Anyone with language immersion elementary school experience? I have some question

[kentuckymom]

So my daughter will be kindergarten age in the fall. Last fall I put her in the lottery for the Spanish Immersion elementary school. I was pretty ambiguous about it, because our local school is within walking distance and pretty good and there's also a private school I'd love to send her to. Just this afternoon I got an email offering her a spot in the school. I need to decide by next Friday.

 

In theory, I think this is a great idea. It's easier for young children to learn a foreign language than for teenagers or adults, and I'm a former Spanish teacher and still proficient, so I could easily help with homework in Spanish. However, I'm also unsure about it. Public school kindergarten can be stressful already what with all the expected seatwork and little recess. Would also having to learn a new language be too much?

 

If your kid goes/went to an immersion school and you want to share your experience, please reply.

[3 ladybugs]

Not personal experience but my sisters (currently 14 and 12... they are much younger then me) went through an immersion program and they are doing great with it! My 14 year old sister will be going to China in a couple months and will be expected to speak Chinese most of the time when over there (obviously this was a Chinese immersion program). Both of my sisters started at Kindergarden and my 12 year old sister had to even pass an english knowledge test before she was accepted (adopted from China at 4). 

 

If learning Spanish is important to you in the long run, I don't think you will regret sending your child.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I don't have direct experience, but my nephew is in 5th grade in a Spanish immersion school and my MIL is a retired principal and teacher who was a leader in the immersion school movement in our part of the country. I had minors in Spanish and French in college and did some academic research on immersion programs and always wanted to send my kids to one. Due to our family connections, I've spent some time in immersion schools and at the time my oldest was in kindergarten, wished desperately that I could get him into one.  Alas, there were none near us and we ended up homeschooling for a variety of reasons.

 

From what I've heard and observed myself, kindergartners do have a hard time at first but they quickly adjust. It seems to be an especially good fit for bright kids who need some extra academic challenge. As I know you're aware, there are tremendous benefits to speaking more than one language and I still regret that my kids did not have this opportunity. 

 

Have you observed the schools you're considering to see which environment would be the best fit for your particular child? 

[Mabelen]

What immersion model does the school follow? I have experience in a dual language immersion program where we follow the 90/10 model. Our students adapt pretty quickly and are happy and learning. I have only known a very few students who truly struggled with the challenge and it was always due to them having significant language processing issues.

[kentuckymom]

Thanks for the input, everyone. The school follows a 50/50 model, though once a week they go slightly over that because art is taught in Spanish. We toured the school today, and I was favorably impressed. Our local school is also a magnet, for STEAM (STEM plus arts) and "individually prescribed education," which isn't actually possible but in practice means more differentiated instruction than is normal and lots of team teaching. Our son is a fifth grader there, and we've had some bumps in the road, but we've had a mostly positive experience.

 

One thing we love about our local school is the diversity. We were afraid the immersion school would be mostly white and upper middle class just because people in that demographic are more likely to know about the lottery and put their kids in, but we were pleasantly surprised by the diversity. It's more white than our local school, but only a little bit more.

 

DD was not the least bit excited when I told her yesterday that she got a spot at the immersion school because she has seen her brother go off to school for her whole life and wanted to go to that school, even though he won't be there anymore. However, after touring the school today and seeing the kindergarten classes in action she decided she'd be just  as happy going there.

 

I was a little concerned about whether her speech would hold her back, but I talked to her therapist today (she happened to have her weekly session right after the tour) and she didn't have any concerns. DD doesn't have any language processing issues, but rather articulation issues due to a weak jaw and tongue (which are getting progressively stronger), and the therapist doesn't see any reason that that should hold her back in an immersion environment.

 

Now we're waiting to make a decision after we find out more about the private school we're interested at an Open House on Thursday evening. It's a small, fairly new school started by former parents from DD's current preschool. It follows a constructivist model of education with lots of learning through exploration and is cooperatively run by the parents and teachers. I love the idea of it, but it will have to really impress me at this point for me to press DH to both leave the public school system and pay tuition.

[Raifta]

I went to French Immersion from K to 9 (after than IB which wasn't offered as French Immersion at the time).  For myself, and for most of the other kids, it was a great experience.  Aside from English class, everything was in French, even Music and Art and Phys Ed.  I didn't feel any stress about learning a new language at the same time as navigating more formal studies and less play.  

 

That being said, these were the early days of immersion programming in our area and everyone who participated (students, teachers, parents) was very dedicated to making it work.  Also, I suspect that is was less intense from an academic sense in the early years than programs are today.  That being said, I was reading beginner books in French and English easily by the start of Grade 1.

 

Overall, I would highly recommend it.  It is my one giant regret about choosing to homeschool my kids because I simply can't offer them the immersion experience.  It has been valuable to me both when travelling, learning other languages (Spanish, for eg.) and also in my job, as part of it involved communicating with students and administrators in French.  

 

[madteaparty]

All the stories I hear are great successes. My Ds attended such a program (French) in K, and approx half the kids in the class had at least one native French parent (this was NYC). My DS spent the entire time pretty much lost and I am not certain he learned a single french word.

We after schooled math so not sure what he learned in K. I was working, so it was free daycare. I'm sure our experience is not common, but there's another data point for you :)

[scoutingmom]

My neices and nephews did French immersion fine, and one landed a job because he was fluent in French. My grandson and Granddaughter are in French Immersion and doing fine.

 

But, I know that if kids struggle they tend to move to the English system, and can be behind because the focus in the early years is on the French.... at some point it isn't a difference, but early there is, and that is when a switch is most likely.

 

I'd go for it!

 

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[kentuckymom]

We did decide to go for it, thanks for the stories! I figure we can always switch to our good local elementary school in first grade if immersion turns out to be bad fit for DD.

[Xahm]

Please let us know how it goes. We're strongly considering an immersion school when my 3 year old gets to Kindergarten age, so this time next year we'll have to decide (if we get selected). I'll be very interested in hearing your experiences.

[kentuckymom]

Please let us know how it goes. We're strongly considering an immersion school when my 3 year old gets to Kindergarten age, so this time next year we'll have to decide (if we get selected). I'll be very interested in hearing your experiences.

 

I'll keep that in mind and post on occasion about our experiences.

[underthebridge]

I'm late to the conversation, but I am glad you are going for it! DD7 is in a chinese immersion (50/50) and we couldn't be happier. Noone speaks the language at home, but DD is not only speaking, but reading and writing as well. I feel that writing in English and math have gone more slowly because of the immersion, but DD and most of the class is still above grade level. The research is compelling that children with a second language have several cascade benefits beyond that of just the additional language. Best of luck!!

[Guest laurade]

I have two daughters in a Spanish language immersion program.  They are currently in 2nd and 3rd grade.  My son will enter next year. 

 

First, you should know that the speech issue may be a problem.  At our school, they transition all of the kids with speech problems out of the program.  The speed at which they transition them out depends on the severity of the impediment.  I've seen first grade and I have seen a month into kinder.  So, be prepared for that if you kid has a serious problem.

 

I found the immersion program was most beneficial in kindergarten.  My daughters both knew how to read, write, and do simple math before they entered kinder and they would have been bored to tears if they had not be busy learning Spanish.  It really made things much easier early on.  The kids don't like it.  They complain all the way up until second grade, but by second grade they are fairly good with the Spanish and so, they don't mind it. 

 

Our school is a 50/50 model currently, with language arts being taught in Spanish and math and science being taught in English.  However, when we started at the school, you had a choice between doing language arts in Spanish or English and then, the remainder of the subjects were done in the 50/50 model.  This resulted in some kids getting 65-70% Spanish and others getting 30-35% Spanish, which resulted in a huge disparity in Spanish ability by second grade, which is why they changed the model.  That being said, if you are giving the option of doing more Spanish in kinder, take it.  Your kid will be better off in the long run. 

 

You really have to watch the English and math at home to ensure that they are covering everything.  Because of the language issues, sometimes, they skip over stuff and you will need to make sure you give it to your kid at home.

 

Overall, I am pretty happy with the program, but it does have its shortcomings.