Home language support is the foundation for developing English language skills. Today’s early childhood staff must be prepared to enhance experiences for a growing number of young children who are learning their home languages and English. We can promote positive experiences for these children by holding high expectations and emphasizing their strengths, including cultural and linguistic strengths. We also provide children and their families with the individualized learning supports necessary to succeed in school. All early childhood program staff want to understand what young dual language learners (DLLs) need in order to thrive in Head Start and beyond. These DLL Toolkit resources give teachers, caregivers, and family services staff support to foster the learning and development of young children.

Head Start programs are effective when their systems and services support the cultural diversity of enrolled families. Furthermore, individual staff members must be able to demonstrate their respect for and respond to the different cultures in their community and among their co-workers. The following resource provides recent research and perspectives on key multicultural principles and offers guidance to staff on how to implement these principles in their programs.

Children communicate so much through their behavior. Teachers and caregivers will find this article useful in identifying strategies for working with dual language learners exhibiting challenging behaviors.

This ECLKC Professional Development Module is designed to guide Head Start and Early Head Start program staff on using the dialogic reading strategy to support early literacy in children who are dual language learners (DLLs).

Dialogic reading is an interactive way to talk with young children. It is a proven approach to increase vocabulary and language development for children learning to speak more than one language. Teaching teams can learn the strategy through this example of its use with "Splat the Cat" by Rob Scotton.

Children make great gains in literacy when they are engaged in conversation before, during, and after storytelling. This dialogic reading strategy is used to increase vocabulary and language development in young children. Teaching teams may use the Tough Boris example as a way to introduce dialogic reading.

Dialogic reading strategies are among the most powerful techniques adults can use to promote children’s language and literacy development. Teaching teams will learn techniques for encouraging language development in one or more languages.