Why Choose Bilingual Education for Children?

In a predominantly monolingual context where most children speak Portuguese, introducing English through bilingual education offers significant advantages compared to traditional foreign-language instruction. Especially in early childhood, bilingual education can provide a strong foundation for future academic success and personal growth.

Advantages of Bilingualism Compared to Traditional Language Teaching

Holistic Language Development:
Unlike traditional language classes, which often emphasize mechanical memorization and grammar rules, bilingual education promotes natural language acquisition through meaningful content and authentic interaction.

Cognitive Benefits:
Research shows that bilingual children outperform monolingual peers in areas such as executive function — including problem-solving, attentional control, and mental flexibility — and metalinguistic awareness, the ability to think about and analyze language, which contributes to a deeper understanding of how language works.

Academic Advantages:
Bilingualism provides a strong foundation for academic achievement. Studies show that bilingual students develop literacy skills more effectively and tend to perform better across multiple academic subjects.

Cultural Sensitivity and Social Benefits:
Bilingual education fosters intercultural understanding and appreciation, helping children develop positive attitudes toward different cultures, empathy, perspective-taking skills, and stronger relationships between home and school.

Models and Approaches

Among the many models of bilingual education, one key approach is Dual Language Immersion, designed to help students become proficient in both languages. Also known as two-way immersion, this model typically involves students from both language backgrounds learning together.

At Maple Bear, we adopt the Immersion Bilingual Education model, an approach in which students are immersed in the target language with the goal of developing strong academic proficiency.

Translanguaging goes a step further by moving away from treating languages as separate systems and embracing the fluid linguistic practices of bilingual students. It recognizes that bilingual learners draw from a unique, integrated linguistic repertoire without strict boundaries between languages. This approach challenges the notion of fixed linguistic divisions and views students as users of a unified language system.

Bilingual programs that employ translanguaging — such as the Canadian model — encourage students to use their entire linguistic repertoire to support their learning. This may include using their first language to brainstorm before writing in English, allowing students to jot down ideas or think through solutions in their stronger language before producing an English text. This process supports deeper understanding and the generation of richer ideas. It also enables students to participate in discussions using both languages freely to clarify comprehension, or to access texts in one language and discuss or summarize them in another.

Transitioning from a Monolingual Context to a Bilingual School

Choosing bilingual education for children from early childhood onward is an investment in their future. Unlike traditional language teaching, bilingual education nurtures a love for language learning while providing a wide range of cognitive, academic, and social benefits. By creating a supportive environment that embraces both Portuguese and English, children develop the confidence to navigate an increasingly globalized world.

During this transition, our approach considers several strategies to ensure each child’s success:

Gradual Immersion:
Introducing English progressively, beginning with specific subjects or activities.

Meaningful Contexts:
Using English as a medium of instruction in content areas such as math and science, ensuring that learning is relevant, engaging, and connected to children’s real experiences.

Use of Translanguaging:
Encouraging children to use their full linguistic repertoire — including Portuguese — to support their learning. Examples include:

• brainstorming in Portuguese before writing in English

• discussing ideas in both languages to clarify understanding

• reading in one language and summarizing in another

Collaboration Between Teachers and Families:
Maintaining open communication between home and school to support the child’s bilingual development.