I AM A DREAMER

I am a dreamer

Sometimes I feel like I can achieve anything!

Some other times I feel my dreams are just too high.

But then I think, so is the sky!

yet, men have reach it.

 

Her Identity says : MOM, nothing more!!!

Her Identity says : MOM, nothing more!!!.

This poem written by my blogging-friend Rana has touched my heart.

Keep Your Mother Tongue Alive

     Last week, at the Brain Power conference in Toronto, I learned the importance of keeping one’s mother tongue alive in one’s children, which is exactly what I have been trying to do for the past nine years; however, when speaking to my children, I have found myself falling into the trap of mixing my mother tongue and my second language: English.

     But after having heard Dr. Ellen Bialystok talked about the “bilingualism advantage,” I have felt once more the necessity to keep my native language alive, since I am now more informed of the advantages a child has when he/she knows how to communicate by means of a second language.

     That is why I am taking the following steps (which I used to do with my older daughter when she was a toddler) to help my younger kids learn my native language:

• Speak to them ONLY in my mother tongue–Spanish.
• Watch movies with them in Spanish. (In my opinion, this is a great, fun, and effective way of introducing a new language to a child).
• Sing to/with them songs in Spanish.
• And correcting their Spanish pronunciation.

     I know that after reading these steps I am taking, many of you might wonder if doing so might interfere with the learning of the English language (which is the language spoken here in Ontario, Canada). According to what I learned at the conference, it doesn’t; because English is all around them: in the community they live in; at school, they will learn in English, speak to their friends in English, etc.

     Something that I think is very important for parents to know is that the best age for a child to learn a new language is before puberty; because before puberty kids can learn to not only to speak the new language but also to speak it without an accent.

     So, for the advantage bilingualism gives, I’m keeping my mother tongue alive!

Brain Power: Bilingualism and Video Games (What I Understood)

     I have been very fortunate to attend today’s Brain Power Conference at the Royal Conservatory of Music, thanks to ourkids.net who provided me with free tickets. At today’s conference, I heard many things (what I understood), few that I already knew, and many that I did not; for example, I already knew that learning music actually makes kids (or anyone for that matter) smarter. But did you know that been bilingual actually helps your brain perform better in functions such as concentration and can delay the symptoms of Alzheimer? Or that playing video games can actually make your kid smarter? Well, that’s what studies have shown.

     Being bilingual has many advantages. The more easy advantage to spot is the likeliness of a bilingual person being given a job over a person who is not bilingual, even though they might have the same skills (related to the job they are applying for, of course). But studies now show that bilingual people have improved executive control function (this is the part of the brain that helps you block distraction) because it is being used with every word we say; even though both languages are active, only the one being needed is being used, thanks to the executive control function. So we can say that, this function, by being constantly used, gets stronger thus performing better.

     Now let’s talk about video games. A major piece of information my brain has absorbed today, and lucky for my daughter since she is the one who will directly enjoy this new piece of information, is that playing video games (educational video games) is actually good for kids. Video games are usually fun and engaging; therefore, when a kid is playing a fun video game, he is enhancing his ability to concentrate and retain information, giving the person an advantage to learn. So, parents out there, if the video game your child is playing has these three factors–fun, engaging, and educational–feel happy to know that his/her brain is actually getting a good workout, thus making your kid smarter!

     In conclusion, for improved brain function and health, exercise it, give it a workout, by speaking more than one language; playing educational video games (in moderation, I guess); and through listening to music, playing it and/or dancing to its beat.