We at Buttercups Childcare understand that not every child who we have in our care would have English as his/ her first language. We very much appreciate the diversity and the different backgrounds our lovely children come from. As their early childhood educators, we understand how important a role we play in their multilingual development during their early years. We encourage families to communicate with the little ones in their first language; the earlier you start, the easier it is for the children to pick it up.
Research has shown that multilingualism neither leads to any confusion nor has any inherent negative impact on development. Children, in early stages of the acquisition of a second language, can show some developmental lags compared to children who speak only one. However, such lags, if any are observed, are typically small and do not last for long periods of time.
Interested parents and carers are encouraged to go through the following articles, for more information, in this regard.
https://thesector.com.au/2020/02/26/bilingual-teaching-benefits-explored-by-uw-researchers/
