Clever Currents

What is the right age to learn a new language? Jetzt! Ora! Maintenant! Ahora! Nu!

Scientists have shown that words learned before puberty are stored in a different part of the brain. That's just one reason why it's a good idea to start learning languages early. Kids possess their greatest ability to absorb and retain languages until the ages of 12 or 13 when their brains begin losing plasticity and they become more self-conscious. It's easy to get started in a family where the adults already speak more than one language. If you are not so lucky, try ordering cartoon books in a language you are interested in, to make learning that language fun. You can also get a bilingual children's dictionary and make a game of finding the meaning of words you can't recognize.



The Blue Lake take on it:

Just as we believe that a child's first reading experiences should be low-pressure and build confidence, we recommend approaching new languages the same way. Join a foreign language playgroup. If you can't find one, The Multilingual Children's Association has some helpful tips for starting a language immersion playgroup.

The Write Stuff.

Well before a child learns to form letters with a marker or pencil, she has taken many steps toward learning to write. Children need many opportunities to use their hands to do various things before they can successfully print letters. Squeezing play dough, building a tower of legos, stringing beads and completing a knobbed puzzle are some of the ways children practice for later writing. A child who shows no interest in writing or who doesn’t have proper pencil grip is probably not ready to do so. Children enjoy learning a new skill only when they are ready for it. Getting ready is just as important as mastering the skill.

The Blue Lake take on it:
Break out the markers, finger paints and play dough, roll up your sleeves and have fun!

I owe it all to comics!

Comic books can spark an early reader’s interest – the excitement of the graphics and the action-packed plots draw in children who normally think of reading as boring or too hard. And comics can lead to success as an adult. "My preschool fascination with comics meant that I could read by the time I entered the first grade," says Mike Richardson, the founder of Dark Horse Comics whose earliest passions included Batman and Spiderman. Mike started Dark Horse 20 years ago, and now they employ 100 people. Products include Star Wars, Sock Monkey and The Escapists.

The Blue Lake take on it:
Whatever works! If your preschooler is excited by comics, start a collection. Dark Horse Comics or check out Diamond Comics to find a local retailer of comic books.

Talk, talk and more talk. It’s that simple.

We have read three articles this month which touch on the idea that successful preparation for school begins at home – and this doesn’t mean you need a lot of sophisticated tools. Child development experts at the University of Kansas conducted monthly visits with families of newborn children for three years. They found very significant vocabulary differences that could be directly related to spoken language in the home. On one end of the spectrum was a group of 3-year-olds with about 1,100 spoken words in their vocabulary. At the other end was a group with about 525 words. The first group had an average I.Q. of 117; the latter group had an I.Q. of 79. What was the root cause? Research showed that the more advanced 3-year-olds heard 487 “utterances” – anything from one word to a full sentence – from parents during every hour spent together. The group with the weaker vocabulary and I.Q. heard only 178 utterances per hour. Most of the utterances in the high-scoring group were positive: 86% encouragements vs. 14% discouragements. In the low scoring group, the ratio flipped: 27% encouragements vs. 73% discouragements.

The Blue Lake take on it:
Talk to your child as much as possible – narrate their lives – and strive for positive comments. Here are some helpful tips from Child Welfare League of America.