Benefits of Raising Bilingual Children

Have you ever found yourself stuck by a communication barrier? Perhaps in that moment, you were wishing your parents had taught you another language in your early childhood years. While the number of bilingual children in America continues to rise, it is becoming more and more crucial to raise children who speak multiple languages. The Benefits of bilingualism and raising bilingual children are endless and starting your child early will have a lasting impact on the rest of their lives.

Why Start Early

If you plan on raising bilingual children, it is best to begin sooner rather than later. From birth to six years of age, your child’s brain is developing rapidly absorbing all information effortlessly, continuously, and without fear. By age six, your child has developed most of their core brain structure. Just think about how much they learn in just their first few years of life… how to walk, talk, read, and much more. Did I mention talk? Let’s put it this way, they learned an entire language in just 3-4 years. It is safe to say that while your child’s brain is retaining endless amounts of information it would be beneficial to throw in another language. 

Academic Achievement

Multilingual and bilingual children have demonstrated cognitive advantages such as communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and listening skills, memory concentration, speed and efficiency in the brain, and higher test scores.

Cultural Sensitivity

Languages are a window to the world. Communication is one of the most powerful tools and knowing more than one language allows you to connect with people from different backgrounds. When you open your mind to learning about different cultures you gain a better understanding of different ways of living, obtain new ideas and information, and create more opportunities for yourself.  

Conclusion

There are many advantages to raising bilingual children. There is so much to learn from one another and knowledge of languages helps us connect. Allow your child to discover the beautiful differences in the world. Your child will gain wisdom, and confidence and have an overall fulfilling life.

This blog was created by Brooke Daniels who is a current Child Development Associate (CDA) student with CDAClass.org.