I have read that children who grow up in a bilingual household start behind their peers in language skills. Well, when tested in English only, sure. But overall language skill, and the ability to pick up even more languages, is greater. Here is a good website to start with.

At first glance, it may seem contradictory that I support bilingualism in the home but not native-language teaching in schools. On the one hand, I think children should be exposed to as many languages as possible as young as possible. On the other hand, English is necessary in the United States, and if English is not spoken in the home, the children might be better off staying back a year in elementary school to get a firm grasp of English, rather than being taught in the language they use at home.

The flip side of this is Fairfax County’s Language Immersion Program. Kids who speak only English at home can go to school and be taught in French, German, Spanish, or Japanese. Talk about an amazing opportunity!

2. to read carefully or thoroughly; study 3. to read: a pretentious use, now often connoting a casual or liesurely reading

(Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, copyright 1970)