Thank You Heidi in Port Orchard for this tip:

Whenever you know that your child has been learning a lot of vocabulary on a specific topic, make sure to go over the same topic in your language so that they will receive balanced vocabulary.

This is true whether the vocabulary was covered in school, at the playground, with the other parent, with grandma and grandpa or while playing with other children.

It can feel like too much to cover but don't worry, you have time! Get a notebook and keep notes of topics you'd like to discuss with your child. Review the list every now and then and see if something lends itself for discussion. Or maybe you already discussed a topic without remembering? If so, mark it off your list.

You shouldn't feel overwhelmed by this tip. Just keep it in mind. Most children who grew up in bilingual housholds comment on how separate their vocabularies were growing up: they knew certain subjects only in their mother's language and other subjects only in their father's.

Of course, no one is suggesting you take up a course in biotechnology or auto mechanics! It wouldn't hurt though, right? ;-)
 

Want a fun way to help your child keep in touch with family overseas? Get them motivated and involved by writing postcards to grandma and grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Since the postcards are being sent to family who speaks the minority language, it is a great reason to HAVE to write the postcards in the second language! And since each postcards have a picture on one side, let your child decide what picture or design should be sent to each family member or friend.

If your child can't yet write, she might try to dictate the postcard contents to you in the community language. You should try and encourage her to use her second language but don't force it. Have fun with this project!

If she speaks a sentence to you in the community language, pretend to get it completely wrong so that she will have to correct you:

Child (speaking in community language): "Dear Grandma, when are you going to visit?"
Parent (speaking in minority language): "Ok, so you want me to write, 'Happy Birthday Lena, we are coming to visit next month.?"

Looking for families to exchange postcards with?
Check out the BBFN postcard exchange: www.biculturalfamily.org/postcard.html

Do you have some sidewalk chalk at home?  If not, get some in different colors and have fun with writing!

Children enjoy having an excuse to use sidewalk chalk so encourage them to write out their name and then different words with sidewalk chalk.  When else are they allowed to add color to the sidewalk?
 

Remember that children associate language and culture with more than words and holiday events!  When you snuggle with your child on the couch or before they go to bed and share your language and childhood memories with them.  When you share time with your children speaking in your language, you are creating associations of warmth, comfort and familiarity with you and your language. 

Snuggle with your child as much as you can before they grow up and don't want to snuggle anymore.  Years later they will remember those special times that you spent with them and your language of communication as well as stories about who you are will be an integral part of their memories.
 

We often have a difficult time deciding what to do when our child wants us to read a book in the community language.  Often we try to translate books on the fly but as the books become more complex, it becomes more difficult.  Sometimes our children start to realize what we are doing and complain that we aren't reading the actual words.

One solution is to read the books in the community language and then discuss what is being read in the second language.  For example, if you are reading a book in English, go ahead and read the words in English and then discuss the pictures and the story in your native language.  This will continue to keep the language alive without having to translate books on the fly.
This will also be stimulating your children to think more about the story and will help create meaning about it in both languages.
 

Show your child different flags and talk about the different countries associated with each flag.  Talk about the languages spoken in each of the countries represented by the flags.  Make sure to talk about how the people in different countries sometimes speak the same language.

If your child is old enough, you can add in a discussion about dialects, accents and vobulary that is unique to each area.  You can also tie in history to the discussion and how it influenced the movement of people and languages.
 

Keep your children "language stimulated"!  Make sure to match vocabulary to the level of each of your children.  You don't want them to associate your language with "baby" language or only a language that other children speak.  Make sure you are reading them books and having conversations with them that match the level of their community language.
 

Have fun with language by playing a rhyming game.  You or your child starts by saying a word in the language, then the other person says a word that rhymes with the first word.  If you have more than two people playing, then rotate around in a circle or create teams that work together.

This game can be used to match words that start with the first letter, the last part of the word, verb forms, or more.  Talk with your children ahead to decide the "rules" of the game.
 

"Toy play, book reading, and mealtimes present distinctive types of opportunities for the introduction of rare words.  Toy play is the least complicated conversational setting because it involves just the [parent] and the child and there are objects in the immediate context to refer to and few intervening distrations.  Book reading, in contrast, is a more complex vocabulary situation because there are two sources of words: the words in the book and the words spoken by the [parent].  Mealtimes are also complex, but for another reason: They often provide a variety of conversational partners."
Source:  Beginning Literacy with Language, by David K. Dickinson and Patton O. Tabors, Brookes Publishing,, pg. 97
 

Time to visit the home country again!  Make a visit back home with the kids.  Yes, it is probably expensive so make sure to plan for it ahead of time.  Estimate what the cost will be and then divide that between the months until you need to pay for travel expenses.  Set aside that amount of money each month so that you'll be ready.

Don't underestimate the value of a trip back home.  There is nothing like a few weeks or a few months around your home language and culture to really encourage your children (and yourself).