Beacon understands language as a complex web of connections, transcending the artificial separation of disciplines. The learning process simultaneously involves "learning language", as students listen and use language with others in their everyday lives, "learning about language", as students try to understand how language works, and "learning through language", as students use language as a tool to think about or reflect on a theme, concept or issue.
The bilingual child has more resources for communication and comprehension of the world; therefore, she is able to establish a greater set of connections in her creative process.
The areas of Portuguese and English languages are:
- Oral communication: listening and speaking
- Written communication: reading and writing
- Visual communication: viewing and presenting
In the first years at Beacon School the program offers a larger number of activities in English so students can experience a faster growth in the acquisition of the English Language. As students enter the emergent literacy stage, the time allotted to Portuguese language activities increases, for literacy skills are addressed in Portuguese.
