Bilingual Development

See how family engagement practices support bilingual preschoolers through home language, shared reading, and Head Start research.

Two children can grow up under the same roof, hear the same parents, and still choose different languages when they talk. Bilingual siblings language use is shaped by much more than the language rules a family sets: age, school, friends, birth order, confidence, routines, and each child’s history with both Continue Reading

How pandemic disruptions shaped bilingual preschool vocabulary, English exposure, home reading, and practical language support for families.

Child Self-Report can add useful context to bilingual assessment when paired with parent input and direct language measures.

Passive screen exposure can affect bilingual growth differently by content, supervision, and interaction. Learn evidence-based family steps.

English-only Head Start proposals could affect classroom language, family communication, and bilingual preschool growth. See what evidence supports.

Reduced English Exposure can shape bilingual vocabulary in early childhood. Learn what research suggests and how families can respond.

Story time can introduce a preschooler to words that rarely appear in everyday conversation, but hearing an unfamiliar word once does not guarantee that its meaning will stick. New 2026 evidence suggests that gestures during story time may give children another route into meaning: when a storyteller’s hands visibly represent Continue Reading

Latinx Infant Language develops through speech, shared music, and screen-sound patterns. Research helps families adjust home listening routines.

A toddler says, “Quiero my cup,” or answers an English question with a Spanish word, and a parent may wonder whether two languages are getting tangled together. But code switching in bilingual toddlers is not automatically a sign of confusion; it is a common way bilingual speakers use the language Continue Reading