Supporting Language Development for Children Who Are Dual Language Learners in Head Start and Early Head Start Webcast

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Yvette Sanchez Fuentes: Hello! I'm Yvette Sanchez Fuentes and I'm honored to serve as the Director of the Office of Head Start. I want to take a moment and welcome you to the third program in this series of professional development opportunities to support children who are dual language learners and their families. The Office of Head Start recognizes that children who are dual language learners enter Head Start programs with unique strengths and challenges.

From the outset nearly 45 years ago, Head Start has worked to create high quality environments in classroom and home based settings. Environments that show support and respect for all children, including the growing number of children who speak a language other than English.

While Head Start has a long history of serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations, the numbers have been growing rapidly. According to the Head Start Program Information Reports almost three out of ten Head Start children come from families who speak a primary language other than English. I'm proud of the work that Head Start has done in the area of services to children who are dual language learners.

In Head Start and Early Head Start, we offer services that build on the diversity of our children, families, and communities. We build learning environments in classrooms and other settings, that take advantage of what children know and can do.

We also create systems that build on the diversity of our populations including our Program Design and Management Systems. In 2008, the Office of Head Start held a four-day national Dual Language Institute. The Institute's purpose was to draw attention to, describe and disseminate approaches and resources that support you, in work with children and families who speak languages other than English.

Our series Ready for Success: Supporting Children who are Dual Language Learners and Their Families is intended to build on the learning from the Institute and support the quality of experience for children who are learning in two languages.

We know that the years prior to kindergarten are among the most significant in shaping a child's foundation for learning in school and experiencing success. The Office of Head Start always strives to improve its support to agencies that offer services to all families and children in our programs. It's a very special honor for me to announce that two of the four segments in this program were originally conceived and recorded in Spanish.

I hope you enjoy this webcast and take advantage of all the opportunities that this series will bring this year. Now, I want to turn it over to Sharon Yandian who is leading our effort on services to children who are Dual Language Learners. Sharon?

Sharon Yandian: Thanks so much, Yvette. It's so great to have someone who is our leader, who has experience and knowledge about children who are dual language learners. Today, our focus is going to be on oral language development, the listening, speaking, and understanding aspects of language.

Next month, tune in on the 17th when we'll be focusing on literacy development, those pre-reading, reading, and writing aspects. Today I'm thrilled to introduce the panel who will be with you for the next 90 minutes, so you can learn about those aspects of supporting children who are dual language learners around oral language development.

First let me introduce Graciela Italiano-Thomas. It's so great to have Graciela with us today. She's a former Head Start Director and Executive Director. She has extensive experience in working with early childhood education and children who are dual language learners. She's nationally known. It's so great to have you back working with the Office of Head Start.

We're going to be hearing a lot from Graciela, she's going to be facilitating the panel today and you'll see her as she leads other aspects of the series. So thanks, Graciela. Karen Nemeth, great to have you!

She's recently from the New Jersey Department of Education and she's published a book, Many Languages, One Classroom. Karen did a fabulous session at the Dual Language Institute on Math and Children who are Dual Language Learners. So it's great to get you back with us here. And Jos� Paz, nice to have you with us as well.

Jos� works as a Regional Coordinator for the Office of Head Start's National Head Start Family Literacy Center at Sonoma State and Jos� has been a preschool teacher for many, many years. He grew up with Spanish as his first language so he brings a lot of personal and professional experience with us today.

And last but of course not least, is Carola Matera, who brings many years of teaching experience as well and she's recently done research with children, Spanish speaking children who are dual language learners around language and literacy development. Carola currently works with many Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs nationwide as a technical assistance provider.

So we are great -- it's wonderful to have this panel with us today. Before Graciela begins, I want to set the context for viewers. This really, as you know, is just the tip of the iceberg. We are with you for 90 minutes only and our goal is to really give you a catalyst to learn more about this topic. You're going to be hearing a lot of exciting information.

You're going to say can't they say little bit more, a little bit more? But really it's a catalyst for your learning. Today's webcast is divided into four segments. The first one, Children Can Learn in Many Languages. The second, [Cada Familia es un Mundo] Each Family is a World. Segment Three, [Hacia Mejores Salones y Programas] Best Practices in Classrooms and Programs.

Segment Four, Making It Work: Everyday Examples. What is wonderful as you'll see is that we have two sessions in Spanish and two sessions in English and this provides an important opportunity for all of us to have that multilingual experience.

So we really enjoy -- you'll notice when you logged on, you chose an English or Spanish captioning and that's why. We've tried to capture the essence of this issue and provide very concrete examples, although I'm sure you'll say we want more examples, we want more examples. But we want you to keep in mind that no two programs, no two children, no two classrooms, no two learning environments are alike.

It is the same for our children who are dual language learners. So be very keen in the way that you consume information as you listen. We encourage you to take notes and try some of the ideas. Make sure you have downloaded the Viewer's Guide. It is available in Spanish and English.

We hope that it provides you with some suggestions during and after the webcast. As to how you can share this information, we know many of you, you may be the only one from your program who is with us today and we know how busy you are. We want you to be able it transfer that information or the questions you have and we hope that the Viewer's Guide does this for you.

Again, I also want to introduce the Program Preparedness Checklist, which should not be new to some of you who've tuned into some of our other opportunities that we've had in this series. It's not a big focus of today, but you will hear the panelists mention it and it is in the Viewer's Guide. We encourage you -- we reference it.

And those of you who not familiar with it, really we want you to take a chance to look at it and look at your systems and services as they relate to children who are dual language learners. Let's begin then looking at the definition of children who are dual language learners. Who are they? Children who are dual language learners, acquire two or more languages simultaneously as well as those who learn a second language while continuing to develop their first language.

The term "dual language learners" as you know encompasses other terms frequently used, such as limited english proficient, bilingual, English language learners, English learners, children who speak languages other than English. The thing that is most important, I think as we look at that, is we're putting children in front of the word dual language learners to remind us that it is the child that is important and who is learning in two languages.

Home language in the home may be different than English. In the classroom environment, a learning environment, English may be spoken as well as supports for that language. But it's the child who is the dual language learner.

So as you go on, a list of resources and on-demand archives of this webcast and other webcasts and webinars within this series, including answers to the questions we don't have time for this afternoon will be posted on the Dual Language Learners Page on The Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center or the ECLKC. Also if you'd like to provide additional feedback or suggestions please send your comments to the email address you see on your screen now, ohswebcast@esi-dc.com.

And now I invite you to sit back and enjoy the lively discussion of the panelists you're going to hear. I'm certainly looking forward to sitting back myself and listening. I also encourage you to participate in all of the other upcoming events in the series, which I won't list now but we hope you stay tuned with this focus on children who are dual language learners. Graciela?

Graciela Italiano-Thomas: Thank you Sharon. Hello to all of our viewers and thank you for joining us and welcome to our panelists. Sharon just gave us a wonderful definition on who these children are who are learning in two languages and there are many of them around the world right now. Many of them are still joining our ranks here in the United States. We have a passion, all of us for young children and in particular those who are learning in more than two languages.

Most of us have had our own experiences as young children learning in more than two languages and we've spend a lot of time in classrooms, where these children are, particularly in Early Head Start and Head Start. So, tell me from your personal experience, who are these children that you have worked with or maybe even your own children? Carola?

Carola Matera: As the Technical Assistance Provider with Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs in California and Arizona, I have met many families and teachers who work with children who are dual language learners, and especially from families who speak Spanish at home, and now we're encountering even more families who come with indigenous languages from Mexico, Mixteco, for example.

Graciela: Yes, so English would be a third language for many of these children. Carola: Yes. Graciela: Karen? Karen Nemeth: Yes, in my work with programs all over the country, I'm also seeing so many classrooms where the children speak two languages, three languages, where the teacher might only speak English but there might be eight different languages in her classroom. And so these are additional challenges that I'm really fascinated with.

Graciela: Right, and we're going to engage in a lively conversation about that and we don't have all of the answers but we certainly are wrestling with the circumstances. Jos�, you were -- you were a native Spanish speaker yourself who grew up here.

Jos� C. Paz: That is correct. My first language was Spanish and just like my daughter and this lovely lively passionate conversation, we would like for her to be bilingual so we started her speaking Spanish first and now she's a dual language speaker. And as a coordinator for the National Head Start Family Literacy Center, I realize the need is large and long, across our country. From coast to coast we have folks who are speaking Native-American languages, who are speaking Spanish languages and European languages as well.

Graciela: Great. So now that we are a little bit clearer about who these children are and the many languages, sometimes they're exposed to a language at home they -- they're exposed to English at home with older siblings while their parents may speak a language other than English. So what do parents and teachers really need to know to guide and support these children who are learning in two or more languages?

Jos�: You know Graciela, that's an excellent question. I think what's primary about that and most important are relationships, passion, closeness, warmth. Feeling that person, the child next to you and knowing that they are longing for touch and a stable relationship and the love that an adult can provide.

Graciela: Correct. Thank you very much for that. We know, we start communicating with babies from the moment they're born. We put them in their mother's, you know, on her chest, just after they are born and there's immediate communication.

There's eye contact, there's touch and even though they can barely see, and they certainly won't be able to speak for many, many months, if not -- a year or more, they understand that -- this closeness, is safety, is love. And it is the beginning of a life, where they will learn many languages hopefully, if this is-- if this relationship continues. And Karen or Carola?

Carola: Well, this might be an important time to talk about intentionality. We -- we've encountered this word all over, very quite often and it can mean different things at different times but right here, when we talk about intentionality, we're really saying that we're preselecting, or preplanning what kinds of experiences and opportunities we're going to provide to children who are dual language learners so that they can explore the world through curiosity and this natural interest they have to figure out how it works and promote language development.

Graciela: Right. So language is -- language learning is integrated in all of the other developing the children are doing in the early years. Right, Karen?

Karen: That's true and in fact, children learn so much about the world and about language before they ever learn to speak. Being able to speak is not the first part of learning language and so we can really achieve so much with children in our relationships before they're able to say the words. That's true of babies and it's true of children who are older who are learning a second language. They're still learning so much before they can speak the language.

Graciela: We have a wonderful clip that begins to illustrate some of our points. This is a teacher outdoors with a few toddlers in a program in Skagit County in the state of Washington and watch what happens as they go out and -- and something happens and she uses the moment. Just, let's watch.

[Video begins][Teacher speaks in Spanish] Is that a cat or a bird? Another bird, look! Another bird. There are two. They are up there, there are many. Look there are more over there; one, two, three, four, five, six birds. [Video ends]

Graciela: Great how she uses -- the spontaneity of the moment. What did you see? Karen: First of all, you can just feel the joy in that interaction. She's so natural and she's having so much fun with those children that they can't help but learn from that situation. That's the wonder of it.

Jos�: Joy and passion and feeling -- that genuine feeling of wanting to teach their children, in this case counting the birds, for example, that were flying across the sky at the moment, intentionality, going back to your point, Carola.

Very well said. Intentionality and planning that. Of course she's not going to plan birds flying by at a specific moment but the fact that nature lent itself -- for the children to learn, counting of animals is a very intentional thing and she did it at the precise moment and she did it with passion which is very important.

And also, if I may add, duration. It is a thing that we come back to. Of course she won't do -- she won't expose it to the children once and then move on. She'll continue to do it time after time, which really builds the children's vocabulary.

Graciela: Wonderful, thank you Jos�. Carola: So to bring back that into lesson planning, the teacher might extend that vocabulary and even make complete sentences, to build on that language. In the home language for those children.

Graciela: Right, so that would be like, a next step.

Graciela: Birds are flying in the sky. As opposed to just Arriba. And of course we need to make a point here that the first clips are showing you how the home language is being supported. This particular program also supports English and we will discuss strategies -- for all the different you know scenarios of classrooms we know and not all of them are as simple as Spanish and English. But many of the strategies are -- you know, overlapped.

So let's watch as -- as in this next clip, in the same classroom, they are using language, this teacher is particularly using language to guide physical activity. It was in a routine that is very predictable and they happen in Spanish in one day and we'll going to see the clip in Spanish first and it is supported by sign language because in this classroom, there are some children who are Spanish speakers and some who are English speakers and both languages are being used on different days.

So let's watch this wonderful moment where they're doing yoga.

[Video begins] [Teacher speaks in Spanish] Who wants to choose? I want to choose. What are you choosing, what is it? Yoga! Let's do yoga today. First we are going to do the dog and then the popcorn. Let's start with the dog. We are all doing our dog yoga.

Do you remember? On your knees, on your feet, head down. Here, I'll help you. Yes, good job! You, show me, up, look. Good job! Now let's do the popcorn. Lie down on your back, lift your knees, hold your knees, put your head up and pop, pop, pop. [Video ends]

Graciela: Wonderful, isn't it? I want to make a note here because it was interesting the first time I watched this clip, I thought they're doing palomitas and they're going back and forth doing pop, pop -- palomitas are pigeons for me. Why aren't they going like this? And of course it took me a moment to say -- no, palomitas for Mexicans are popcorn.

But it brought -- the point to me that often I've heard people saying, well, there's so many different kinds of Spanish, nobody understands. No, no, no, no. Spanish is a very, very standardized language. What happens is we have very rich vocabulary, how do you from South America say popcorn?

Carola: we say "pochoclo" or "pororo". Graciela: I say pororo and... Jos�: And for Mexicans, they say palomitas. Even within a country it is regional sometimes and it varies. That's a very valid point, Graciela.

Graciela: And in other places they call they call it "candil" and so it's very important not only to honor the home language but to honor the variety of home languages that might be in your classroom, even though they may even be just Spanish.

Karen: And you know my daughter moved to London and now she sometimes uses words that are English that I don't even understand. So even in many languages that's true, that in different parts of the country or parts of the world there are different words for the same thing and that's just part of the richness of language and it makes it wonderful.

Graciela: But it's not an opportunity to be discouraged, from support. It happens in all languages. So, let's watch the next clip, where it -- the next day, the very same routine happens but now it's in English.

[Video begins] Teacher: Yoga. Okay friends if you want to pick you may say it. I -- want -- to -- pick. All right. Here Silvana. I heard a lot of friends asking - that's very good. What did you pick Silvana? Yoga? OK friends, today we're going to do our downward dog and our popcorn. Let's get on our hands and our feet first and put your bottom in the air. Head off the floor JJ, pick your head up.

Teacher: Roof. Roof. Roof. Roof. Roof. Very good. Okay, ready for popcorn? Lay on your back. Watch your heads. Grab your knees, good job Sophia, and lift your head up. Pop. Pop. Pop.Pop. Pop. Pop. And you, Daniel. Want to help? You're good? You want help JJ? Ok. JJ put your hands on top of your knees. On top of your knees. There you go. Ready? Put your head up. Pop, pop. Good job. [Video ends]

Jose: What I really like about these two videos clips, and they're fascinating video clips is it's an example of how they are learning through different modalities. The adults are being cognizant of the fact that children learn through kenesthetic, through tactile, through auditory learning and it is a wonderful example how individual needs are met in order to develop that vocabulary.

Karen: The great thing the teachers were doing was using the sign language, really uses those different modalities but it also helps bring the whole class together, so when the teacher says, "I want," you can know what that means even if you don't know the words "quiero" or "I want." And -- children from all different languages could understand the meaning of what the teacher is conveying by using sign language as a bridge for everyone.

Graciela: That's right. The sign language supports both languages and creates a classroom community. They even have an example later on where the parents begin to use sign language at home with their children, because it extends their ability to communicate. So continuing with our strand of how children begin to really develop the relationships and the closeness when their curiosity is -- stimulated -- as they learn languages. This begins as we said from a very early age.

And in the next clip, we need to think about the mom with the baby and the connection. In this case, it is an Early Head Start teacher in Fort Washakee program -- in the -- in Alaska, where she is giving this very young baby an infant massage. And I'm not going to give you anymore. Just enjoy it. [Laughter]

[Video begins] Teacher: There. Does that feel good? Huh? Does that feel good? Here are your fingers. Feel your fingers, yes. On your fingers. Feel good on your hands? Yes? Does it feel good on your hands? Does it? On your tummy.

Karen: Listen to how quiet the environment is around them. Doesn't that really contribute to how nice that connection is between that adult and that baby. They can really focus on each other in that quiet environment. And sometimes quiet is really critical when -- when people are learning different languages. The children need to be able to hear the speech sounds of each language that they're learning. And so we don't always need noise in classrooms. Sometimes we need that quiet.

Carola: This is exquisite. It is so clear that she's interacting and having a conversation with this child. She's responding to the cues and providing more feedback and then waiting -- and then again providing even more language.

Graciela: Yes. Wonderful example. [Video ends] We now are going to move on this. We have seen toddlers. We've seen babies. Now we're going to move to a slightly older child and in this case, the teacher is English speaker and the child is Spanish speaking and watch how this interaction and the beginning of conversation, certainly communication is happening.

[Video begins] Teacher: Oh Animal Nursery Rhymes. Oh Boy. Hmmm? You like this one? Which one do you want? This one? The baby? [Singing]Bye baby Bunting Daddy has gone hunting. Going to get a rabbit. Want the fish one now? Which one do you want me to do? This one? [Singing] Hush little baby[Video ends]

Graciela: So what did you see? Karen: Well I think the teacher did a great job of connecting with that child even though she didn't speak the same language. The next step she could take would be to learn a few of those key words. Now, she knows what the child is interested in. She could learn those words and reach out with that book again to this child at a later time.

Carola: And it's important that you continue to watch this in -- into Segment Four, where we'll provide many more strategies and expand on all of these best practices.

Graciela: Great. great. Graciela: So let's watch another example. This is the now same young boy but now interacting with a teacher who speaks both languages, English and Spanish. I think this is a particularly good example of how she follows his clues.

[Video begins] Teacher: What color is that? Teacher: Rojo (Red) Good job! [Video ends]

Graciela: So what happened there? Karen: You could see the teacher was using all kinds of strategies even though she knows the child's language, she's enhancing that communication with her expression, with her gestures. And that's a great way for any teacher to connect, even if she has a classroom full of different languages, she still could use those great strategies.

Graciela: Great. In moving along the continuum, now we're going to see an older child, Victor, having more of a conversation with his teacher in his home language, Spanish, about a drawing he's making of his father. Let's watch.

[Video begins] Teacher: Show me what you drew. Child: My father. Teacher: Your father, is this your father? Child: But he doesn't have eyes.

Teacher: Doesn't he? Can you give him some eyes? Yes, bring a pen and draw his eyes. Let see, he has eyes, and what is this? Child: His nose. Teacher: That is his nose, and mouth, where is his mouth? Here it is. He has nose, mouth, ears, hand, what else? Feet, very good! Teeth, does he have teeth? [Video ends]

Graciela: As you could see, even though the classroom is noisier, for sure, they -- they managed to stay connected and to have -- it is the beginning of a conversation. I obviously -- you know, a next step would be -- Karen: To learn those words -- in English. And take the child to the next step now that he knows the concept and he can learn the words for those concepts in another language.

Graciela: And the next step in Spanish might be to speak with more complete sentences, allow for a more quiet space to have these conversations. So as you could see there's intentionality in both languages. Jos�: Regardless of the noise, Graciela, I want to mention how this adult here focused her entire attention on the child and really gave that child their attention. And allowed the child to be the leader as far as the conversation and the dialogue that was happening.

Graciela: Great. So, so -- do we teach language during these early years, be it one or two or more? Carola: This is an important -- this is a crucial point because children are learning in a language. So language becomes a vehicle. It is not that they're learning just the language, but they're learning concepts through that language.

Carola: So we need to provide ample opportunities for them to explore the world, to have activities that are age appropriate that are fun and creative and in that way children are going to try to understand that concept and then we can build on that so we can provide opportunities for them to develop the vocabulary in the second language.

Graciela: Great. And you've just given me a perfect way to move into the next segment where there's a lot of language happening in a very real situation, where Ruiz who's been having trouble with sneezing all day long, gets a lesson on blowing his nose. Let's watch.

[Video begins]Teacher: [unintelligible] I am going to use my napkin to blow my nose. You can use your napkin too. Look, more. Do you need help? Help--me. Look, do it like this, blow your nose, that's it. Good job! [Video ends]

Graciela: Excellent example of modeling, isn't it? Jos�: Absolutely Graciela, routine situation. Every moment is a teachable moment. It is really realizing that there's a teachable moment and taking advantage that optimizing that moment so that we can get the benefit, the most benefit out of that. It is a great example and of course, adapting it to the child's age. If it's a toddler or an infant or preschool child age adapting it to their specific needs, so crucial.

Karen: And we also have to really focus on how the teacher is being really personal with that child and having that relationship with that child. It is not just about classroom lesson about nose blowing. It is really about what -- what that child needs to know.

Every teacher needs to be intentional in their ability to have a relationship, starting from the first day when she learns how to pronounce every child's name just how their parents say it. Even though that may be difficult, it is key to that

connection and sets the relationship so they could talk about nose blowing later on.

Jos�: Ok, can I tell you how many times, excuse me Graciela, I have been called Josie? Carola: Yes!

Graciela: Exactly. From learning the children's names, to really placing themselves in the place of a grandmother or a mother who is baking cookies in the kitchen with their children. Look -- let's look at how this classroom does that I think in a very good manner, where -- they are in the next clip they are preparing batter to bake cookies and this is the Spanish day and the next day we'll see a clip in English where they are actually baking the cookies.

[Video begins][Teacher in Spanish] Teacher: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Now with the spoon, stand up and whisk, whisk the cookies.[Video ends]

Graciela: Isn't it great how she took "bate, bate chocolate" and turned it into "bate, bate galletitas?" It is excellent example on how to use rhyme and repetitive language and rhythm with any activity. And parents usually just instinctively do that. But teachers need to be more intentional about it. So let's watch the clip in English now.

[Video begins] Teacher:: A gingerbread man, a snowman, a bell. Here you go, Suzanna, don't put it in your mouth. Okay, now you push hard. Push, push, push, push. Oh, those muscles. Beautiful. Now we're going to put some sprinkles on them. Good job frosting. Watch -- like this! Very good. Now spread it with the bottom of our spoon -- just... like... that. [Video ends]

Graciela: And it's not just about language. They're building self-confidence, self-reliance, social skills, how to take turns. I mean this is just so loaded with all kinds of things that they're learning as is the next clip, where they are actually setting the table and we're going to see again both in Spanish and in English.

[Video begins][Teacher speaking in Spanish]Teacher:I want help. Very good! Sophie I have more cups, do you want more cups? Help, very good! Do you have napkins? I have more cups, do you want to help me with the cups. Good job friends! We need forks. Oh look I want a plate.[Video ends]

Graciela: So what did we see there?

Carola: This is a great example to show that children are learning concepts every day. And in their first language and in this scenario. But we also need to understand that while they're developing that concept in that first language, they don't need to develop that concept again in the second language.

We need to provide opportunities so that we can show the language, the vocabulary words in the second language and as you saw in that example with the place setting, children were learning how to do patterning and one-on-one correspondence. Well that's a concept that was developed, and they don't need to develop the concept again in English.

Graciela: Right, they can just learn the words, bring the concept along. Jos�: The concept just moves right over to the other language, language number two and it is a great way to help our children understand. Again a routine situation, something that we do every day in our programs and our classrooms.

And taking the most out of it and making the most out of it so that children can learn patterns, as you said Carola, it is a very important concept, taking turns. And once again, as described in the Head Start Act, intentionality and duration is so important for the children to understand. For us as adults to understand, it's not just exposure, it is doing it over and over again in a planned way.

Graciela: Wonderful, let's watch how we they do it in English the next day.

[Video begins] Teacher: Want--to help. Well done, JJ. I -- want -- to -- help. Thank you, Suzanna. Teacher: Go wash your hands. Good job covering your mouth, Do we need more plates? Plates? More plates. Teacher: Sophia and Jabani need a plate. [Video ends]

Graciela: Well we're coming to the closing of our first segment today and I want to just review with you the key concepts that we have tried to engage our conversation in. And they are languages are learned while the young children are developing - physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively - rather than directly taught.

Languages are learned through interactions with people who are loving, playful, and responsive to the individual child. Concepts need to be learned only once in the language in which the experience happens, then children can transfer and apply that conceptual knowledge as they learn English. The home language is the foundation for learning English and teachers need to observe and be intentional as they support children who are learning in two languages.

We are now at the close of our first segment. And I certainly hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have. And we are going to do the next two segments in Spanish. The next one immediately is called: Each Family is a World. Please, come back. [Music]

[Break ends 39:10]

Graciela: Welcome to our first Spanish segment -- Segment Number 2 of our program. We will continue our discussion, now in Spanish, on how to support children who are dual language learners. Ms. Karen Nemeth will follow our discussion, she understands most of the concepts in Spanish but she will make her comments in English. In other words, we will follow our own story, we are including a person who can understand us but cannot speak in Spanish.

Graciela: How can we work with families of children who are dual language learners? Carola: We know a Head start program where a family in the enrollment form said that their primary language was Spanish; but in the home visit, the teacher found that the family actually speaks an indigenous language from Mexico -- Mixteco -- not Spanish.

Therefore, the teacher made an individualized program with this family, to focus on developing a sense of confidence, pride of their own language and strategies so they could develop a vocabulary, especially in their home language and to bring those words into the classroom, and incorporate them in the practice.

Graciela: Thank you very much, Carola. This is very important, and that is why we called this segment Each Family is a World, because what we want to communicate here is that we need to know each family. The fact that some families are from Mexico doesn't mean that they are all the same. In the next video we are going to see some Head Start families.

[Video starts] Teacher: You already made some paintings up there. I thought you were going to go downstairs and get that dinosaur? No? I'm glad you changed your mind. I'd like to see what you're making up here. [laughter] "I want to dance, I want to dance." [Video ends]

Jos�: Even some Mexican families do not celebrate May 5th as much as the Mexican Independence day on September 16th. It's extremely important to know the family; foster that knowledge so they are unique and we need to know and acknowledge their individuality.

Graciela: Clearly this is the way where we can truly support children for them to feel welcome in the classroom, so they do not feel that they come from a strange culture. And there are many ways to do this. Another way is to use children's literature that is rich and originally written in Spanish, as we can see in the next pictures. There are many books and many authors and illustrators who are devoting their lives to write in Spanish for young children.

This is something that basically I didn't have when I was growing up. We had stories told by our parents, which are very important too. We should never forget that the richness of a culture can be found not only at home or in songs and rhymes, or in the home language, but also in colorful books where children and families are being reflected.

Karen: Also, to keep in mind that the richness of the language in literature means teachers need to make an effort to find books in all of the languages, even the unusual languages that are in their program.

Carola: We need to do an extra effort, to be aware of looking for good quality books, and sometimes this is not easy.

Then we need to look for resources and ways to find these books in order to have and use them in the classroom.

Jos�: Good point, Carola. I know that nowadays there is a greater variety than when I was a child, for example. There is a rich variety of books written in several languages. Graciela: Well then, many times, parents tell us to speak English only to their children because they want them to learn it well, without an accent, so that they have more opportunities in this society. What is your answer?

Jos�: An answer to this clear question is that because many families think, "We are here, we are going to succeed, and we want our children to learn English only." The answer I think would be to get to know the family better, their yearnings, hopes and their wishes to succeed in this country and to know in great detail about their needs.

Obviously another answer would be: we also want your child to learn and to be proficient in English, but we know that research tells us that in order to do this, first your child needs to understand concepts in the home language and then transfer them in the language he or she is learning. Graciela: Thank you very much.

Jos�: A clear example, Graciela, if you allow me to share it briefly with you, is my three-year-old daughter. My wife and I wanted our daughter to be bilingual since she was very young. We wanted her to speak English and Spanish. My wife spoke to her in Spanish and I in English. She went into preschool speaking both languages. But in that school and community, English is the only language spoken.

Shortly we noticed that she stopped speaking Spanish because all of her friends only spoke English, and she wanted to speak English only. We were surprised. How is this possible if we made such an effort for her? We talked with the teacher and the staff so we all could work together because we wanted our daughter to be bilingual. There is a need to develop a language guideline to share the same goal.

Graciela: That is such a good example, Jos�. That it's a family that understands what they want for their daughter and it's communicated to the teachers without an attacking attitude. On the contrary, with an attitude of cooperation, to bring their wishes and hopes, like you said, to the Head Start program. Therefore the staff has the responsibility to respond positively and to find ways to cooperate and to create an environment where children do not get conflicting messages.

It's important that the home language be supported in the classroom so the children don't say what your daughter said: "I don't want to speak Spanish anymore." The same happened with the son of a friend, who one day when he got home said in Spanish "no hablo m�s espa�ol� (I will not speak Spanish anymore) and he didn't for a year.

Carola: It is important to underscore that parents may have these experiences when trying to support in their mother tongue -- the language development of their children. We have to help and support them throughout that progression, because it's not as easy as you heard it or read it in books. Children also experience times when they do not have the vocabulary to complete a thought or something they need in their home language and that is when we and the teachers step in to help parents find the resources and strategies to help children at such times.

I have a two-year-old daughter who sometimes doesn't know what words to use in a sentence, so she uses both languages. And that gives me an idea of what vocabulary she needs to create that same sentence completely in Spanish.

Graciela: Or in English. That is the type of help we should offer all parents. Let's watch a new video where the teachers, Bonnie and Silvia, from the same program that we saw earlier, tell us how they do it.

[Video begins] Teacher: We also do questionnaires in the beginning of the school year, trying to figure out what is dominant language in their home, what other languages are they exposed to in the home, how do they feel about learning their second language, and supporting them to retain and keep and nurture their first language. [Video ends]

Graciela: They gave us a great example of how they do it. How do we do to make this cooperation with the family be systemic through the entire program, and not left to chance or to one teacher who wants or knows what to do?

Carola: This is another extremely important point. We should not let these decisions be made, as was mentioned, left to chance or without direction. Rather, it's team work, where the program includes the parents; the teachers; community people; experts in the area, and develops language guidelines and a plan of action to know what to do in the classroom and how to support parents during the year

Jos�: As Graciela said, it can be done in a respectful and collaborative way, where one can be proud, because sometimes language is lost from generation to generation and that is sad. Being bilingual or trilingual is a great benefit in our community and in this society. Therefore, we should foster that pride and passion to know and to communicate in several languages, which is being lost from generation to generation.

Graciela: Thank you. Once again we have Ms. Richner from the Skadgit County, the one with the children we saw earlier in the English segment, they'll explain how they do it in their program.

[Video begins] Ms. Richner: ...is that we address that relationship and focus on the relationship between the family and the teachers or the staff at the center, and do our best to meet those needs, however that support looks. And that can be through maybe primarily speaking Spanish at the beginning of the year and moving into greater English towards the end; it might be a time-based thing where sometimes they speak Spanish in the classroom one day and English another day.

It could be -- sometimes it looks like two different teachers: maybe an English role model and another language, whether it's Spanish or Russian role model. So, and then we have family services specialists in every center that can speak languages of the center, so that that family always has someone to speak with and feel comfortable around. [Video ends]

Graciela: Do you have any comments on this?

Jos�: I would like to say something. I feel very passionate about this. I really loved what she said. Sometimes we do one thing or the other with a family. Perhaps we could start with Spanish and gradually introduce English. I love that there is no specific answers, because that's how real life works, we need to adapt to each person, to each family, and to each lovely child that we have in the classroom, under our protection because they are unique and they deserve it more than anything else.

Graciela: This doesn't mean that we have to do it so many times. We just have to be aware and sensitive to what the family wants and how to work with them.

Carola: We need to have intention and a plan. We are going to speak more about classroom profiles and strategies in the last two segments. I also wanted to mention that this can't be done only by meeting with parents once a year; it has to be systematic, with objectives and goals, and a plan of action to develop confidence in parents so they have their own voice once they conclude Head Start they and go to elementary school.

Jos�: Like we say in Mexico, it has to be like a slingshot that we have to stretch as far as we can so they can continue in elementary school, high school and college. Isn't it so?

Graciela: That applies also to parent's meetings, as you well said, have to be more than once, if possible we have to have interpreters, we must have materials in the parents' language. It should not be a superficial demonstration of what we do here, but there has to be a commitment to the fact that we need to communicate with parents and agree on the objectives and wishes for their children's future. Because children are under our care and, as you said, we are their second parents.

Carola: When we speak about a plan of action we mean a plan that outlines a structured progress, but in an organized sequence. Graciela: What do we do when the teacher doesn't speak the same language as the family? Because it's here that it gets a bit complicated.

Jos�: Going back to my three-year-old daughter, obviously, the teacher did not speak any Spanish neither did her classmates. My wife and I went to observe, and realized that the teacher was an excellent educator. She was a great teacher. However, she wasn't bilingual. When we spoke with her, in a respectfully way, she accepted our observation and our goals and now we work together, as I said before.

This is where we say, okay it doesn't exist, but I can help, I can contribute my part so that there is development in Spanish, because that's what I'm interested in. Now when the teacher is going to talk about something new I work with her. She asks me, "How do you say this in Spanish?" She invited me to present, before New Year's Eve, the donkey and the sheep and everything that was related to Christmas in Spanish. My daughter was fascinated and proud of her language and culture.

Graciela: To see her father in the classroom -- all parents have to have the opportunity to go to the classroom. We are aware of that and it is a key point to do it. It is not optional. There is a need to do it to support the classroom. Graciela: Why is it so important?

Karen: Well, it's very important for the child's self-esteem, for their connections to their family, and for their pride of where they're from and who their family is, so they can grow up their whole lives feeling celebrated and honored because of the good start, and also the children learn to honor and celebrate each other, so as much as a child feels good about himself, his friend wants to feel good about the differences and the commonalities that they share.

Graciela: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Karen. Now, I am speaking in English (laughter). Now we are going to watch a video, from the program coordinator in Washington State, where she explains how it's done in her program. Let's watch.

[Video begins] Teacher: We invite all the parents, you know, to come in, and it doesn't matter, you know, if it's Spanish day or English day, but most of the Spanish-speaking parents come on Wednesdays, and they do activities that are related to their culture or their language. A couple weeks ago we had a mom that came and made flan. We had parents that come and read books for circle time in English.

We've had a dad that has Dad Circle Time on Thursday, and so that kind of makes it a little extra-special, that you know, that all parents feel welcomed and feel acknowledged, so they know that their language and their culture is acknowledged at school. [Video ends]

Graciela: It's like they are here with us! What would you like to say Jos�?

Jos�: It's fascinating what they just said. We, as men, want to participate, but most of us don't feel comfortable because it's an environment for women mostly. Obviously the man of the family, and it could be the older brother, the uncle, the grandfather. It's very important that men get involved in early education.

Studies and research demonstrate it. Anything that we can do as men, also help us participate, maybe just a little bit, maybe we won't feel so comfortable, but when we do it, we feel so proud because children deserve it. It all goes back to the child. Graciela: Thank you very much for the comment. It is very important.

Carola: I'd like to make another comment. Here we see an example of how the program is organized, and has a plan of action and a language directive to support children and parents in the learning of the home language and English. So they have different days, and on those, fathers are invited to participate. It is evident how well organized they are and that is what we are trying to promote here with this discussion.

Graciela: Excellent, excellent! We are concluding our first segment in Spanish, segment number two, Each Family is a World. I would like to finish by thanking our panelists, and by giving you the key concepts that we discussed in this segment. What improves child outcomes is to get to really know the families, as well as their hopes and the dreams for their children. It's important to help families understand that the ongoing development of the home language is key to their children's learning English and be successful in school.

That is what we all want. A systemic approach, at the program level is essential for the families to participate in the learning of their children and feel supported. We are going to take a break and will come back with our next segment in Spanish: Toward Better Classrooms and Programs. Please come back to see us.

[Break ends]

Graciela: Hello and welcome to our Segment Number 3: Better Classrooms and Programs. In this segment we want to share with you, without any magic recipes or formulas that solve everything, new policies, strategies and resources for you to understand how complex the classroom profiles are with children that are dual language learners.

We want to give you the resources for you to continue your training. It's very important that we, as adults who work with these children, have a clear understanding that the research continues, there is always new information; there are concepts that we thought were correct that are continuously challenged.

It's our responsibility to be informed and bring that information into reality in our classroom. What we all want is that these children, who are dual language learners, who walk through the Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms, have a successful future in their academic life and of course we want them to be happy and productive adults in society.

Welcome to our segment. Once again Ms. Karen Nemeth will follow our conversation, even though she doesn't speak Spanish, and you will see the subtitles in Spanish when she makes any comments in English. Without further delay, let us begin.

Graciela: How can the programs prepare to provide appropriate services to children who are dual language learners and their families? We will begin with the response that two teachers gave us, Bonnie and Silvia from the program in the State of Washington that we have been watching.

[Video begins] Speaker: ...on the dual language board, so when we made the policy, and that big change we made a couple years ago was that dual language acquisition was all about all the children learning the second language, so to foster the home language of the child, and then to help facilitate the second language of the classroom; so not just ESL learners, but all children learning two languages.

Graciela: What do you think about this program's language guideline? Jos�: It's a very good point. They make a decision that is appropriate for them, based on collaboration between parents, staff and the whole group. Carola: It responds to a cultural and linguistic need that is appropriate for that program.

Graciela: They all agree. They follow a process for parents and teachers to agree. Let's watch another teacher from the same program. Ms. Cruz, she explains a bit more about how it's done.

[Video begins] Speaker: The strongest thing that we tell parents is that the children will learn another language while they're here, too. While we're supporting that first language, they're learning that other language by hearing about it, by singing songs, by hearing books in Spanish, and that kind of sparks that interest -- that their friends are speaking another language, too, so they're interested and they're curious, and then they start speaking it too, and that's with both the languages, the Spanish and the English. [Video ends]

Jos�: She said something very important, at the end of the video, which is the interest that other children show, knowing that their friend is learning in two languages so they want to learn too. What does that word mean? I don't know that word, maybe in my hometown we don't have that word, like popcorn (palomitas), but now I understand that word and I have two different words in Spanish. To cultivate such education and the motivation to learn two languages is integral in a program.

Carola: This way we are also encouraging the principle that learning more than one language is a benefit for all children, not only for those who already know a different language from the predominant one. Graciela: Thank you very much, Carola. You are going to share some guidelines with us.

Carola: Yes, if you look at the screen, you will see a list of suggestions. The first one is: developing a clear and accessible language guideline to all staff and families. Also, hiring bilingual teachers and staff. It's also important to create a plan of action to support teachers. These are the guidelines about how to use the language for instruction and also to identify strategies and resources to provide continuous and long-term assistance.

It's important that the guidelines are developed through the entire program and that includes the parent council, staff and the administration. One of the resources that may be helpful is the Program Preparedness Checklist. This will help you as a guide on how to incorporate the different sections of the systemic program.

Graciela: What is the Program Preparedness Checklist? Carola: The Program Preparedness checklist was developed by the Office of Head Start, and can be found at the information website for the Office of Head Start, the ECLKC.

Carola: To continue with the list and the suggestions, you will see that we offer an idea about consistency with the methodology in the classroom. This should be included in the plan of action using the Program Preparedness Checklist. To support the teachers in this endeavor, we also suggest assigning a specialist, a "Dual Language Coach".

And we also suggest identifying the different profiles in your program's classrooms. Here we have the profiles from the different classrooms and you may be thinking about classrooms that are different than these ones, with some variants. But those we see more commonly in our programs are those where there are teachers and children who speak Spanish; or bilingual teachers with children who speak Spanish; on the other hand we also have classrooms where there are English-speaking teachers and children who speak Spanish;

Carola: classrooms where the teachers speak English and/or Spanish and children who speak other language different than English or Spanish; and finally we also have classrooms with teachers who speak English, where most of the children speak English and others speak languages other than English.

Graciela: This is complex. Carola: Yes, it's very complicated, but there are various strategies that we will share with you in the next segment. These will be useful to approach the development of a language directive for your program and to inform instruction in the classroom.

Graciela: Thank very much, Carola. We also know that this list could also be used as a self-assessment, to see how you are doing it, so feel free to use it.

Graciela: It's also important to state that we know that several programs are already doing many things for children who are dual language learners, because we have seen them. There are trained teachers and others that are doing it instinctively, and they do it well, they understand how to communicate with the parents, and that there are no magic formulas for it.

That it has to be done every year, to encounter a new reality every day and everyday face the new reality. What we aim with these lists and resources is to extend the options that you have, and to acknowledge that you already have years working with these complexities throughout the country because it's a reality.

Jos�: Many times we have these kinds of challenges. Challenges of having to work with something so complex and a perspective could be, "I cannot do this; there is so much to do; so many languages." On the other hand, you could see it as a challenge. "let's see what we have here and address it to be able to excel."

We have a great valuable opportunity, because we have in our hands the lives of these children and we need to face these challenges and say that we are going to develop a program and make adjustments to it, to be able to meet their needs.

Carola: And it's important to ask for help, we should not do it alone. It's important to create a work team and use every resource that has been created in order to support you, and every program, in the development of a language directive.

Karen: Well, I just think that if teachers are prepared, that they do have the skills they need and they feel confident, that instead of being more work, teachers will find that this actually makes their job easier, and the program can function in a more cohesive and smooth way if everyone shares these resources and feels confident and comfortable that these things are being infused throughout the program in support for different languages and different cultures, not as an extra job, but as part of everything we do that makes our job rewarding.

Graciela: Carola, you have a list of resources that you want to share. Carola: These resources are on the information website for the Office of Head Start, ECLKC, as I mentioned before. These are a great support to develop a language guideline systematically.

Graciela: Thank you very much, Carola. We should use these resources because that is what we have at the moment. We have used our experts and friends throughout the country to gather these resources for you. We know that there are others that are being created as we speak and we hope to have the opportunity to share them with you.

What is important and the point we want all to remember is that we must have an ongoing training, this never ends, because you can always improve and make things better to serve the children. How can teachers support children who are dual language learners?

Jos�: That is a very good question, Graciela. I would like to share something with you. If we go to a surgeon, we want the best surgeon, the best trained. If we are going to build a house, we want the best architect, one who knows all the codes. If something is so important to us like surgery or building a house, the same principle can be applied to children. If we want the best for our children, we have to have teachers who are best trained in early childhood education.

Then why not prepare ourselves? Why not have the best research, or up-to-date articles, that is being done and very good studies, and many articles; why not have that information? We, as teachers, are as important as an architect, or a lawyer, or a surgeon. To have that knowledge, of such researches or studies, is integral to the work we do.

Graciela: The center where you work, Jos�, is one that is supporting and doing a lot of training for Head Start staff. Jos�: That's right, we offer training to programs. Graciela: Tell me, where do you work?

Jos�: Of course, it's the National Head Start Family Literacy Center. We offer training for staff and also for parents; in English and Spanish for families who need it, and it's absolutely free. If you are interested please contact us and we can coordinate a training for your program. I invite you to call us. Graciela: How can they contact you?

Jos�: The easiest would be searching online for: "National Head Start Family Literacy Center. For a description of the center and what we do, and the types of training that we offer.

Graciela: Good, thank you very much. It's important that training go beyond teaching, not only in the area of pedagogy, early childhood or linguistics, but also in cultural diversity, and the ongoing personal development on how to learn from children and parents. Jos�: For all of us who are in the same path, we know that there are best practices and strategies for the children, and resources, like Carola mentioned,

Jos�: ...that are available and up to date. Here we see that there are many strategies that programs can use. You heard from teachers who say I have some children who speak Spanish and others who don't, and others who speak other languages. It's very important that we are able to adapt ourselves to their needs and apply better strategies tailored to the children in that program.

We can use our hands, exaggerating the movements, so children can understand the language that they don't speak yet, or are fluent in, and understand the information that is being given to them. These are important keys for children to be able to understand and learn both languages. Karen, you wanted to mention...

Karen: Yes, we often find that, when you talk to people who teach kindergarten through twelfth grade, there's -- in public schools, there's a division between people who specialize in teaching ESL -- they have their own teaching

certificate, their own specialty -- and then the people who teach bilingual education -- they have their own university programs, their own specialty, their own program in the schools...

... but in preschool and Head Start and Early Head Start, we don't have to worry about those distinctions -- we can use the best techniques from both of those fields and put them together in the ways we know that will work best with each child as early childhood educators and as the teacher for that particular child.

Jos�: Indeed, it's important to start with Spanish at the beginning of the school year and gradually introduce English. Or maybe speak in Spanish the first part of the day and, English in the second part; perhaps a language during lunch and another during breakfast. Teachers know better what the program and the classroom need.

Graciela: Good. Thank you very much. I believe this segment has enhanced the resources and complexities. We have managed the complexity of the programs profiles and in the future we will deepen in these issues. Now I would like to conclude this segment with some take-away, as we always do:

Graciela: Develop a written policy for the program will lead to successful provision of services and to positive child outcomes. There are different strategies that promote learning of the home language and English, that work in different contexts. These strategies should be developed and used with intentionality.

Graciela: Program directors should continue to look for resources and strategies to support children's learning in their home language, as well as in English. Now we have reached the end of this segment: Better Classrooms and Programs. There is a lot more to say but there are always limitations. We have only so much time and we have tried to put together the best available resources. We hope you can use them and share with us your experiences in the classroom. Thank you very much to our panelists and this is the end of our segment.

Graciela: Hello and welcome to Segment Four of our webcast today. We've been having a wonderful conversation with our panelists, Karen Nemeth, Carola Matera, and Jos� Paz. And myself, your host, Graciela Italiano-Thomas. We are coming to the closing segment of our webcast. We hope that you have enjoyed engaging with us in this conversation as much as we have enjoyed having it. We have gone into some of the complexity of this issue of supporting children and families who are learning in two languages. And we --

We have tried our very best to give you not only our own ideas and researches but those we have collected from colleagues and researchers around the country. In this segment, we wanted to really get to the point of -- how does -- how does all of this work for me on Monday morning or tomorrow? This is not about adding what you -- to what you're already doing, it is about weaving and integrating in a way that you begin doing it from day one of this school year and you build on it in your collaboration, your communication.

You're getting to know the families. You're understanding the individuality of the children. And always thinking in terms of how you going to make this systemic to your program. You have this stellar teacher over here or two stellar teachers in this classroom, now how do you get that to be woven throughout the program?

How do you continue to inform the parents and work with them and learn about their hopes and dreams for their children and all of this to get babies and young children to be able to continue learning in two languages so that their cognitive development doesn't get arrested when they come into a classroom where the language that they have spoken for the first two years of their life is not present.

So, now, this -- in this segment, what we want to do is bring it down to your reality. And we're going to go through each one of the take-aways. Because that's one of the things that we did. We tried to create for you tools that would be useful for you to share, this, the content of this webcast with your colleagues and supervisors.

And one of them is just the take away from every segment. We're going to go through every take away from Segment One, Two, and Three. We're going to do this in English and we're going to give you some examples. So here we go. You're going to see the first -- you see on the screen, the first take away and Karen is going to elaborate on it.

Karen: Okay. The first take away message is talking about -- how languages are learned while children are young in all the different domains. And an example of how we could use that is by focusing on things that we have talked about already, like intentionality and durability, or duration rather, and building on prior knowledge. So for example, in a program, the children might be interested in plants outside. So in the book area, you might have books in all the different languages of the children that talk about plants and vegetables.

You might have little shovels and rakes for children to use as props while you're reading. And those toys might then appear in the sand table as well. They might plant plants outside. There might be things in the science area that have to do with plants and how seeds grow. In the dramatic play area we might have farming clothes that we would use.

And so we build on the prior knowledge, they learn the concepts and then they see those concepts replayed throughout the classroom. It's really easy. It's really what we see a lot in preschool, it's not a special technique, it's being intentional and using what we already know, carrying these things throughout the classroom the way any preschool teacher will do. And yet we know that this is how we build that language base.

Graciela: Wonderful. Thank you, Karen. You will now see the second take away from Segment One on your screen and Carola will elaborate on it.

Carola: So this take away looks at interactions for -- teacher/child interactions using language. And a great technique or method of doing this is using a dialogic reading as a strategy to reinforce this concept. And if you look at the screen, you will be able to see a screenshot of the ECLKC where you can find these resources which are provided in both English and Spanish.

And while we cannot expand on what dialogic reading, what this method is about, you can -- you can do this in your program with your supervisor, with your teachers. It is an excellent technique and you can also address it with languages different than Spanish. And you would have to identify what those key words are in the child's language, and use -- the activities that -- that are provided in the ECLKC.

Graciela: Wonderful, thank you, Carola. We now move to the third take away from Segment One. Jos� will expand on this.

Jos�: Thank you, Graciela. Yes, this take away is about concepts you're learning and learning a concept in the home language so that the child can really understand it and understand the principles behind it. And then, transfer that concept into the second language, the learning language in this case, it would be English for most of our students. And water for example -- and all of its attributes and everything that goes along with water can be learned in that home language.

And once the child understands the attributes of water, floating and liquid, that can be transferred when the vocabulary is ready to be addressed by that child and then be able to apply it in all of its -- in all of the ways that we can use water, by drinking, by bathing in it and every other effort. Vegetables is another great example.

If a child knows that vegetables are grown from the ground and how to pick them and what part of the season, it is a very important concept which can then be applied again to the new vocabulary developed by the child. Conceptual learning is so important.

Teachers really need to take advantage of the fact that learning what concepts they need to provide for the children. What experiences they need to provide so that the child understands and learns that concept, so a teacher can then -- share vocabulary words that go along with it.

Graciela: Thank you. Take aways four and five from Segment One.

Karen: Those take away messages really were a way of capturing the overall approach about why we have to keep remembering to support home language development in young children and to really prepare teachers and support teachers in being good observers and intentional users of these strategies. And so, that sort of captures the whole

message of Segment One by completing that.

Graciela: Wonderful. And so we are now moving on to -- the first take away of Segment Two and Jos� is going to expand on that one.

Jos�: Absolutely. This speaks to really getting to know the family. We spoke volumes about this and how important it is for the programs to get to know individual families and individual needs. Yes, we can provide interpreters, simultaneous interpretation with the equipment is part of it, perhaps consecutive interpretation -- when we have a person standing next to the speaker and interpreting consecutively. But that is not always accessible or realistic.

Sometimes we need to send home a poster or a document or even a video that we developed in several languages, so that everybody can understand. An important message that a program may be wanting to share with everybody. Again defining what exactly that is for the program is entirely up to the program. Sometimes we have to get creative to share that. These are ideal moments to get to know a family and their individual needs and goals and methods.

Graciela: Right, thank you Jos�. We move on to the take away number two from Segment Two.

Karen: And we really want to talk about helping families -- really accept that message, that supporting the home language is going to help their child succeed in their home language as well as in English. And we want to respect families by giving them the information they need to follow with us on that journey. And so it means more than just putting an article in the newsletter and expecting the parents will read it and adopt it. We really need to bring everyone together.

So one program, I know, turn this into a mission and they actually printed it and put it in all of the languages in the school, hanging on the wall. Every parent meeting or event they had they started out by addressing how we're all supporting home language and we love all the languages in our program. And it became part of the fabric of the whole center and everyone could talk about it and it felt wonderful instead of -- you know, a task, it felt like an inspiration for everyone.

Carola: I'd love to share what I've learned from a project that I saw in California, once, and a teacher in a toddler classroom had brought in the parents and asked, actually the mothers, and asked the mothers to take pictures of their children. While they were interacting with materials and doing different things during the day. And then the teacher brought those photographs and met with the parents and together they reflected on what they -- the parents felt the children were learning at that time. And -- each of those screens.

And -- after that, what they did is they -- thought about, what language were they learning in? While they were learning those concepts and developing those concepts that they had actually identified from the picture earlier. I thought that was a...

Graciela: A wonderful way to bring to awareness of the parents, what might be going on in the -- in the world of the children as they try to make sense of the world by discovering through their curiosity and all of those things that we talked about in each one of the segments. So moving on to take away number three from Segment Two.

Karen: And developing a sort of systemic approach to bringing together every family. Not just the families that are easy to talk to, not just the families that speak the same language that I do, but every single family that's involved in your program. And so I have seen such wonderful examples as I visited programs out there. And you know, every program pretty much has a newsletter and they maybe get it translated to another language.

But sometimes the parents who speak another language may not even be really literate in their home language. So what if we sent home a voice message or recording or called them at home or sent home a little video? What about the programs that use digital cameras that take pictures of what the children are doing during the day?

You know when you hand your baby over to a stranger and have to leave them all day and you don't even speak the language of those teachers, you don't really know, but imagine how that parent feels when they're handed a picture showing their happy busy child. And so these are ways that programs can connect with parents and pull them in.

Invite them to share, not just at story time but whatever. If they like to play outside with children, let the parents volunteer during outdoor time. If they like to cook, let them volunteer -- to come at meal time. However parents can get involved, that's how we want to encourage them and make them feel embraced and celebrated. Graciela: Wonderful, thank you. Moving on to Segment Three. Take away number one, Carola?

Carola: So this one looks at the systemic approach using a written language policy. And -- this -- we talked about over and over throughout the previous segments, the -- the availability of the Program Preparedness Checklist and this is an excellent tool that will help programs look at the different programmatic areas, like program governance, human resources, early childhood development, health. And identify all those pieces that need to be in place when you're developing a language policy for your program.

Graciela: Wonderful. Do not forget that is a very very valuable resource. If you haven't seen it yet, please look for it. Moving on to take away number two from Segment Three.

Jos�: Which speaks to learning in the home language and learning in the English language and then being intentional about it and of course we added duration to that, because it is so critical at this age. If a program for example uses less -- uses lesson plans, that's a great forum to keep a record of what it is we're doing and to actually write down what adaptations we are making for children who are learning that second language, for children learning in two languages. A one-time workshop for example may not be the solution.

It's revisiting that information, revisiting the concept, the strategies, the research that is based on whatever needs the program has as one example. If a program decides on an infant or toddler or preschool curriculum, getting to know that company and asking questions and guidance, and how can we use these? Perhaps strategies are already developed, no need to reinvent the wheel if it is there for us to use and at our disposal.

Of course, focusing on conceptual learning. We mentioned that several times here. It's so critical and so important, so that it's a learning that really takes into consideration the concept and not just the words. The whole concept.

Graciela: Thank you very much for that reminder that language really is the labels -- label -- for concepts. That if the concepts are not there and this is what we have been talking about, the children slowly acquire this concept through interaction, through closeness, through -- play, playing, through trying to make meaning of the world, that is where the knowledge is really happening. The language if you wish is the surface structures that symbolizes that concept.

Let's not confuse the surface structure with the real deep knowledge that needs to be there in order for that label, that word, or that phrase to make sense -- to make meaning. So we are now down to the last take away of the Segment Three. Karen?

Karen: Well we really want to encourage program leaders to really be the front line for making this all happen, for setting the tone, for building that culture of language acceptance and celebration and helping make sure that all of the resources are available to everyone who needs them in the program that works with these families.

And so one example that comes to mind is a wonderful program that I visited near my home, where there's a lot of families who come from Russia and this director designed her whole program to celebrate Russian culture so that not only did the children learn in English and in Russian but she found a dancing teacher who came from Russia and she came in and taught Russian dancing in Russian. But half the school was still English speaking families but everyone learned the Russian culture of their neighbors.

And they had also a music teacher that came in and did Russian traditional songs and they had families that came in and read to the children in Russian. But it was the director who had this overall vision how all these different areas could be addressed to find ways to incorporate the different languages and cultures throughout the program and she showed leadership and inspiration to her families, her staff, and the entire community.

Graciela: Thank you very much, Karen. We are at the end of our time together. We really want to thank you for having tuned in to watch us today. We have had a wonderful time sharing with you in our conversation, what we know. Thank you Jos�, thank you Karen, thank you Carola, for the wonderful knowledge that you brought to us today and please don't forget that we're going to join together again.

On February 17th we'll do a webinar on how to connect all of this language development that we have been talking about today to early literacy so that the children are naturally preparing to make that huge leap into written language which will be the door into which they will have success for elementary school and on. Thank you very much. It's been our pleasure. Adios. [music]

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