The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

7 · Wednesday, May 23, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com EDUCATION Rob, Is Editorial supposed to go here? If not the ad is the wrong size. Adam Research proves bilingual education can advance academic success What if one factor of your child's education could dramatically change his or her chance of success? According to a growing body of research, that factor could very well be bilingualism. Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Bialystok, a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University, started conducting research on the effects of bilingualism on the cognitive development of children. Today, she, her colleagues and other researchers have amassed enough findings to deliver results with profound implications: becoming bilingual requires extensive use of the frontal lobes in the brain, an area home to executive controls. And executive controls are the organizer or manager of the brain, where planning, the ability to focus, multi-tasking, ignoring misleading information and managing conflicting information all take place. At a recent speech in Toronto, Dr. Bialystok remarked that the strength of the executive control area in the brain was an excellent predictor of children achieving academic success. Bilingual students use this area so early, and so often, that it develops far more strongly than in monolingual students. Says Dr. Bialystok of executive control, "it is the basis for all higher thought." However, the continual development and strengthening of this area of the brain takes time, so the more bilingual education a child experiences, the greater his or her control over the executive controls. One feature entirely specific to bilingual education in English and French is its impact on the acquisition of literacy, that is to say, reading. Since the two languages share a common root structure (Latin), they reinforce the discovery of the process of language and, in doing so, accelerate it. Says Dr. Bialystok, "Students get a big boost in learning to read by being exposed to two different languages ­ English and French. It's a big push to the `I get it' moment." Having a bilingual education can also have further profound consequences much later in life. We've all heard how increased brain activity can stave off aging. Dr. Bialystok's research has shown that increased brain plasticity, specifically caused by becoming bilingual, can ward off the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer's. "Ultimately," says Dr. Bialystok, "bilingualism exercises the mind and opens another door ­ it's all good!" profile OUR SCHOOL. THOSE OTHER SCHOOLS. At TFS, we recognize that an entire world exists outside our borders, where anything is possible. That is why we are pleased to provide our students with Canada's only co-educational, bilingual, International Baccalaureate program. It is a program that prepares them to be independent, internationally minded thinkers who can succeed anywhere with anyone and help shape the global community. www.tfs.ca Mississauga Campus at Cawthra/QEW Pre-Kindergarten (Age 3) to Grade 7 For more information or a private tour, contact Susan Markle, Director of Admissions at 1-866-401-3671