Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Do the benefits of knowing a second language outweigh the effort that you as a homeschool parent will invest in teaching it? The answer for most homeschoolers is yes! This week on Home School Heartbeat, we'll discuss the decision to teach your child a second language.

Mike:


Besides increasing the number of people in this world with whom your child can communicate, learning a second language has other practical applications. Studies have shown that learning to read and write a second language will improve a child's phonics ability. This is especially true if the second language's pronunciation fits closely with its spelling. In addition, you may find that the process of learning another language and understanding its structure improves a child's mastery in his native language.


The most effective way for a child to learn a language is to give him opportunities to speak it, so select one where the opportunity for interaction is greatest. If a member of the family speaks a second language, that is the ideal interactive situation.


Another consideration in selecting a language is the impact it will have on the child's future vocabulary on his English standardized tests. You may want to consider teaching your child a language that was derived from Latin, including French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Your student will eventually be able to dissect many English vocabulary words to recognize their Latin roots, discerning a word's meaning. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.