MANILA, Philippines?Read to your kids, but be sure not to sound like show biz personality Kris Aquino when she?s talking colegiala talk (or a mix of Filipino and English).

Organizers and participants of the First Philippine Summit on Early Childhood Education yesterday called on parents to ?read aloud? to children, even when they are still in the womb, to help improve their literacy later in life.

But the call was made with a warning against mixing up languages or dialects.

Answering questions from reporters, educator Carolina Gustilo de Ocampo said Aquino, the youngest sister of leading presidential aspirant Sen. Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III, should set an example to Filipino children and avoid mixing Filipino and English when talking.

?That one is really very bad because she?s a Lit (Literature) major. She reads very well. She?s very intelligent,? De Ocampo told reporters after a media briefing at the Shangri-La Hotel Makati.

?She should be a good model for language because she?s excellent in both English and Tagalog. She should not mix it. She has so much power. Everybody looks up to her. Everybody finds her wonderful, so [she should] use that opportunity to be good in both languages,? De Ocampo said.

American literacy specialist Laura Benson, a professor at the University of Colorado and a speaker at the summit, said it was important not to mix up languages.

She said Harvard University studies had shown that the language used at home ?primes, prompts [and] patterns our children?s thinking.?

Community language

The important thing is to talk to children in ?the language of your community,? said De Ocampo, an Ilonggo from Bacolod City.

She added: ?If one parent is really good in that language, then speak in that one.

?Speak in the language of your home, not Taglish, Pampangueñoish, or Ilonggoish. The most important thing is for the parent to be very clear. She cannot mix it.?

De Ocampo observed that at home, parents often inadvertently switched from one language to another even in just one sentence:

?We end up using two languages like ?Eat now or else hindi ka tataba (you won?t gain weight),? or ?Come here now. Sit down now. Dalian mo (Hurry up).?

?I?m embarrassed that I?m very bad in Tagalog, but I?m trying my very best.?

Around 750 educators, program administrators, school supervisors, social workers, psychologists, parents and developmental pediatricians are expected to attend the summit to be held today and tomorrow at The Fort in Taguig City.

The summit, sponsored by Wyeth Progress Pre-School Gold and Maximus Inventus, aims to promote the importance of early education in the country.

Moms are important

Early learning expert George Morrison, a University of North Texas professor and another speaker at the summit, said parents should read to kids even before birth, for the benefit of both the children and the parents.

?Why should you read to children before birth? Yes, there is some research that factors that [in helping children], but the reason is we need moms who know how to read to their children,? Morrison said.

?Mothers are important persons in this literacy development, so we have to start early and make sure they do a good job on that,? he said.

Morrison said the Philippines should give more importance to early childhood learning, adding that the United States had not done a good job on this and was now having problems with adolescent literacy.

?We?re finding our adolescents can?t read and are turned off by reading. We should get kids hooked on reading so this can be carried throughout their lifetime,? he said, adding:

?What kind of books? All kinds of books. Read all genres. You want to read fiction, non-fiction, or alphabet books. The alphabet is extremely important.?

Literacy rates

With globalization, countries should invest more in early childhood education to help with their literacy rates and remain economically competitive, Morrison said.

?Any time a country loses a business, we ask what we can do better. One of the answers is: We can do a better job on educating children so that these jobs don?t go anyplace else,? he said.

Benson said parents could start at home by reading aloud to their children ?every day,? and encouraging them to ask questions and, later, to write.

?Marinate them with literacy. When we read to children, one fills their ears with the language of books, authors, poetry, cadence, different styles of talking,? Benson said.

?It takes multiple exposure to a word for children to learn them ?12 to 21 encounters,? she said.

Other languages

Benson pointed out that teaching children early about language was ?really training the brain and developing neurological pathways? for them to be able to learn languages other than their mother tongue.

She said children exposed to other languages had an easier time learning more languages when they grow up.

Benson also said children who were taught early also had a bigger vocabulary and learned more quickly in school.

?And the gap grows pretty quickly because their brain is now wired and they learn at a very drastic rate. It?ll be much easier for them to learn,? she said.