Who has had experience with Immersion schools?

[mathmarm]

Can you please share some feedback? Pretty please?

[Uff Da!]

We love ours but we did visit one, when we were hunting around, that was frightening.  The best thing you can do is to tour the school and really look at the students and see how they are doing in the school.  We walked into every classroom at the school we chose and in every classroom the students were engaged and happy.  Test scores can be low for some students in the early years as they are learning in one language and being tested in another.  The school that was frightening had great test scores but the kids looked miserable.  The responsibility for teaching kids to read in English is on the parents at our school.  The parents who chose immersion schools put a high priority on education and community (at least that's been our experience).

[mathmarm]

We love ours but we did visit one, when we were hunting around, that was frightening.  The best thing you can do is to tour the school and really look at the students and see how they are doing in the school.  We walked into every classroom at the school we chose and in every classroom the students were engaged and happy.  Test scores can be low for some students in the early years as they are learning in one language and being tested in another.  The school that was frightening had great test scores but the kids looked miserable.  The responsibility for teaching kids to read in English is on the parents at our school.  The parents who chose immersion schools put a high priority on education and community (at least that's been our experience).

Thank you! I'm not too concerned about test scores in the early grades, though I do wonder about actual level of academics and child development.  I live in an area where PreSchool and Kindergarten entrance can be pretty competitive and high-stakes. I have my eye on a couple of milder middle-range schools (not high-end, but definitely not 'run-of-the-mill' PS either.) My son is pretty much guaranteed a spot at a great Montessori Nursery/PreK for next year (its owned by a family member, but we also need to commit + pay) but there is also an Immersion school and I'm wondering if I should look into it.

 

On the one hand, my son is already being raised bilingual, but not in the Immersions school language, which is a language that we want for him. But-its Spanish. There are plenty of opportunities for exposure and even developing real skill in it, but what about genuine fluency? What about cultural fluency? We could get a Spanish speaking nanny for him, but I don't know if that is enough to develop real language skills--where are his peers? The language modeling? The full grammar of language isn't always available between just 2 people--one of whom can't speak anyway. But these things can be fostered at an Immersion school.

 

Just more stuff to think about,

[MistyMountain]

We have several charter or alternative immersion school some in my area and I was considering one strongly but decided against it for a school where I like the curriculum better. I have a few friends who have kids in them and it has been mixed. A few ended up pulling their kids because it wasn't a good fit and they were struggling to learn to read. I do have friends that are very very happy to have their kids in immersion schools though. Their kids are learning the language and they do math and science in their head in that language. If it works it can work well but there are kids who it does not work well for. Always tour schools to get a feel for them.

[1lioness]

My DD is finishing 1st grade at an immersion school with Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish tracks.  She is in the Mandarin track and started when she was three.  Her school uses the International Baccalaureate curriculum.  It is student-led and question-driven, which I really like.  There was a lot of focus on developing social skills in the preschool years.  Without a great curriculum, I wouldn't like her school as much as I do.  The language immersion is great and it's amazing to watch your kid pick it up so naturally, but it needs to be supported by a methodology that meets your child's needs.

 

As far as English, they just started with formal instruction in 1st grade (1 hour per day).  My daughter knew how to read before starting 1st grade, but the formal phonics, spelling and writing instruction has been really valuable and I wouldn't have been able to provide her with those skills.  I would be wary of a program that expected you to teach your own child English language arts.

[BuddhaMama]

Both of my daughters attend a French immersion school (kindergarten and 1st grade). It is an IB school that follows the PYP curriculum. My soon to be 2nd grade daughter reads at the 3rd grade level in English and is working at the 4th grade level in math. My soon to be 1st grader is right on grade level in both subjects. 

 

Their French is fantastic; my older daughter is almost fluent and is reading basic books. My younger daughter knows lot's of songs, phonics, numbers, etc. and is beginning to read sight words and simple words in both French and English.

 

Our school is unique in that it is an inner-city charter school where more than half of our kids qualify for free and reduced lunch program. Test scores overall aren't great.

 

We highly recommend immersion programs, but also spend a lot of time after school going to the library, reading in English, and doing math in English. Formal English instruction doesn't start until 2nd grade. I think the kids who have dedicated parents who put education first and spend lot's of time reading to their kids in English have the best experience.