Early Second Language Learning--Guest Post

 

As an adult, have you ever felt frustrated when you couldn’t communicate with another person due to a language barrier? Perhaps you then wished you would have studied a foreign language beyond the mandatory high school or college courses. In today’s society bilingualism and even multilingualism are a norm. As the demographics of our country rapidly change, it is vital to understand about foreign cultures and languages. Employers greatly value individuals who are bilingual and frequently applications who boast these skills stand out in a highly competitive job market.

 There have been a wide variety of research studies demonstrating the benefits of early second language learning . School systems all across the country continue to implement and improve their foreign language curriculum. Many schools now offer elementary language immersion programs where children are taught by teachers who speak fluently in the targeted foreign language. The goal of immersion programs are for students to become fluent in the foriegn language, as well as succeed in each of the regular academic subjects’ weather taught in English or the targeted language. As parents, we all want to provide our children with the most comprehensive education we can. When seeking out educational programs think about researching your options for second language learning programs through your local school district.

What You Should Know About Early Second Language Learning

1. Teaching a child two languages does not put them at risk of emotional difficulties or intellectual disadvantages.
2. In the early stages of acquisition of a second language, children learning two languages may show developmental lags in the area of language learning. These lags are small and do not last very long.
3. Research studies have shown that bilingual children can identify communication needs of their conversational partner earlier than monolingual children.
4. In regards to vocabulary development, bilingual children generally have a smaller vocabulary in each language when compared to monolingual children. When documenting how many “words” a child is using it is important to account for words in both languages.
5. Children who learn a second language most often receive higher test scores on many cognitive ability tasks including mental flexibility, non-verbal problem-solving, comprehension on the origin of names, distinguishing between semantic similarities and phonetic similarities and judging grammatically correct vs incorrect sentences.
6. A child who learns a second language before the age of nine is more likely to speak with a native accent. Visit the American Hearing Language Speech Association to find out more about second language learning . If your child is learning a second language that you don’t speak be sure to read this article on tips for helping your child learn a foreign language. 

Do you speak a second language? If not, what language would you love to learn?
Hi, I'm Mindi, a working mom of two boys crazy little boys, Xander and Noah. During the week I work at a children's hospital as a Speech-Language Pathologist, all while wishing I was at home playing with my boys. I blog over at Simply Stavish about my family, knitting, crafting and my latest passion, photography. Join me each Monday for my weekly feature, Words In the Sand, where I share information on topics in speech, language, voice and oral motor development. Are you concerned about your child's speech, language or feeding skills? Check out my post on how to locate a Speech-Language Pathologist. I would also love to connect with you through Twitter or Facebook.

Paper Pumpkins

This is a really easy and pretty cute little craft project you can do with your kiddos.

Cut several strips of colored card stock paper into 1 inch strips. I used my paper cutter cause it ensured they were the same width each time.

Using your paper puncher punch a hole in each end of the strip of paper until all of your pieces of paper have two holes.

String a green or brown ribbon (of your preference) through one end of the strips and knot.

Pull the ribbon tight so that you create a C-shaped stack of paper and knot the other end of the ribbon.

Fan out each piece of paper until you have a pumpkin shaped craft. Add more ribbon on top to create the leaves, if desired. (This project is great for little hand that need more fine motor skill activities).

Oreo Smash Bars

Do you love Rice Krispie bars???  Here's a new twist (and a little more unhealthy) on those same bars.

You will need:
1 package of Oreo cookies
1 package of regular sized marshmallows
1/2 stick of butter

Empty the entire container of Oreos into a blender or food processor. Chop until they make a fine grit. They should be all chopped with no large pieces left.

Melt the butter and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. It should take around 1 1/2- 2 minutes to fully melt them.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Pour contents into a 8x8 greased pan and smash down firmly. Set in the fridge for about an hour to harden. Remove and enjoy! AMAAAAAAAAAAAZINGLY good!

I only added this photo because I thought it was funny....my counter top is the same as the bars tee hee hee

Pillow[ology] by Sleep Number

Ok Lindsi and Jamie, isn't it Monday?  Aren't you suppose to be doing an activity post?  Why are you talking about pillows on an activity day?

Please click to make bigger.

Let us explain...According to WebMD, "Pillows can not only impact the quality of our sleep, but also how healthfully we rest and recharge."  According to us, and based on common sense, if you aren't rested and recharged, you can't spend quality time with, or do activities with your kids.  Both of us have slept on some BAD pillows and we've woken up with headaches and sore necks.  We live out the next day, or two, drugged up on ibuprofen (or something stronger) and can barely get by, let alone, do extra activities with our kids.  

Sleep Number knows that not only does your bed make a difference in your sleep, your pillow does too.  That's why they've come up Pillow[ology] to help you find your perfect pillow so you can rest and have energy to do things with your kids.  

We had a chance to visit our local Sleep Number store and go through the Pillow[ology] process.  In three easy steps we designed our perfect pillow.  Not only was it fun, it was eye-opening.  After talking with the sales person, we choose our outer shells, inner supports, and outer protectors.  Lindsi knew pretty much right away what she was looking for.  Her greatest choice was between the down vs down alternative.  She ultimately chose the down alternative outer shell and down alternative inner support with the In Balance outer protector (she likes that cool pillow feeling).  Jamie, on the other hand,  made a mess trying to find her perfect pillow!

Jamie realized that she's been sleeping on the wrong type of pillow for a while!  She thought she would like the memory foam stuff but quickly learned that down was better for her.  Problem is, she doesn't like the pokiness of down.  Ultimately, she chose the down alternative outer shell (doesn't poke you like down can), down inner core, and the cotton outer protector.  

After sleeping with our Pillow[ology] pillows for two weeks, we can't be happier!  We have both truly found our perfect pillow.  Of course, we knew we would because we designed it ourselves!  No more waking up with headaches and neck aches due to the wrong pillow.

So, how well are you sleeping?  Do you have the energy to play with your kids?  Do you think you might need a new pillow?  Check out Sleep Number's Pillow[ology].  The combinations are endless (ok, not endless, but there are definitely a lot of them!) in finding your perfect pillow.  And, as a benefit, they've got options with silver in them to help those with allergies!  

What are you waiting for?  More energy to spend with you kids is just a pillow away...

We both receive a Sleep Number Pillow[ology] pillow for our review for this post.  All opinions are 100% our own.

Sponge Ball Fight--Pinned it, Did it!

Welcome to our first Pinned it, Did it! post!!  Every Friday, we'll bring you things we've tried after pinning them on Pinterest.  Sometimes they'll be things we've pinned on our personal accounts, sometimes, ideas we've pinned on our Toys In The Dryer account.  Either way, we'll let you know if the project or recipe was worth the effort and if our kids had fun doing them.

We start with a sponge ball fight:

When I saw this pin on Pinterest, I knew it was PERFECT for our neighborhood block party!  We've had water balloons in the past that left a huge mess to clean up in the morning plus parents worried their little ones would try to eat the small balloon parts left in the grass.  Thus, sponge balls were tried and were an exponential success!!  Both the little kids and the teens loved them!

Confession before I continue: I have no photos of the actual sponge ball fight because I got to the party at the very end of the fight (work ran a little late).  These photos were also taken after the fact because I forgot to take them when I, my neighbor, and her daughter were making them for the party.  (I actually had to take apart a few balls and put them back together for these photos!)

OK, you need:

• Basic sponges (3 per ball)
• Scissors
• Rubber bands or string
• A bucket
• Water
• Kids (or adults)

Start by cutting each sponge in half, then each half in half again to make 4 sponge strips.  You'll need some sharp scissors and if you're making a lot of balls, some strong hands as ours got tired after a while.

Stack 12 sponge sticks on top of each other in a 3 x 4 stack.  You can use all the same color sticks or mix it up to make fun colors.

Rubber band or tie the sponge sticks together in the middle.  The original pin used string to tie them together but we used rubber bands.  Our balls did start to fall apart after a while (mainly when the teens were throwing them hard) and we're not sure if tying tighter string would have made a difference.  You should be fine with tight rubber bands if you are using the balls gently with younger kids.

Fluff the balls up by bending the sticks apart from each other.

Fill up a bucket of water, soak the sponges, and have some fun!  FYI: the sponges hold quite a lot of water so you can throw them 4-5 times before having to dunk them in the water again!

QUICK NOTE:  We tried a few sponges from the dollar store that had the scratch pad on one side (because it's the only sponges our dollar store had).  Though they worked ok, and were not as scratchy as we thought they would be, they did not hold as much water and they got quite dirty after a while.  I definitely say to spend a little more money and go with the regular sponges!

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