There are more than 7,000 languages worldwide, and increasingly more connections to those languages. With so many connection opportunities, there is a greater need to understand multiple languages.

However, it’s not just understanding another language that is beneficial for children. Bilingualism has many benefits in early childhood education and brain development and should be presented in every household, even if the parents are not bilingual.

Higher Cognitive Flexibility

Bilingualism promotes cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, tasks, strategies, and concepts. This is because one minute a child might hear one language, and the next minute, the other language. This switching back and forth increases cognitive flexibility, and thereby improves cognitive development. A child with high cognitive flexibility will be more capable of adapting to academic and social changes and challenges. 

Better Memory

Bilingual children have to remember twice the words as monolingual children, so they will naturally have a better memory. They can hold and process more memory than monolingual children, which will boost their academic success. 

Better Attention and Inhibitory Control

Switching between languages keeps children on their toes. They have to be listening more attentively to track with conversation and instruction. Therefore, bilingual children are naturally more attentive to parents, teachers, and peers.

Inhibitory control is the ability to suppress or override impulses, be it thoughts or behaviors that would be inappropriate. Because bilingual children have to process language more carefully, this allows them to slow down and make a more calculated response to a provoking situation. 

Better Language Skills

While this seems like a given, it’s worth noting that bilingual children have improved language skills in both the languages they know. Further, this applies to both reading and writing. 

Bilingual children regularly outperform monolingual children because they are able to detect and distinguish differences in vocal sounds and recognize speech patterns. This improves their phonological awareness, pronunciation, and articulation of words, grammar and sentence structure, and vocabulary. 

Better Future Job Opportunities

It pays to be bilingual–literally! Bilingual children will have greater job opportunities, and job opportunities with higher wages when they reach adulthood. Specifically, jobs that require fluency in Spanish, French, and Chinese, are in high demand. 

When Should I Teach My Child Another Language?

Children are not born with language skills; these are acquired as they experience the world in relationship to language. Therefore, children as young as from birth can start learning a new language! This is partly why many baby toys come with multiple languages; early exposure is key to quick and easy language assimilation.

However, most children become interested and capable of communicating in other languages between ages 3-5.  

How Can I Teach My Child Another Language?

If you want to teach your child another language so they can reap all the benefits of bilingualism, it’s easy to start today! If you are bilingual (even if you’re not proficient), start using bilingual language. You can start by naming objects, colors, or shapes, but speaking in full sentences is also beneficial for children to identify sentence structure.

If you don’t know another language, don’t let that stop you! Here are some ways to introduce bilingualism to your children:

• Bilingual Media: movies, music, books, and apps are all appropriate and helpful
• Songs and Rhymes: singing songs and rhymes in another language are just as fun for your child as they are in English.
• Schedule bilingual playdates: Find language playgroups in your area 
• Games and Puzzles: Many language-based games and puzzles focus on vocabulary and pronunciation. 
• Language tutor: someone who is fluent in the target language can provide regular, structured lessons to improve vocabulary and correct pronunciation. 
• Bilingual Schools or Camps: schools can offer classes or camps for bilingual immersion

Bilingualism at Bright Start Louisville

At Bright Start Louisville, we strive to introduce basic words in other languages so our children can reap the benefits of knowing other languages. This will help them engage with peers from different cultures and will aid them in early childhood development. If you have any questions about our bilingual instruction, contact us today!

Children are born to be naturally inquisitive and creative. When creativity and curiosity are cultivated in children, they are more likely to be excellent problem-solvers, academically successful, and artistically creative.

Here are some tips to encourage creativity in young children.

Foster a Creative Environment

Setting up a creative environment will be both inspiring to your child’s creativity and provide healthy boundaries for creative pursuits. For instance, set up a crafting table with various crafting supplies, a dress-up corner, or a LEGO or train table. 

Limit Technology

Creativity is like a muscle–it takes work to build up creative skills! Screen time can lull your child into a state of creative inactivity and their creative muscles can atrophy. Limiting screen time to an age-appropriate amount allows your child to have the time and space to be creative. 

Let Them Be Bored

Boredom is where creativity really blossoms. Don’t be quick to relieve your child’s boredom. Instead, gently direct them to engage in something creative. If your child needs some prompting, give them some clues to being creative, like saying “What can you make with popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners?” will help get the creative juices flowing without telling them what to make. 

Provide Ample Creativity Supplies

Give as much age-appropriate access to creativity supplies as you can. While babies and toddlers should always be supervised with art supplies, children preschool-aged and older should need less supervision. You can give these older children more access to craft supplies that let them explore their creativity any time an idea pops in their mind. 

Even if your child makes a mess or forgets to put the marker tops back on the markers, these are important life lessons about responsibility. It’s best to learn these lessons in responsibility at young ages and with relatively insignificant and replaceable items like craft supplies than later in life when the stakes are higher.

Provide Open-Ended Toys

Toys with trending characters, designs, noises, and lights limit the use of the toy. However, open-ended toys like blocks or LEGOs, magnetic tiles, dress-up clothes, crafting supplies, train tracks, play silks, and more, can be used in countless ways that will inspire their creativity.

Encourage the Process, Not Results

Young children are generally not prodigy artists, but perfect artwork isn’t the goal at this age. Instead of focusing on the final result of their artwork, LEGO design, or dress-up outfit, encourage the enjoyment of their creativity and their effort, perseverance, and thoughtfulness. Children have wonderful and wild imaginations, and it’s likely you’ll enjoy their creations just as much as they do when you take the time to listen to their creative processes. 

You can follow up with encouraging phrases like:

• “I can’t wait to see what you do next!”
• “I love how proud you are of your artwork!”
• “I’m so impressed you thought of that all on your own!”
• “I can see how hard you’ve worked on that!”

These kind words of encouragement don’t necessarily speak of the proficiency of their skill but will inspire your child to continue to grow in creativity.

Read to Them

Reading is one of the best ways to inspire creativity. Hearing written stories sparks their own play stories. They might begin by reenacting the story they heard, but then they will inevitably change the details and create their own story. 

Creativity at Bright Start Louisville

At Bright Start Louisville, we encourage and inspire children to be creative. We offer a wide range of open-ended and creative toys so they can engage in creative play. Our teachers have regular craft time to hone their artistic skills, and teachers regularly read quality literature to children. Our curriculum teaches basic concepts like colors, shapes, numbers, and letters, which are the springboard to creativity.

Parents usually take their families out to eat on the weekend. The kids are out of school, parents don’t feel like cooking, and everyone is looking for something to do. While this is understandable, restaurants can’t accommodate all their customers. To incentivize customers to come at other times of the week, restaurants offer fantastic discounts during the week!

Why Families Should Eat Meals Together

Parents instinctively know that eating meals together fosters good family relationships. As long as tablets and phones are put away, mealtimes are excellent opportunities to talk and grow together as a family. There is also less stress among family members when they share a meal.

Families who eat together tend to eat healthier foods like fruits and veggies. They even eat fewer snacks throughout the day and drink less soda! Sources show that children who eat family meals are less likely to become overweight or obese.

Additionally, kids who have regular family dinners have improved academic performance in school. Sharing a meal each day is definitely worth it!

But sometimes you just don’t want to cook. Eating out with kids doesn’t have to break your budget! In the Southeast Louisville area, there are restaurants every day of the week that give you a kid’s eat-free discount with the purchase of an adult meal!

Monday

• Hometown Pizza: After 4 PM, purchase a medium or large pizza and kids get a free individual one-topping pizza or spaghetti plate.
• Christi’s Cafe: From 4-9 PM, get a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree. 

Tuesday

• Back Deck BBQ: Get 2 free kids meals (10 and under) with the purchase of an adult entree.
• Bob Evans: After 4 PM, kids eat free with an adult entree purchase.
• Dundee Tavern: Kids eat free with the purchase of an entree
• Hometown Pizza: After 4 PM, purchase a medium or large pizza and kids get a free individual one-topping pizza or spaghetti plate.
• Mark’s Feed Store: Kids eat free!

Wednesday

• Bungalow Joe’s: Purchase an adult entree or burger and get a free kids meal
• Home Run Burger and Fries: Purchase a combo meal and get a free kids meal.

Thursday

• Zeggz: Get a free kids meal with an adult entree purchase from 7-9 PM. 

Friday

• Zeggz: Get a free kids meal with an adult entree purchase from 7-9 PM. 

Saturday

• The Spaghetti Junction, New Albany: Drive into New Albany so kids 12 and under get a free meal with the purchase of an entree.

Sunday

• Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant: Kids eat free with entree purchase
• Moe’s Southwest Grill: Purchase an entree and get a kids meal for free.
• Tumbleweed Southwest Grill: Kids 10 and under eat free with an entree purchase

Although kids usually have a long list of what they want to do during summer vacation, hardly a week has gone by before every parent hears that dreaded complaint: “I’m so bored.”

More than any other time in history, our children have an abundance of things to keep themselves occupied. But perhaps this is exactly the problem: children these days don’t know the delight of boredom.

Although most people hate being bored, boredom is the key to unlocking new ideas, games, and thinking. Here are some ways to embrace your child’s boredom this summer!

Benefits of Boredom

Children are often surrounded by endless toys and jam-packed schedules. They are rarely left alone long enough to experience the discomfort of boredom; if they are, it’s easy to “chill” and fill this time with video games. Why should we let–or even encourage–our children to be bored? Here are a few reasons:

• Fosters Creativity: Children overcoming boredom must dig into their creativity to find something inspiring and fun. Creativity in play will aid them in creativity with schoolwork, art, and social life.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Creativity requires problem-solving. How can they overcome obstacles to complete their idea? Successful adults are excellent problem-solvers, and these skills start in play
• Frustration Tolerance: Our modern, ultra-fast society gives children few opportunities to practice patience. Boredom helps them develop patience.
• Self-Confidence: Relying on oneself for overcoming boredom increases a child’s self-confidence. They’re not reliant on a parent, peer, or technology–they can think and act for themselves. 

Don’t Give Them Ideas

Bored kids often seek out their parents to help them relieve their boredom. Parents, who often want to stop the complaining, are quick to provide solutions. However, this robs children of the opportunity to think for themselves. Additionally, children who find their own way to relieve their boredom are more satisfied in their solution and engaged in their play for longer.

Instead of rattling off a list of favorite or forgotten toys, try these phrases to help your child see the gift in boredom:

• “I’m so excited to see what you’ll find to do!”
• “I know you’ll think up something amazing to do!”
• “Boredom is your brain waking up to be creative!”
• “You have a great opportunity to decide what to do with your time.”
• “I’m glad you have some time to relax since we’ve been so busy.”

Choose Toys Wisely

Although it’s tempting to buy trending character toys, invest in open-ended toys that are timeless and allow for maximum creative play. Some open-ended toys include:

• Wooden blocks
• Train sets
• Magnetic tiles
• Animal or doll  figurines
• Play silks

Multi-purpose toys like these and others can be used in countless ways and are easily intermixed to inspire creative play.

Additionally, children are generally more satisfied with fewer toys. This doesn’t mean you have to purge your child’s toy collection (although, it isn’t a bad idea!). Instead, use a basic toy rotation. Put all toys in one storage unit, and any toys that don’t fit in the unit are stored away for a later time. You may be surprised how happy your child is with less–and how much faster clean-up goes!

Schedule Time for Boredom

Fight the urge to give your child a jam-packed schedule this summer! Children have so many responsibilities and activities these days that they hardly know what to do with any downtime. Often, children waste vital rest time on video games because they’re too tired to do anything else. It’s up to parents to schedule appropriately so their children have a balance of activity and boredom. 

Set Boundaries on Technology

Cell phones, tablets, and gaming consoles are quick fixes for boredom. To gain the benefits of boredom, parents must set boundaries on technology time. While it’s fine to have a tablet, phone, or game time, it shouldn’t be for hours on end. Most pediatricians agree that during the summer, kids should have no more than two total hours of tech time. These two hours should be further broken up into 15 or 20-minute increments with other activities between. 

Setting firm boundaries on technology will enable your children to have a healthy relationship with technology and branch out to find other interests in creative play. 

Reading is one of the best ways to increase your toddler’s language skills, vocabulary, and literacy. But the benefits of reading to your child go beyond academic intelligence, you also develop a sweet emotional bond through reading!

This is why a children’s podcast, audiobook, or television series can’t replace reading. 

Babies can make no sense of stories without a visual context, but even the American Academy of Pediatrics states babies under two shouldn’t watch television. There’s a reason babies are so fascinated by another’s facial expressions, inflection, and mouth. Babies will frequently reach to touch your mouth or neck while you’re talking to understand how to move their lips and tongue to form words.

Toddlers and young children may understand basic stories from an audiobook or television show, but there is no emotional bonding, and oftentimes, there can be a technology “crash” after turning it off that doesn’t happen with reading. 

Build an At-Home Library

Babies and children love to have books be read over and over again. This is because children find comfort in the predictability of the story. The repetition also helps them learn new words (think of all the repetition you need to learn a second language!) and encode new information. 

While your local library is an excellent resource, you eventually have to take your favorite books back. Begin building a little library of special, quality books for your toddler that you don’t mind reading time and again. Here are just a few to get you started.

17 Classic Board Books Your Toddler Will Love (And You Will, Too!)

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
2. Little Blue Truck
3. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
4. The Runaway Bunny
5. Goodnight Moon
6. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
7. The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
8. Blue Hat Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
9. Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats
10. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
11. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
12. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
13. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin
14. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
15. Corduroy by Don Freeman
16. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
17. From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

How Do I Start?

Hopefully, you are inspired to read to your child, but maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Luckily, reading to your child is easy!

First, set reasonable expectations based on your child’s age and how much time you have. Babies won’t sit for a long time, and toddlers who aren’t used to reading stories may not sit for a long time, either. Start small by reading one short book and aim for just a few minutes of reading a day. Slowly add in one or two more stories, then add in longer stories. 

Before you know it, both you and your child will enjoy reading together!

Bright Start Louisville Values Reading

At Bright Start Louisville, we understand how important it is to read to babies and children. That’s why we prioritize read-aloud time in our daily routine. While you should still read with your child, you can rest assured that your child is listening to quality stories and experiencing all the benefits of early-age literacy. 

Fast food is the go-to option for many families. It’s fast, convenient, cheap, and everyone gets what they want. 

However, there will be times you want to eat at a sit-down restaurant! Maybe your family is coming into town, or you’re celebrating a birthday or graduation. Surely there’s somewhere better to eat than a fast food chain with their built-in playplaces!

Thankfully, the South Louisville area offers several excellent kid and family-friendly restaurants so you can enjoy a nice meal without wanting to pull your hair out or spending an exorbitant amount of money.

1. Hauck’s Corner (South Louisville)

From Hauck’s website: 

“Hauck’s Corner, located in Louisville’s trendy Schnitzelburg, Germantown neighborhood, offers a vibrant blend of delicious food and expertly crafted cocktails in a welcoming atmosphere.” Hauck’s has multiple bars, a spacious patio, and even a playground for littles with the wiggles. 

Their menu features crowd favorites, such as wings, burgers, sandwiches, and desserts. Kids can enjoy tasty food, too!

Visit Hauck’s Corner at 1000 Goss Avenue Louisville, KY 40217 or call 502-384-9374 for more information. 

2. 80/20 at Kaelin’s (South Louisville)

80/20 at Kaelin’s has a rich Louisville history that has entered the modern restaurant era. The menu features classic hot dogs, burgers, and sandwiches that are cooked to perfection by two outstanding chefs.  There is a huge outdoor patio area that is completely fenced in, so it is safe for little children to run around.

80/20 at Kaelin’s also has a unique Malt Shoppe that features a 50’s flair. Families can enjoy the 20 delicious homemade ice cream flavors, or a handmade milkshake, malt, or sundae!

Visit 80/20 at Kaelin’s at 1801 Newburg Rd. Louisville, KY 40205 and check their Facebook page for current hours.  

3. Havana Rumba (South + East Louisville)

Havana Rumba is a tapas restaurant, which means all the dishes are on the smaller side, but you order multiple dishes and share. This is an ideal situation for a family with young kids! Ordering this way allows you to save money on overpriced kids’ meals by letting your kids have a little of everything. This also exposes your kids to new and exciting flavors. 

If you decide to order from the kid’s menu, the kitchen staff prioritizes getting kids meals out fast, which, as every parent knows, is a lifesaver! 

Havana Rumba also has fun music to groove to and the relaxed environment puts parents at ease. 

Havana Rumba has several locations:

• Middletown: 12003 Shelbyville Road Louisville, KY 40243 / 502-244-5375
• Highlands: 2210 Bardstown Road Louisville, Kentucky 40205 / 502-749-4600
• St. Matthews: 3939 Shelbyville Road Louisville, KY 40207 / 502-897-1959
• Lyndon: 2231 Holiday Manor Center Louisville, KY 40222 / 502-425-0949
  

4. Wild Eggs (Downtown, East, South, Jeffersontown)

Who doesn’t love breakfast food? Most people love Wild Eggs so much, that they’re willing to flip a celebratory dinner into brunch! 

Wild Eggs is very kid-friendly because it’s easy to please little children with breakfast food. It’s a bustling place and there’s always something to look at to keep your child’s attention. They also have coloring mats and activities. Because breakfast food doesn’t take that long to make, service is generally fast, which keeps your dining experience short and sweet (literally!). 

Wild Eggs is so popular, that they have multiple locations:

• Downtown: 121 South Floyd Street Louisville, KY 40202 / (502) 690-5925
• Dupont/St. Matthews: 3985 Dutchmans Lane Louisville, KY 40207 / (502) 893-8005
• Jeffersontown: 9010 Taylorsville Rd. Louisville, KY 40299 / (502) 473-5959
• Middletown: 153 English Station Road Louisville, KY 40245 / (502) 618-3449
• Westport Village: 1311 Herr Lane Louisville, KY 40222 / (502) 618-2866

Wild Eggs is generally busy from open to close, so if you want to guarantee that you dine at a certain time, it’s best to call to reserve a table. 

5. Noodles & Company (Southwest, South, East) 

If you’re tired of hamburgers and chicken nuggets but still need to feed a picky eater, try Noodles & Company. Their menu offers dozens of customizable noodle and rice options so everyone gets exactly what they want. Just choose one of their delicious meal options and, if you so desire, customize what goes in the bowl. They also offer kid-sized portions or spaghetti and meatballs, mac n’ cheese, or buttered noodles, and come with a healthy choice of applesauce or steamed or crispy broccoli. 

Noodles & Company expects to see families, so their atmosphere is friendly and welcoming to young children. As a quick-service restaurant, there is minimal wait time. After ordering at the counter, you take a number to your table and the waiter will bring your food to you. 

Noodles & Company has two locations in the LOCATION area:

• Cardinal Towne: 319 W. Cardinal Blvd. Louisville, KY 40208 / (502) 632-2846
• Plainview Village: 1225 S Hurstbourne Pkwy Louisville, KY 40222 / (502) 625-6137

6. Impellizzeri’s Pizza (East, Jeffersontown, South)

Named Kentucky’s best pizza pie by Reader’s Digest, Impellizzeri’s Pizza is the place to go for pizza. Impellizzeri’s is the originator of Louisville-style pizza, has lots of customization options, and even a delicious gluten-free crust. 

Where there’s pizza, there will be kids! Impellizzeri’s is ready for kids of all ages. You will feel at home, and your kids will, too. 

Impellizzeri’s Pizza has three locations in the Louisville area:

• Highland’s: 1381 Bardstown Rd Louisville, KY 40204 / 502-454-2711
• Holiday Manor: 4933 Brownsboro Rd Louisville, KY 40222 / 502-425-9080
• Middletown: 805 Blankenbaker Pkwy #105 Louisville, KY 40243 / 502-653-7243

Which of these restaurants does your family love? Let us know in the comments!