According to Ethnologue, a database that covers the majority of the world’s population, Spanish is the second most common native language in the world. Spanish follows only Mandarin Chinese and includes almost a million more speakers than the English language.
The benefits of speaking a second language for kids and adults alike are plentiful. Spanish speakers are able to:
- Talk to more people
- Have more professional opportunities
- Broaden their cultural horizons and understanding, and more.
In early childhood, however, these benefits increase. For example, daycare children that learn Spanish in early childhood can:
- Understand English better. Due to the shared Latin roots of Spanish and English, learning Spanish helps children in the early childhood years understand the English language better.
- Open their minds earlier to explore different cultures. Imagine if you had been deeply immersed in another culture in early childhood and had a deeper understanding of different cultures of the world.
- Enjoy enhanced mental development, including that of the language center of the brain.
- Listen more carefully.
For daycare age children, acquiring new language skills comes more naturally than it does for adults. In daycare, your child’s brain is still wired for learning new language skills. On any given day, your daycare child may hear countless new words, and unconsciously absorb them in the same way you unconsciously learn song lyrics. If your child hears Spanish in early childhood, they might pick up the language without realizing it’s a second language.
In early childhood, your child’s thoughts are much more straightforward than your own. They use fewer words in much simpler structures to form sentences. These facts mean that your child has an easier go of learning a second language because they’re essentially starting from scratch. As their language skills develop, they learn to express themselves in their native language and second languages.
When you introduce a second language to your children at the daycare age, you’re giving them the benefit of learning their new language over a longer period. As they learn and refine their language skills in their native language, your daycare child has the same amount of time to work and refine the second language.
Spanish at Daycare
Many parents love the idea of introducing a second language to their child in early childhood in theory, but are intimidated as they only speak their native language. Others are more than willing to learn the language with their daycare child but lack time to do so.
Finding a daycare program that introduces Spanish to your child in early childhood may be ideal for these parents as your child can enjoy all the benefits of speaking a widely spoken second language, without the stress of having to learn and teach it yourself.
Breakie Bunch Teaches Spanish in Daycare!
If you are looking for a daycare or preschool program that teaches Spanish in early childhood, look no farther!
- In our toddler daycare room, we lay the foundation and begin introducing Spanish.
- We teach Spanish as a second language in our Preschool Prep daycare program, and our Preschool daycare program.
- In our Summer Camp, we offer Spanish Club.
Enrich yours and your child’s life by involving them in daycare and activities that introduce Spanish in early childhood so they can reap the benefits of being bilingual for their entire lives.