Classroom

You don’t have to have a multilingual family or travel with a toddler to give your child the gift of additional languages at a young age. Immersion can easily be created in the classroom simply by changing the linguistic context of the lessons and conducting them in the second language for the majority of the school day. This gives students, not only the opportunity to self-motivate, but also the desire to do better. In an immersive classroom, the children are asked to think, listen, write, and speak primarily in the target language, helping them learn how to interact comfortably with each other and the instructor while learning the language together.

Tessa International Preschool

Tessa International School is an immersive bilingual preschool that emphasizes bilingual language learning  We take pride in our successes bringing bilingualism to our students. In our classrooms, the children learn from their native speaking teacher and teaching assistant, and from each other. Parents are consistently surprised by the speed and completeness with which their very young children can learn a new language. Children naturally learn language through immersion, and your toddler can start learning their second, third, or even fourth language right away with us. Whether you’re a classic monolingual English speaking family or your toddler speaks your native language better than the local one, Tessa International School will be proud to teach your child Spanish, French, or Mandarin in an environment that nurtures, challenges and provides educational excellence in a wonderfully rich learning environment. For more information about how children learn language or to schedule an interview with us, please contact us today!

Skills to Teach Preschoolers That Will Help Them Later in Life

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Many of the skills children learn at a young age stay with them throughout their lives. If you want to help kids develop into happy, healthy, social, and self-sufficient adults, it’s important to encourage certain habits and ways of thinking at an early age. Let’s look at some of the best skills to introduce to children in preschool that will help them later in life.

Language Skills

Language skills are fundamental to a great deal of what children learn throughout their lives. Learning how to read and communicate verbally lets kids absorb all types of information, ask questions, and develop their own ideas. Evidence shows that literacy is not only about developing language skills but contributes to a variety of life skills. Experts disagree about how early children should learn how to read. At the very least, however, preschoolers can learn the alphabet and start to develop a varied vocabulary. There are a variety of ways to foster language skills in children. One of the best ways is simply by talking to them. Having a designated storytime each day is also important. Don’t rely on media such as TV and the internet to give children language skills. While they have their place, they are more passive and don’t encourage thought and interaction as much as a direct conversation. Giving kids pencils, chalk, shaving foam, wooden letters, pens, markers and much more with which to scribble and start experimenting with letters and words helps them foster early writing skills.

Social Skills

Social skills are essential for many areas of life. To some extent, these overlap with language skills but only to a point. People who are proficient with language and have extensive vocabularies may lack essential social skills. Learning to get along with others involves listening as well as talking, the willingness to share and self-manage emotions. These abilities don’t always come naturally to young children. Teaching children to take turns, share toys, and consider the needs of others helps lay the groundwork for functional personal and professional relationships later on. It’s equally important for shy children to speak up and learn to be assertive when necessary. Games, sports, and group activities requiring cooperation help children learn such essential social skills.

Motor Skills

Physical skills, such as gross and fine motor skills, are essential for helping children navigate their way through life, feel confident, and learn to use tools. These types of skills are useful in a variety of fields, such as technology, engineering, cooking, sports, the arts, and many other areas. Hand-eye coordination is also necessary for writing and drawing. Many activities that children naturally enjoy, such as running, arts & crafts, playing ball games, swimming, riding bikes, and climbing help to develop these abilities. Today, children often get tethered to electronic devices at an early age. It’s important to make sure they stay active, spend time outdoors, and engage in physical play. In addition to helping them develop motor skills, this helps them learn healthy habits.

Reasoning and Problem-Solving Skills

Many problems in life, both professional and personal, require reasoning and problem-solving abilities. If children in preschool start to develop these skills, they’ll be more resourceful and self-sufficient as they get older. Many games and puzzles that are fun for children also help them think their way through problems. You can foster these abilities by talking to children about problems that arise in everyday life or theoretical questions, such as “how do plants and trees grow?” “how can we fix this broken table?” or “what’s the best way to get to the shopping center?”. This gets kids accustomed to using their minds to solve problems and empowers them to know that they can.

Creativity

In addition to introducing children to specific skills, it’s also important to encourage their creativity. Kids are naturally creative. The only question is how much the adults who supervise them allow them to express their creativity. A certain amount of free play helps them develop their imaginations. Artistic activities such as drawing, painting, building with blocks, play dough, and singing are all great for fostering creativity.

At Tessa International School, we help students work towards International Baccalaureate accreditation. This curriculum framework provides so much in the way of giving children life skills at a young age that will be useful throughout their entire educational journey and their lives. Qualities such as care, respect, empathy, and much more are emphasized daily, preparing children to be leaders of the 21st century. Not to mention happy world citizens, as they are immersed in another language and other cultures. To find out more, contact us.

 

Tessa International School

Office: (201) 755-5585 | Location: 720 Monroe St. Hoboken, NJ 07030