Current statistics indicate that 80 percent of the 20 percent of children entering public schools, whose home language is not English, are Spanish speakers. That means that of the approximately 10 million children who are not primarily English speakers, eight million speak Spanish as their first language. Certainly these children deserve the most sensitive and consistent educational approach that will ensure their maintenance of their home language and the acquisition of English. Using KIDWARE is designed to do just that.

Language is an important component of culture. Language is critical to the transmission of culture. KIDWARE is specifically designed to support learning languages other than English. KIDWARE helps integrate the classroom computer with your bilingual curriculum. Computer-based activities highlight use of KIDWARE Neighborhoods: Farm, City, Village, and Island. Explicit extension activities discuss how to tie the KIDWARE computer software with literature included in the KIDWARE Curriculum Guide.

KIDWARE Writer promotes early literacy activities including individual and group-dictated stories. These multi-media materials enhance opportunities to meet the goal of English/Spanish bilingualism for all youngsters in your classroom. This approach is well-documented in current brain research. This research indicates that children between the ages of three- to eleven-years-old easily master fluency in more than one language.

There are a several assumptions that undergird the social studies approach reflected in KIDWARE:

(1) Bilingualism is desirable and should be encouraged at home and at school. That is, Children whose first language is Spanish, should continue to maintain and extend their language as they learn English; and for children whose first language is English, the Spanish language, due to its prevalence, offers an opportunity for English-speaking children to readily learn a second language.

(2) Current brain research indicates that children between the ages of three- to eleven-years-old easily master fluency in more than one language.

(3) Bilingualism enhances the development of cognition and results in cognitive flexibility.

(4) Teaching academic content in a child's home language is the most powerful way to convey essential concepts. These concepts readily transfer to English.