Languages Young Children Speak in Illinois
Published:
September 3, 2021
Are you interested in learning more about the languages young children speak in Illinois? Do you have questions about young children’s language development? Both the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) and the Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse (EIC) offer resources on these topics.
A child’s first three years is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills. A baby’s first words may come gradually or suddenly, or be barely recognizable, but no matter the language, these early efforts are often celebrated developmental milestones.
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Early words help babies interact with their caregivers and often have similar meanings across languages.
Language Resources
Are you interested in learning more about the languages young children speak in Illinois? Do you have questions about young children’s language development? Both the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) and the Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse (EIC) offer resources on these topics.
Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map
- Languages Spoken at Home This webpage includes maps and lists of the top 30 languages spoken or being learned by children age 0-5 in Illinois.
- IECAM database This tool helps users find the number of limited English-speaking households (“Spanish” and “other languages”) 2005 through 2019 (latest data available) by state, county, township, municipality, legislative districts, school district, zip, Chicago Community Area (CCA), and by ISBE and IDHS regions.
Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse
- Early Intervention Clearinghouse Fall Newsletter 2021 The EIC’s most recent newsletter contains articles about speech development and early intervention.
- Everyday Early Intervention: Encouraging Speech Development This tip sheet lists activities to help promote speech development.
- How I Communicate This tip sheet lists ways babies communicate with their care givers.
- Encouraging Bilingual Babies This tip sheet answers questions and concerns about children learning more than one language at once.
EIC Resource Guides
These resource guides list books, videos, and information resources available from the EI Clearinghouse.
Illinois Early Learning
- Resources to Help Serve Dual Language Learners This blog post is from IEL's Culturally Responsive Practices series.
- Helping DLLs Learn in Two Languages During Early Childhood This blog post is from IEL's Culturally Responsive Practices series.
- Helping Preschoolers Learn in Two Languages A tip sheet on how teachers who are not fluent in their preschoolers’ home languages can support young dual language learners.
- Helping Your Child Learn in Two Languages A tip sheet listing ways that parents have helped young children keep their home language while learning English in school.
- Supporting the Literacy Development of Diverse Language Learners in Early Childhood Classrooms This list contains a variety of resources associated with supporting the literacy of development of diverse language learners in early childhood classrooms.
If you are concerned about your child’s speech and language development, contact the Illinois Early Intervention program for a free evaluation. To find the office that serves your area call 800-843-6154 or visit the Illinois Department of Human Service’s Office Locator.