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Published On: May 13, 2007 05:14 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: May 13, 2007 05:14 PM
Spanish Immersion Schools
Questions and Answers about enrolling your kid into
a Spanish Immersion School.
Some of you might know that my daughter is
enrolled at a Spanish Immersion Elementary school. She is in Kindergarten and
has been immersed in Spanish since school started August of 2005. It's rather
amazing to hear the responses I get when people hear that my daughter is in a
language immersion program.
Some Actual Quotes:
"Aren't kids supposed to learn English...?"
"How much are you paying for that? It must be expensive!"
"Wow! That's the best thing you could do for your kid. Those young kids pick up on foreign languages really quick..."
"Why Spanish?...It's so third-world..."
"Are you crazy?"
All of these questions deserve an answer, let me start with:
Q: "How much are you paying for that? It must be expensive!"
A: Actually here at the Davis Joint Unified School District Spanish immersion schools are part of the regular public schools program. I don't pay a dime more for them. And considering how much I pay in property taxes I figure that I should get the most bang for my tax dollar. There are two public Spanish Immersion schools in Davis: Marguerite Montgomery and Cesar Chavez.
Q: "Wow! That's the best thing you could do for your kid. Those young kids pick up on foreign languages really quick..."
A: I would have to agree with this point. At the beginning of the year Laurana didn't know a single word in Spanish. After three months she was fluent enough to have conversations in Spanish with people we would run into at our local grocery store.
Q: "Aren't kids supposed to learn English...?"
A: Yes, that is true. But why not learn Spanish and English at the same time? In Kindergarten 90% of the time Spanish is spoken. As they progress to further grade levels they speak more and more English at each grade. And besides I majored in English Literature in college. I can easily teach her English. I am currently working on teaching her how to read "H". In Spanish the letter is silent, but in English you pronounce it.
Q: "Are you crazy?"
A: Yes, next question...?
Q: "Why Spanish?...It's so third-world..."
A: I guess there will always be a perception in America that Spanish is the language of 3rd world countries and that Spanish in itself has no merit. All I can say is that my daughter will never have to worry about getting a job when she gets older because she will know both Spanish and English. What a treasure to give a child...a gift of being bilingual and always having job opportunities because you are bilingual. And as far as Spanish speaking skills having merit, besides getting a job--it also comes in very handy in California. We have a lot of Spanish speaking immigrants here. Spanish skills are needed everyday here and I am also proud to start learning Spanish with my daughter. I am not as advanced as she is, but I am now amazed how much more I can pick up on now that I am learning Spanish. I can understand songs in Spanish and just yesterday I was able to understand what a security guard was saying in Spanish in my presence. He had no idea that I understood a few words in Espanol. But now that I can understand, I almost feel like a voyeur. It's great to understand what people around you are saying, especially if they think you have no idea!
Finally, I do want to add that Spanish immersion is not for everyone. Some children do not do well in the immersion program. If your child already is an ESL (English as a Second Language) child and Spanish is not their first language--then I would recommend against it. It is very difficult for a kid to try to be trilingual while also trying to learn English. I would also recommend this program for kids who love to talk. If you have a shy, non-talkative kid this is not the program for you. Learning a new language requires that you speak it at school. i have found the shyer students don't pick up on Spanish as well.
Some Actual Quotes:
"Aren't kids supposed to learn English...?"
"How much are you paying for that? It must be expensive!"
"Wow! That's the best thing you could do for your kid. Those young kids pick up on foreign languages really quick..."
"Why Spanish?...It's so third-world..."
"Are you crazy?"
All of these questions deserve an answer, let me start with:
Q: "How much are you paying for that? It must be expensive!"
A: Actually here at the Davis Joint Unified School District Spanish immersion schools are part of the regular public schools program. I don't pay a dime more for them. And considering how much I pay in property taxes I figure that I should get the most bang for my tax dollar. There are two public Spanish Immersion schools in Davis: Marguerite Montgomery and Cesar Chavez.
Q: "Wow! That's the best thing you could do for your kid. Those young kids pick up on foreign languages really quick..."
A: I would have to agree with this point. At the beginning of the year Laurana didn't know a single word in Spanish. After three months she was fluent enough to have conversations in Spanish with people we would run into at our local grocery store.
Q: "Aren't kids supposed to learn English...?"
A: Yes, that is true. But why not learn Spanish and English at the same time? In Kindergarten 90% of the time Spanish is spoken. As they progress to further grade levels they speak more and more English at each grade. And besides I majored in English Literature in college. I can easily teach her English. I am currently working on teaching her how to read "H". In Spanish the letter is silent, but in English you pronounce it.
Q: "Are you crazy?"
A: Yes, next question...?
Q: "Why Spanish?...It's so third-world..."
A: I guess there will always be a perception in America that Spanish is the language of 3rd world countries and that Spanish in itself has no merit. All I can say is that my daughter will never have to worry about getting a job when she gets older because she will know both Spanish and English. What a treasure to give a child...a gift of being bilingual and always having job opportunities because you are bilingual. And as far as Spanish speaking skills having merit, besides getting a job--it also comes in very handy in California. We have a lot of Spanish speaking immigrants here. Spanish skills are needed everyday here and I am also proud to start learning Spanish with my daughter. I am not as advanced as she is, but I am now amazed how much more I can pick up on now that I am learning Spanish. I can understand songs in Spanish and just yesterday I was able to understand what a security guard was saying in Spanish in my presence. He had no idea that I understood a few words in Espanol. But now that I can understand, I almost feel like a voyeur. It's great to understand what people around you are saying, especially if they think you have no idea!
Finally, I do want to add that Spanish immersion is not for everyone. Some children do not do well in the immersion program. If your child already is an ESL (English as a Second Language) child and Spanish is not their first language--then I would recommend against it. It is very difficult for a kid to try to be trilingual while also trying to learn English. I would also recommend this program for kids who love to talk. If you have a shy, non-talkative kid this is not the program for you. Learning a new language requires that you speak it at school. i have found the shyer students don't pick up on Spanish as well.
Posted: Fri - March 31, 2006 at 10:53 AM