Helpful Hints

Top tips to help you support bilingual children in your setting

Ways to support bilingual children

Make sure you can pronounce their name correctly.
Find out how much they understand the languages spoken at home.
Give them plenty of listening time. Remember, children usually go through a silent period before they are ready to speak, so make sure you keep talking even when they do not respond.
Use their home language as much as possible, especially when they first arrive and are settling in.
If they are at the early stages of learning English, encourage the use of non-verbal responses.
Praise them for any attempts to communicate.
Limit your questions.
Use plenty of visuals (gestures, pictures, real objects, visual timetable) to help their understanding.
Demonstrate your instructions alongside the words you are using.
Repeat and emphasise key words.
Model language while playing next to them and comment on their play.
Tell repetitive stories and play games that involve repetition of language.
Allow time for them to respond (10 second rule).
Keep records of their progress to share with parents and colleagues.
Advise parents to speak their first language at home. This will support their child's developing English language skills.
Invite parents to share books, songs, pictures, toys, traditional costumes and food from their own cultures.

Remember - children are natural linguists.

Advice and guidance to practitioners working with early years children in nurseries, pre-schools, childminder settings, children's centres and reception classes
Training to promote bilingualism and share a range of strategies to support young children new to English language.
Workshops for bilingual families in Children's Centres where parents can find out the importance of first language when their child is learning English.
Courses are available via CPD Online

For further information, please contact Monika Pardo