Language Lizard Update

Dear Reader:

It is hard to believe that summer is almost here! We hope that this summer you will find some leisure time to read, read and read with your children! And for those of you who are teachers, we hope you will have a chance to consider your classroom curriculum and strategy without the daily pressures of the school year.

As you think about enhancing the language learning experience for young children, please take a look at our blog for support (blog.languagelizard.com).  Our blog has articles that review recent research on supporting dual-language learners, gives suggestions on helping children feel proud and confident of their heritage, provides guidance in making the classroom a welcoming place for children from diverse backgrounds, and much more. In addition, our new blog manager Leah Mullen, has begun a wonderful series featuring international folk tale characters.  Consider sharing these with your students and children to help them learn more about other cultures and stories from around the world!  Read on for more blog articles that could benefit you and the children that you support.

For those who are trying to teach their children Spanish, please go to our Lizard Reviews section to learn more about a new book that can help you have fun with your child this summer as you engage them in language learning.

Happy Reading!

Anneke Forzani
President and Founder
Language Lizard, LLC

P.S. Please note that many of our popular titles are now available in new languages!  See what's available in each language by searching by language on our site.

P.P.S. You can now pay via Paypal on our site!  Of course we continue to accept purchase orders from schools and libraries throughout the US .  Feel free to contact us if your school requires W9 forms, business registration certificates, or any other vendor forms.  

*Subscriber Special Offer*: This month we are offering a 10% Discount on I’m Coming to Get You! and the popular title, Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat. Through June 30, 2013 , simply apply Coupon Code CCS-Summer upon checkout to receive a 10% discount on those titles.

To see the difficulty level of these and other Language Lizard books, please visit our “Book Suggestions” page at  http://www.languagelizard.com/images/Childrens_Bilingual_Books.pdf

Feature Articles

Below are excerpts from a few recent articles from the Language Lizard Blog that provide tips and ideas on helping children learn and feel pride in diverse languages and cultures.  Click on each link for the full article.  This summer, spend some time visiting our blog for many more ideas and articles!

No Kidding! Bilingual Books Help Prepare Dual Language Learners for Kindergarten, Says New CECER-DLL Report

How can preschool teachers help prepare their students for the huge transition into “ Big School ”? And where do bilingual books fit in? Teachers who use bilingual books can create preschool links to the K-12 Common Core Standards, specifically in speaking and listening, and reading. By the time they leave a preschool class in which bilingual books have been utilized, they have built up a strong foundation in the key academic areas in which they will be assessed during the next thirteen years of their education. Click here to learn more about the CECER report and how you can support your preschool dual language learners.

Using the Arts to Teach Bilingual Children

Because language learning is a creative process, it makes sense to incorporate the arts when teaching languages, especially to children, who are very visual. Using different art mediums, such as music, visual arts, and film connects the left brain (the creative side) to the right (the logical side). This can speed up learning because as new information is being collected, it is being “pattern matched” to what is already stored in the brain. Click here to read more about using the arts to support language learning.

Featured Folk Tale Character: Baba Yaga

Who is this mysterious, iron-toothed figure that appears in a range of different Eastern European folk tales?  Read this blog post to find out.  This is the first in our installment of international folk tale characters. Tell your child all about it!

What's the Real Home Language Story? Making your Head Start Classroom Welcoming for Multilingual Kids

Every Head Start teacher has the privilege and responsibility to make his or her children feel valued and comfortable from day one in the classroom.  There are plenty of things educators can do to help people from all cultures feel at ease in your classroom. Read on for specific suggestions.

Bringing up Multilingual Children with Less Common Home Languages

On a sunny day in London , when the streets are crowded with people enjoying the rare warmth, you can hear an abundance of different languages from the majority migrant groups in the city: families discussing the school day in Somali; teenagers gossiping in Turkish; imams greeting each other in Urdu.   But as you pass by the shop fronts boasting posters in languages from Polish and Bengali, you won’t hear German or Cape Verdean Creole – not unless you go to Andrea and Xaxa’s for tea and cake. This article features bilingual families and the resources they can use to ensure their children feel proud and confident of their cultural and linguistic heritage.