IEL Resources
- Tip Sheet: Helping Your Child Learn in Two Languages
Web Resources
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Empowering ELL Parents & Families at Home
(also in Spanish)Source: Colorin Colorado
All parents can be helpful in their children’s literacy development, regardless of their language, education, or literacy level. Parents who speak little or no English can contribute to their children’s education in valuable ways. This resource shows how English language learners may benefit when they develop solid literacy skills in their first language before learning to read in a second one.
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Highlights for Teaching Children Who Are Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
Source: Head Start ECLKC
This resource highlights strategies discussed in the Head Start Science Teacher’s Guide that teaching teams may use to help children learn their home language in addition to English.
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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment for ELLs
(also in Spanish)Source: Colorin Colorado
Learn how to create a welcoming classroom environment for your English language learners (ELLs) and immigrant students — and why it matters — with these strategies from Colorín Colorado.
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How to Reach Out to Parents of ELLs
(also in Spanish)Source: Colorin Colorado
This resource developed by Colorin Colorado lists ways to reach out to Hispanic parents to get them involved in their child’s preschool. It includes video clips.
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International Children’s Digital Library
Source: International Children’s Digital Library
This online library provides links to free online children’s books from many cultures and in several languages.
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La biblioteca pre-escolar
(also in Spanish)Source: Story Place
This preschool library website contains activities and booklists in Spanish that can be shared with parents.
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Learning about Your Students’ Backgrounds
(also in Spanish)Source: Colorin Colorado
This explains how to create a welcoming environment, especially for diverse families. Learning some of their language, even if it’s just a few words and phrases, is a start.
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What Parents Have to Teach Us About Their Dual Language Children
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
This article encourages teachers to ask the “experts”: parents and families, about home language, language development, reading at home, and family questions or concerns.