Parent to Parent
Have your children learned to read and write in the second language, or if they are younger, do you expect that they will learn to read and write?
If so, how will they/did they learn this?I think he will [learn to read and write], but I recognize that it will take work. We regularly read to him in French, and he is currently learning his alphabet in both languages. I imagine we will give him kids' summer workbooks to work on the writing, and will probably also make him write to French-speaking relatives when he's older. Ideally, if possible, we will spend a year there at some point and enroll him in school.
— Mother of bilingual 4 1/2-year old (French)Yes. My husband and I started the cultural/language school in our house – which is still running after 20 years. They learned to read and write with other children of their age.
— Mother of bilingual adult children (Marathi)Hopefully, we will be able to spend half a year in France and will have her in school. If the conditions are right, I will be using the CNED which provides long distance learning [in French] from kindergarten to College. I know people who have used that, and it's been very hard but beneficial.
— Mother of bilingual 5-year old (French)There is more of an acceptance to raising children bilingually today, and I personally would encourage parents to do so. Reading and writing, including proper grammatical skills, is just as important as verbal fluency in order to actually succeed in a language. I think that those aspects of language are often under-emphasized. Reading and writing skills may actually require classes, as grammar is hard to teach effectively -- yet the formal training is often dismissed as not important or necessary. Being truly bilingual is more than the ability to just speak a language.
— Bilingual adult (Spanish)He learned to read and write [in French] in school. I didn't want to teach him because I was afraid it might become an onerous chore.
— Mother of bilingual adult child (French)