Diversity is a very important value in which to educate children. Contact with people from other countries, who have other customs and who speak different languages, enriches them greatly.
Exposure to cultural diversity improves children's social learning, even since they are babies. This has been demonstrated by a study by the University of Chicago, which also states that Listening to different languages since they are babies makes children more open.
The researchers found that exposing babies to other languages in their usual environment, such as in the supermarket, on the bus, or in the park could help children have a more open mind and be more willing to learn from people who are different from them.
We do not talk about the guided learning of a language, such as English that they can learn in school, but about being in contact with other languages in their daily lives, outside of school education and also outside the home.
Data from 82 19-month-old children who lived in homes where English was spoken with their parents and caregivers, but lived in neighborhoods where multiple languages were spoken.
The study found that babies who listened to a variety of languages in their neighborhoods were more likely to follow the directions, learn and imitate the actions of people who spoke in Spanish than babies from less diverse neighborhoods.
This suggests that babies they were more open to learn from someone who didn't speak their language, in front of babies who have not been exposed to other languages.
They further affirm that this early exposure to diversity could prevent children from developing prejudices towards people who are different from them very early.
