International Mother Tongue Day

Have a look at this blog for the approach at Ambrit, Rome.

http://ambriteal.blogspot.com/2011/02/international-mother-language-day.html 

Welcoming Linguisitc Diversity in Early Childhood Classrooms

WELCOMING LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS 

 Edited by Edna Murphy

In schools where young English language learners speak a variety of home languages, welcoming them into the classroom can be very challenging for the teacher and her English-speaking pupils. This long awaited book, written by teachers well experienced in addressing the needs of this young and vulnerable group, will come as a boon to new teachers presented with a multilingual classroom for the first time.

Admittedly I am a little biased in promoting this book as I have written a short chapter in it, but the other chapters include some very practical and useful advice from a whole range of teachers across the globe.
http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781847693464
Summary:
Teachers in multilingual classrooms have been working for some years to improve their repertoire of ways to address the needs of very young children who enter school not speaking the language of instruction. The work of 22 seasoned teachers and administrators in international schools all over the world, this book contains a wealth of information for classroom teachers, enabling them to face a new school year with confidence, and for administrators to understand more clearly what is involved in the teaching of young children who do not yet understand the school's language. Written by teachers well experienced in addressing the needs of this young and vulnerable group, this book will come as a boon to new teachers presented with a multilingual classroom for the first time.
Review:
Packed with practical and powerful strategies for educators serving diverse schools, this book makes a strong case for greatly varied, original, creative, and instructionally effective uses of students’ mother tongues as an integral component of the curriculum of English-medium international schools. While presenting the research rationale, the authors from around the world have enlivened their chapters with rich, delightful, and humorous descriptions of real life in early childhood classrooms full of diverse learners from multiple language backgrounds. The book includes compelling messages and should be required reading for all teachers, administrators, and parents of this globally interconnected world of the 21st century.
Virginia P. Collier, Ph.D. Professor Emerita of Bilingual/Multicultural/ESL Education, George Mason University
Author Biography:
Edna Murphy, after a short career as a teacher, became head of primary schools first in London and then Brussels. She founded and edited for 22 years the International Schools Journal, a semi- annual publication now in its 30th year. She later conceived of, edited and contributed to a book entitled ESL: A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators in International Schools. She also served for many years on the Board of the European Council of International Schools. In this capacity and well into her retirement she headed accreditation teams to schools in Europe, Asia and Africa, the primary school being her particular interest. Readership Level:
Postgraduate, Research / Professional, Undergraduate