There is a lot of evidence to suggest that being bilingual can help your child in many areas of life, such as helping to maintain links with their family culture and heritage; aid them to develop stronger academic skills in reading, writing and language learning; enhance cognitive skills such as attention span, problem solving, communication skills and task switching; and in our modern multicultural society many jobs require people who understand multiple languages. If English is not the main language that you and your family speak at home, your child may require some extra support to help them learn English as an additional language (EAL).
Your home language is very important, and where possible both languages should be supported and experienced at home. Some ways you can help your child develop skills in your home language (Language 1 or L1) while continuing to develop their understanding of the newly acquired language (Language 2 or L2) can be found below.
(Definition from Education Scotland)
Activities & Ideas to support bilingual learners at home
- Keep language as simple as possible, particularly when issuing instructions.
- Give 10 seconds processing time before repetition in same words
- When talking to your child, use as many pictures and objects as possible to reinforce information processing.
- Link to prior learning “Remember when we / how you…”
- Check for understanding at each step, recap as necessary
- Have your child repeat information in their own words / to others
- Use ‘think time’ –give 30 seconds to consider their answer before responding
- Encourage your child to use both languages in their home environment.
- Read to your child in their first language from books or online sources. A variety of books in different languages can be found at http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ and https://worldstories.org.uk/.
- Try to have books and games in both languages available for your child to explore independently. Your local library may have these available or if this is not possible to be accessed at this time there are a wealth of bilingual stories available online.
- Encourage your child to retell stories in their own words, and to create stories of their own, either verbally or in writing.
- Discuss daily routines and objects utilising both home language and newly acquired language. Try to pair words with either pictures or real world objects to aid understanding.
- Sing songs in first language and in English. Resources to aid this can be found on https://www.mamalisa.com/ and Youtube nursery rhyme compilations such as by the Scottish Book Bug Trust (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITp7YsfX73M) and CBeebies Mr Tumble’s Nursery Rhymes Playlist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyIDg6m4gA0)
- Encourage interactions with language speakers from your home community and keep in touch with your extended family via free online technologies such as skype or whatsapp. This will give your child further experiences of language and opportunities to use what they are learning in a social, informal setting. (There is a link further down the page to community groups in Scotland that aim to facilitate this, although please note these are to be accessed at your own discretion and are not endorsed by Education Scotland)
- Make use of thinking routines such as I see, I think, I wonder when discussing an image or story. Further information on thinking routines can be found at http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html
- Play ‘find me’ or ‘I Spy’ games around your home or outdoors: looking for objects starting with certain sounds or group items according to the vocabulary you are teaching i.e. Can you find things that are yellow / large/ hard.
- Using a phone or camera, create a video diary of your day. This could be a lovely way to communicate with friends or family you are currently socially distanced from.
- Find letters or common words from newspapers/magazines. Create a collage combining words and images that relate to them. They could also make words and sentences by cutting up letters/words from newspapers and magazines and stick on to paper to make a new text!
- Have your child create their own word flashcards, which can then be arranged to make new sentences or words. Play Pictionary with these cards and have your child draw an image relating to the word.
- When watching a film or news report, have your child take notes and then explain their understanding and discuss with other family members afterwards. CBBC Newsround is a great online resource for news suitable for children. Your child could even make their own news report about what they have heard, including use of a short video, cartoon strip, diagram, or chart to help them reinterpret information. They could even use their drama skills to present their findings to the family.
- Encourage your child to create their own word bank or dictionary. They could take note of any new words they come across, look up their definitions in a dictionary or online, and add it to their new vocabulary list. Not only will this help them take ownership of their language development, this word bank will also serve as a reminder of how far they have come!
- Many learners benefit from multisensory learning (involving more than one sense i.e. sight, touch, hearing) Ideas for this include: Chalk writing on paper or outside. Your child could even write a positive message with chalk on your driveway or pavement to encourage passers-by!; Create a gloop writing pad using a plastic sandwich bag, hair gel and glitter. Remember to seal the top with duct tape or this could get messy!; Put some flour or sand in a tray and have your child use their finger to make letters or words. Shaving foam can also be a super fun material for this!; other materials such as magnetic letters or playdough are excellent resources for this.
- Corner game – Your child may have experienced a version of this corner game during PE or school parties and social events. Put letters or pictures onto paper and stick to four walls. Ask children to run to the corner with the picture that starts with a certain letter or say the word and ask children to go to the corner with the letter of what they think that word starts with.
- Encourage your child to keep a journal or diary of events at home, to help them continue to use their language skills. This has the added bonus that it may help them to process their thoughts and emotions.
- Silhouette game – In a dark room shine a torch or lamp onto a wall. Hold objects in front of the light source and the children can guess what the common objects are and name them.
- There are lots of games that encourage language use, including Scrabble, Guess Who, Snap, Pictionary and many more. You will find a table of online games further down this page.
- Have your child research any topic that interests them and create a short report. This could be about their favourite animal or book, and could be created on a computer or with good old fashioned paper and pencil.
- Take it outdoors! Have your child make a short film or presentation about the outdoor space they use or even the view from their bedroom window. What’s happening outside? What can they see or hear? Where are people going? They could even write a short story about where they would like to go once we are able to move freely again.
- Create a nature survey! This can be done in your own garden or again from a window. What birds or animals can you see? Take a note each day for a week what is happening. You can draw a chart with the information you see each day. Share this with everyone else in your home. Try brainstorming some ideas on how to encourage more wildlife in to your local area.
Websites and games to support Bilingual learners (Source: GDSS)
| FREE Web sites | Description | Cfe Stage | EAL Stage |
|
https://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/
|
Maths ict games
Money / Time Number within 10 Literacy LCWC – spelling common words/ digraphs/cvc words etc. Letter formation |
Early –First
|
EA |
|
http://www.games.galacticphonics.com/cvc/cvcwords.htm
http://www.games.galacticphonics.com/blends/interactive/ccvcspell/ccvcspell.htm |
Literacy
A site which shows the children a picture and they spell the word. |
First |
EA
DC |
|
http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html
|
Literacy
Phonics games– initial sounds / digraphs/ cvc etc. |
Early –First
|
EA |
|
https://www.kidslearningville.com/
|
Literacy
Learning games |
Early –First
|
NE
EA DC |
|
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html
|
Literacy
Cvc games and spelling games/reading books /maths/ All about ME
Maths and Language Early literacy has survival language colours – numbers match picture to word
|
Early –First
Early – Second |
EA
NE
NE EA DC C |
| https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
|
Maths and Language
|
Early – Second | NE
EA DC C |
| https://www.mes-games.com/
|
Games and activities to learn English | Early – Second | NE |
| https://www.anglomaniacy.pl/
|
Games and activities to learn English | Early – Second | NE |
| https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
|
Literacy / Maths | Early – Second | NE
EA DC C |
| https://elt.oup.com/student/incredibleenglish/?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
|
Interactive reading activities | Early – First | EA
|
| http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/maths/
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/literacy/
|
Interactive maths site
Suggested games for maths.
Interactive LITERACY site Suggested games for literacy.
|
Early – Second |
NE
EA DC C |
|
https://www.roythezebra.com/guided-reading-story.html
|
Literacy
Roy Zebra- spelling games days of the week / months Reading books etc.. |
Early – First | EA
DC
|
| http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html
|
Literacy
Interactive word search – spelling |
First – Second | NE
EA DC C |
For further information: http://www.gdss.glasgow.sch.uk/Websites/SchSenRosepark/UserFiles/file/Resources%20to%20Support%20EAL%20Learners%20at%20Home.docx
Including website & game guidance
Information for Parents
Information packs to help bilingual children attending Scottish schools:
Including guidance on home learning:
https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-at-home
and helping support home learners during the Covid19 school closures:
The education Scotland website above also contains links to information for parents on key curricular areas and vocabulary they may encounter, including this glossary of numeracy and mathematics vocabulary:
Support for safe online learning:
https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/my-child/digital-learning/
Guidance on frequently asked questions, available in multiple languages:
http://www.bilingualism-matters.ppls.ed.ac.uk/parents-questions/
Download link to parent support document:
Scotland’s National Centre for languages:
https://scilt.org.uk/Parents/EALandBilingualism/tabid/5881/Default.aspx (If you scroll down to the bottom of this page there are a number of links to bilingual community groups to aid children and parents in finding others who share their first languages)
30 lessons on the basic principles of English grammar:
https://www.talkenglish.com/grammar/grammar.aspx
Free online games to help kids develop language in fun engaging ways:
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
Huge collection of resources on teaching English as an additional language, including videos and blogs:
https://effortlessenglishclub.com/blog-and-video-podcast
Glasgow Dyslexia and EAL support service website
The GDSS website above also contains the following EAL resources, including guidance and activity ideas:
Creative singing and chanting with young EAL learners
Early Literacy for Older Learners
EAL levels and descriptions:
Helping your child with language development at home (download)
