Raising Kids in the Digital Age So far we have been a bit hesitant to introduce our four year old daughter to apps and computer games because they can easily take time away from physical activity or face to face interaction. Common Sense Media, my favourite go-to website for resources

Reality Check, Are Our Bilingual Goals Realistic? Last week I said that the best time to start bilingual education is now…but maybe we should set out some bilingual goals before jumping in head first. Having realistic objectives that can be revisited and revised will help our fa

Set a Start Date Step number 4 on the Bilingual Family To-Do List from Dr. Naomi Steiner’s book 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child talks about when to start bilingual education. The sooner the better According to the Multilingual Children’s Association, the longer you wa

Bilingual Cities I love bilingual cities. As someone who is obsessed with language, I am fascinated by a place where people can switch back and forth from English to French with fluidity and ease. At the parliament buildings in Canada’s capital our daughter was also intrigued as she h

This is Toronto We had been talking about our family trip for a while, and our daughter was getting excited to go to Toronto, the city that I grew up in. We pulled her out of bed at 4:30 am and jumped into the taxi. She was smiling from ear to ear as we drove to the airport, wearing h

Worldviews of Bilingual Children Before I go back to talking about plans and strategies, I’d like to talk about one of the best side-effects of raising bilingual kids: they quickly become global citizens with an appreciation for, and understanding of, different ways of seeing th

Audio-Visual Resources for Bilingual Children Since my first trip to Costa Rica at the age of 15, I have always loved watching TV in Spanish. At first I enjoyed the challenge of understanding, and I think that now it’s more nostalgic than anything because I just love the way Spa

Reading in Second Language to Achieve Bilingual Goals Books, like music, in your child’s second language are great resources to support your bilingual action plan . And  my 4 year old, like most children, loves all books. My wife attended a program with the Canucks Family Educat

Resources for Raising Bilingual Children: Music I thought I’d take a break from musing about raising a bilingual child and talk about some resources that our family has used. Our daughter absolutely adores the library, I think it comes second only to the park in the list of fun

Choosing a Second (or Third) Language for Your Child At first I felt like this was a big decision, choosing a language. However, choosing a language for your child is just like choosing any other academic, artistic or athletic activity for them. And just like piano or skating, results