How Learning Languages Can Benefit Young Brains

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Bilingual Kids

Being bilingual looks great on a resume these days. If you are proficient in more than one language, you become more marketable as an employee and more doors open up for you depending on what business you are looking to go into once you enter the job market. This is often the pitch given to parents and prospective foreign language students in American schools, but this sort of education is provided much later on than in many other parts of the world. For that reason, many American children fail to completely attain any useful level proficiency within the language they study (unless personally motivated), unlike children from elsewhere in the world. Teaching children multiple languages from the get-go is much more likely to make an impact and really stick. Not only that, but learning languages early on also yields a broad range of cognitive benefits that can help children as they grow and develop.

Children in other parts of the world, including Europe and Asia, begin learning a second language at the pre-k or kindergarten level, sometimes adding on a third or fourth language later on. The American school system, however, does not tend to implement or even introduce foreign language education until sixth or seventh grade when children are already twelve or thirteen. By this time, a child’s brain is less impressionable in terms of language, and studying another tongue can be increasingly difficult if introduced after puberty. While many schools in America do not offer language classes as part of their curriculum until the middle grades, that does not mean that you have to wait to teach your child a new language.

If you want to teach your child a new language, you can begin teaching them from the moment they are born if you want to, but you can wait until they are in pre-k or kindergarten as well. If you or your child’s other parent happen to be bilingual you can be beneficial, however, you can ask others for help such as family members or friends and you can even employ children’s books and programs that they can listen to and take part in as they learn to communicate by using language.

There have been many studies conducted on the effects that languages have on children. Results have proven that kids who learn more than one language tend to do better in a variety of subjects including reading and science, perform better on standardized tests and exhibit more advanced problem-solving and spatial abilities. Additionally, some other studies have shown that learning a second language can help prevent senility and extend your lifespan as well. The reason why it is better for children to begin learning a new language when they are younger versus adolescence or even young adulthood is because they are much more likely to gain proficiency.

There are plenty of ways that you can incorporate multiple languages into a child’s life, and if they learn more than one language while they are first learning to speak, they are more likely to grasp the rules of the language much more naturally as well as be able to pronounce letters and sounds not found in English. Even if you only speak English, you can take this as an opportunity to learn a new language alongside your child. Who knows, they may be able to teach you a thing or two themselves!

For more parenting resources please be sure to follow our KD Novelties Blog.  We also have personalized children’s books in Spanish so please be sure to contact us at KD Novelties for more information.

Best Type of Books to Read with Babies

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Read With Your Baby

If kids always have reading and books as a part of their everyday lives, they are more likely to develop a healthy relationship with both of them. It becomes more likely that children will pick up a book on their own, even if they are not prompted, which can help spark their interest in learning to read while building their literary skills.

One of the best ways to acquaint kids with books and reading is to introduce it an early age. It doesn’t matter how young your child is, it is never too early to bring books and reading into their lives. But since young children may not yet understand books or know how to read, it does help to expose them to books that they will still be able to enjoy and interact with regardless. So what are the best kinds of books for babies?

Board Books

Personalized Board Books for Babies

Board books are a great first-time book for any baby. These books are easy to look at and play with since babies don’t know how to read yet. The stiff pages are safer for babies who are still developing their motor skills, but it also helps kids learn to use their motor skills and allows them to explore the object physically without getting themselves hurt. Babies like to touch, but they also love to feel around with their mouths as well. It is one of the first ways that babies learn what objects are. Let your baby sift through the pages of a board book and there is no need to worry if they explore the books with their mouths, either. Doing so will allow your baby to develop a relationship with books in general, and simply having them around can help establish them as a staple object in the world that they can become familiar with and explore.

High Contrast Illustrated Books
Kids are easily dazzled by color, which is why toys and cartoons are so whimsically designed. It inspires their imagination and grabs their attention. By drawing your child to the pages of a book, they can begin to learn how to explore narratives through images while they develop this part of their brain as well as this particular learning skill. The images in a book can be just as captivating and educational as the words, especially for kids who have not yet learned how to read and whose worlds are still inherently visual. Engaging kids by inspiring this aspect of their brains can also help to harness an interest in books as well.

Word Games
Books that use language in creative ways can be really fun for children, especially for kids who are learning to speak or learning to read. Things like rhyming and sing-alongs are great ways to interest kids as well as teach them. Rhyme and song are great tools to employ when teaching kids something new, because it makes new concepts and ideas easier to remember.  Rhyming and repeating text helps build your baby’s early language skills.

Where Can I Get Baby Books and Sing-Alongs?

Personalized Rhyming Book

Check out our Little Little One personalized book which has repetitive text and rhyming that will grab your baby’s attention and build their vocabulary and memory skills.  We also offer personalized music CD sing-alongs where we insert your baby’s name into the song.  Lastly, we also have personalized baby board books where you can insert your child’s photo.

By adding this bit of personality into learning or reading, kids are more likely to get excited and more readily engage with whatever it is that they are doing.

Behavior at School vs. Behavior at Home: What’s Normal?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Many parents witness a transformation of some form when their children begin to go to school. For many children, school is the first place outside of the home and they really begin to learn how to act when their parents are not around. Children learn that certain behaviors are expected in different environments. Some kids have difficulty adjusting whereas other kids transition seamlessly. Regardless, it is important that parents pay attention to their child’s behavior in order to see whether it is healthy or whether there is a concern that needs addressing.

An Angel at School but Acting Out at Home

Misbehaving at Home

As frustrating as it can be for some parents, hearing that your child is well-behaved at school despite acting out at home is actually good news. Some parents may be surprised and wonder why there is a difference in their child’s behavior between these two spaces. For many kids, school is an unfamiliar environment. This applies to children who are just starting school, but it also applies to children who are older as well – every year they are placed in a new classroom, with new classmates and a new teacher. School follows a schedule and has structure, and teachers and faculty are unfamiliar adults that they are told should be listened to. If you are a parent of a child who acts well at school but acts out at home, you may wonder whether this means that your children does not like or respect you – but this is absolutely not the case.

Since kids are in an unfamiliar environment, they are more likely to follow the rules and do as they are told. They are learning how to operate in the world as individuals so their time at school becomes a learning process. At home, children are comfortable and they already know that they are loved and appreciated by you, their parents. When kids act out at home, they are learning as well. Since kids are more comfortable at home, they feel more at ease when it comes to testing limits and pushing boundaries, which is actually a very good sign (really??? you say!!) in terms of their personal development.  However, setting boundaries at home is very important because children can get out of control in the home setting.  Rewarding them for good behavior and reprimanding for bad behavior (in love) is crucial when setting house rules.

Misbehaving at School

Acting Out at School but Agreeable at Home
It is usually when the tables are turned that parents need to do some investigating. For some children, their school or classroom may simply not be a good fit for them. Some parents have been told by teachers that their children cannot or will not sit still, but for many kids this sort of restlessness, especially after extended periods of time, is extremely normal for their age group. Some behavioral issues have simple fixes and finding alternatives can provide you with the solution that you need.

In other cases, however, children who act out severely at school are advised to seek therapy along with their parents as it may be the sign of another issue. A specialist can help you get to the bottom of the problem and teach you how to address it in a healthy way that benefits you and your child.

One thing to always remember is that if there are any issues with the child seeking help early in the process is always beneficial, and most behaviors are temporary and kids will get over it and so will you.  It’s just going through the process that makes this difficult, but this too shall pass.

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