Preparing the Children Today for Tomorrow

       Parents strive to have their children academically competitive. Their goal is to send their children to good schools as well as to choose extracurricular activities that improve their children's skills and abilities.

      Children learn what is important through their school year. The question then becomes what should parents consider in choosing the best education for their children? When should the process begin?

       The answer is, from the time of birth, however, the schools become part of the process, when children begin preschools and kindergarten. This is when parents pick a school that parallel their educational beliefs. A joint effort between parents, students, and the schools is established. Success will be based on how well the "team" works. Parents need to look for a school that will be a "second home" for their children.

       These are some important factors that should be considered. It is very important that students have good reading comprehension, writing and speaking skills. In today's world, students who develop skill in two or more languages will find further studies easier. English is considered the business language of today and is important for students who plan to attend university in English speaking countries. Mandarin is becoming more important as China begins to move into world economy. French and German are necessary for many students are now looking at opportunities in Europe. Students who develop more than one language have an advantage over competitors applying for college place ment.  However  one  cannot develop a second language unless one develops his or her first language. Studies show that children between the ages of two and six best acquire a second language parallel to their own. Therefore, starting students in school offering dual language instruction programmes have an advantage. If a dual language programmes isn't available, or is too expensive, parents may need to look at different ways to get the needed language instruction.

        Language acquisition needs to be active. A good school will begin with oral language at the earliest opportunity to develop speaking confidence and to set grammatical structures. When a child learn two languages in parallel, vocabulary and grammatical structures are easier to acquire. The earlier a second language is learned, the less problem a child will have with improper word use. The more active in each language students become the more proficient and confident they will be.

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