There are many children in Ireland today who speak a language other than English at home. These children are simultaneously learning two new languages when they start primary school, those being English and Irish, while also further developing their native tongue at home.
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Teaching multilingual classrooms: online training events
The VirtuLApp team is inviting you to our interesting online events. All are free to join. Please simply register to participate.
Mother Tongues the Podcast
Mother Tongues the Podcast This month RTé Junior Radio have launched a new podcast, co-produced with Mother Tongues and many families from around the world who live in Ireland. From Tamil to Italian, from Chinese to Gaeilge, there is something for everyone to learn! Through fun games, stories, recipes and songs, every child can learn Read More
What’s your name?
What’s your name What’s your name? started in February 2020, during the Mother Tongues Festival in Tallaght. The aim of the project was to show the range of names that people have as a way to demonstrate not only that Ireland is the home of many languages, nationalities and identities, but also that while we Read More
Stand with refugees: a reading list for children
Stand with refugees: a reading list for children To mark World Refugee Day, each year UNHCR and Children’s Books Ireland partner with libraries and bookshops across the country in encouraging people to buy or borrow a book about refugees. Using this specially curated book list, readers have a wide selection of stories from around the Read More
UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2020
UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2020 This year’s focus of the UNESCO International Literacy is on ‘Teaching and learning literacy: The role of educators and changing pedagogies’. The deadline for submitting a candidature to the nominating entities is set on 28 June 2020. The deadline for the nominating entities to submit nominations is set on Sunday 12 July 2020. Read More
Home languages and home learning: Supports for Multilingual Families
During this long period away from school families are at home together working, learning and managing as best they can in difficult circumstances. Some multilingual families can find it especially difficult to navigate the learning needs of their children in English or Irish medium schools and using their own mother tongues at home. In collaboration Read More
Refugee voices
Refugee week will take place this month between 15th and 21st June.We are delighted to be able to offer a free Refugee Voices session, in partnership with NaTakallam on 18th June at 8pm. In this session you will meet a conversation partner from Syria who will share their story and introduce the group to their Read More
What’s your name?
Our portraits project “What’s your name?”, commissioned as part of the Mother Tongues Festival, has now transformed and will be presented as a documentary showcasing the stories told by children about their own names. We created this film for Cruinniú na nOg to raise awareness of the importance of learning to say all names properly Read More
Children’s books that discuss race and racism
The death of George Floyd in the United States has sparked a discussion about racism, equality and discrimination in Ireland. Research from Harvard University suggests that by age 5 white children are strongly biased towards whiteness. To counter this bias, experts recommend acknowledging and naming race and racism with children as early and as often as Read More
