Family and Community

Engaging Parents

Parent engagement is a key factor in student success. It’s important to ensure that parents understand their school’s bilingual instruction program and how they can support learning at home.

Talking Points for Conversations with Parents

Bilingual instruction helps children succeed in school.

Parents may believe that receiving instruction in Spanish will interfere with their ability to learn English. In fact, instruction in the native language according to the Language Allocation Guidelines builds the ability to learn English, while ensuring that they do not fall behind in core content areas.

Speaking Spanish with your children at home helps them learn English faster.

Children have the unique ability to learn many languages at the same time. Research shows that bilingual children have a better understanding of how language works as well as greater social interaction skills and creativity than monolingual children.

The longer children stay in bilingual programs, the more proficient they will become

Children are more likely to attain grade-level proficiency in English and Spanish if they have at least 6-8 years of bilingual instruction.The more Spanish instruction children receive, the better they will perform academically.

Tips for Parents

Talking with Parents About Bilingual Instruction

As a school leader/teacher, you are best equipped to help parents of Multilingual Learners understand the benefits of bilingual education and speak about the strengths of your school’s program. It is critical for parents to understand bilingual education is a way to develop biliteracy through strengthening student’s linguistic abilities in Spanish and English and providing support to linguistically gifted students. Below are some answers to questions frequently asked by parents. Select your school level to learn more.