1. Start immediately. Young brains become bilingual easily, according to AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, so start using words in the presence of your child while she is still in your arms. Regardless of your native tongue, your child is wired to respond to sounds rather than words as she develops and even babies have the ability to distinguish between them. Sadly, this ability begins diminishing early – educated guesses are by that first birthday – so strike while the iron is hot and start introducing words right now.

2. Speak to your baby regularly in two languages to train a bilingual child. Kids are capable of learning two tongues at the same time and both monolingual and bilingual tots can build an impressive vocabulary of around 50 words by the time they’re 18 months. Your goal is to have your child’s vocabulary consist of 25 words in one tongue and 25 equivalents in the other. Keep up the conversation in both — at least until the age of seven since the brain is the most “plastic” during these years.

3. Support your efforts with TV, CDs and music like those found on Enchanted Learning.com, but don’t rely on them as your only linguistics tutors if you want your child to gain early mastery. That’s your job. A joint project between Tokyo’s Denki University and the University of Minnesota confirmed this parental influence by dividing study subjects into two groups: One received language instruction from media sources. The other via the singsong baby talk Moms croon. The second group out-performed the first dramatically.

4. Approach your little sponge gently by teaching a word or two at a time. Replace the words “Good Night” in your native language with a translation. Focus on just those words. Ask caregivers — Grandma and babysitters — to follow suit. The child will associate the words with bedtime and habituation helps the concept to be imprinted on the brain. After a few weeks of “Good Night,” add a second frequently-spoken phrase (Good Morning, I Love You, etc.) to the menu. Repetition and association are powerful tools. Use them lavishly.

5. Keep things relaxed and non-threatening as you teach your child to speak a second language. Adopt a pedantic system like the Total Physical Response Method in which activities and interaction transmit vocabulary in creative ways. Reading is great — and parents report success by posting small signs on objects that name items — but conversing with your child about words on the cards speeds internalization.

6. Use your child’s age and progress as your guides for choosing materials to support your second language teaching efforts. Forget textbooks — unless your child is older than seven and is a reading whiz. Textbooks are designed to substitute for people; even the most creative texts can be boring and pedantic, shutting down your child’s enthusiasm. Instead, make your own learning aids and use them to create an environment in which concepts and conversation are so much fun, words stick to the brain like a great PB&J sandwich. For example, build a village of Legos® and put signs on buildings, streets and houses in that second language.

7. Steer clear of dictionaries. This may sound counter-intuitive, but dictionaries do more to reinforce reading than speaking and since your goal is verbal skill-building — not reading — you can waste valuable time when you could be conversing instead. Sure, you can use a dictionary for reference, but keep this interesting tidbit in mind: kids who become dependent on dictionaries don’t work as hard to master new words as do those exposed to fun, close interaction with people they trust. Don’t forget to add an important third language — hugs and kisses — to speak the language of love and encouragement.

Are you looking for unique magnets to decorate your refrigerator or other magnetic surfaces? If so, you can make magnets that are unique to your family and your interests if you have time and patience. You will need bottle caps (such as beer bottle caps or old soda bottle caps) and other craft supplies.

What You Will Need:

A bottle cap for each magnet that you want to make

Pencils

Scissors

Pictures or picture from magazines and flyers

White glue

Glitter

Toothpick

Puzzle Glue (such as Mod Podge)

Small magnets that fit on the back of beer bottle caps

Strong glue (such as hot glue from a hot glue gun or E6000)

Instructions:

The first thing that you need to do is find pictures that you would want as your magnets. Once you find these pictures, they need to be small enough to fit into a beer bottle cap. It is recommended that they come from already printed photos and magazines. However, with technology, you can also print your own.

Use your pencil to draw a circle of the same size of a little bit less of the inner circumference of the beer bottle cap around the picture.

Now that an outline is around the picture, cut it out from the photo, flyer, or magazine. The reason that these items are suggested is that it is nice if the picture is glossy.

Set the picture aside so you do not lose it.

Pour some of the white glue into the bottle cap. Sprinkle some glitter on top of the glue so it also goes into the bottle cap.

Now, use your toothpick to push the glitter to the outer edges of the glue that is in the bottle cap as if it is a frame.

Pick up the picture that you are going to put in the bottle cap. Carefully place it in the middle of the glue that is in the bottle cap so that it the picture is showing and the back if placed into the glue. Let the glue dry according to instructions on the glue bottle.

Once the glue is dry, use the puzzle glue to put a clear coating on the picture. Make sure that the puzzle glue is used to give the picture a good coating and not distort it. If you need to test the puzzle glue on another picture that is from the same item before using, do this. You can leave the puzzle glue off of the picture, but it won’t be sealed if this is done.

Let the puzzle glue dry according to instructions on the bottle of the glue.

Once the puzzle glue is dry, turn the bottle cap over so you see the top of the bottle cap. Place a drop or two of the strong glue onto the back of the bottle cap. Stick the magnet into the glue so that the magnetic part is facing away from the bottle cap. Let the glue dry according to the instructions on the glue’s packaging.

Once the glue is dry, you can put the magnets on your refrigerator or other magnetic surface.

Through it all, he was missing his family.

“I think that’s the hardest part about being in the army. I can deal with the danger and all that. But it definitely makes everything a lot more difficult,” Turner said.

And his family has missed him too.

“He’s been crying in the morning, waking up, asking for Daddy. When is he going to see him again? Is he going to see him play t-ball? Will he make it to his preschool graduation; little events that are important to a five-year-old,” Stephene Turner said about their son, Elijah.

Five-year-old Elijah has no idea his dad is just yards away from him at his school. He didn’t even know he was coming home.

But he is. He’ll only be home for 15 days. And after that, it’s back to a war zone.

But for now, none of that matters. Instead of being on the battlefields of Afghanistan, Joshua is thousands of miles away in the tiny Central California farming town of Cutler. Dressed in his fatigues, he looks every part the brave soldier. Inside, he is shaking.

“It’s going to be a surprise for both of us just to see how he reacts. I’m a little nervous,” Joshua said.

Joshua and Stephene hide inside an office behind Elijah’s classroom while the preschoolers are outside at recess.

When they come in, they have story time.

On the rug filled with five-year-olds, Elijah very much stands out. The only blond head in the room, he’s dressed in a camouflage shirt and army green shorts; undoubtedly a tribute to his soldier daddy orchestrated by his mom earlier that morning.

It’s the end of the story and the teacher reads a special message for Elijah from his dad. Elijah sits, not moving a muscle, taking in every perfect word that comes from his teacher’s mouth. He doesn’t want to miss a thing, after all this is a message from Daddy.

His teacher reads the last sentence.

“No Matter where I am, near or far, I will always believe…”

But then a familiar voice from the back finishes the message.

“I have one amazing son to come home to,” Joshua says.

Elijah turns around, rubs his eyes as if it’s a dream.

“Hey Elijah!”

The little blond haired boy donned in camo stands up, still puzzled.

“Who is that Elijah?” His teacher asks.

“It’s my daddy.”

And that’s all it takes. He jumps into Joshua’s arms and doesn’t let go; holding his daddy’s face with his hands.

“I’ve been waiting to see my family for so long now,” Joshua said, eyes filling up with tears.

“I missed him,” Elijah said, not letting go of his dad’s neck for one second.

Elijah says what he missed most about his dad was the horseplay.

“Him doing push-ups with me,” he said.

Elijah gets to leave school early on this day. He and his dad take off racing down the sidewalk; off to make up for eight months of no push-ups.

Published by Threesia Goff – Featured Contributor in Lifestyle

Threesia is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network in the Lifestyle – Pets Category. She has been published on Yahoo! Voices, Shine, Finance, TV, Shopping, News, and Sports. Threesia ha…  View profile