Author: Natalya Seals

Little Sponges® is delighted to be one of the sponsors for the National Association for Bilingual Education conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico!  Our founder and CEO Natalya Seals will be giving a presentation about “Using Digital Resources to Develop Language and Early Literacy Skills in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and German.”  Research shows that…

Among the many European countries, 70% of adults are bilingual, or know at least two languages. In the United States, the number of bilingual adults lags far behind at only 13%. There are many reasons for such a large gap in the number of bilingual individuals, but a primary reason trickles down to elementary students….

There are many benefits to knowing more than one language. For example, it has been shown that aging adults who speak more than one language have less likelihood of developing dementia. Additionally, the bilingual brain becomes better at filtering out distractions, and learning multiple languages improves creativity. Evidence also shows that learning subsequent languages is easier than…

For decades, psychologists cautioned against raising children bilingual. They warned parents and teachers that learning a second language as a child was bad for brain development. But recent studies have found exactly the opposite. Researchers now believe that when people learn another language, they develop cognitive advantages that improve their attention, self-control and ability to…

English language learners (ELLs) bring a wealth of experiences from their families, homes, neighborhoods, and communities to school. Children with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds have stories and experiences that are unique and will enrich the culture of your school. School principals need to use these experiences to help general education staff and students begin…

Not all dual-language learners are at risk academically, but as a group, these students are often labeled as such, despite differences in their English skills. Not all dual-language learners are at risk academically, but as a group, these students are often labeled as such, despite differences in their English skills. A new Iowa State University…