Raising Bilingual Children

"For instance, bilingual children may enjoy certain cognitive benefits, such as improved executive function — which is critical for problem solving and other mentally demanding activities."

"SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age."

"From a very young age, children who are bilingual are using their executive control system and in a way that advances its development," says Dr. Ellen Bialystok ,a cognitive neuroscientist and Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University in Toronto. The executive control system is, "the basis for every hard thing we do. It helps us pay attention to this and ignore that," says Dr. Bialystok, adding, "It's precisely the system the brain calls on to pay attention to one language over the other."

The brochure, intended for the parents of children in elementary school or younger, answers common questions about second language learning and instruction for children.

"Raising kids to be successful in more than one language requires some careful planning and learning about bilingual language development."