Hi Kate,

I've got several family members who not only were in second language immersion schools and have had their children in immersion as well. In our case it was French.  It may seem strange at first, but the kids get used to it and the thought is that having a second language under their belts is a head start in university and overall good for them in the long run.  It's been a positive experience on our side. Now, of course, that's just our own experience and others may have different experiences, but I thought I would just share our own with you.


How is your child doing in the immersion? You mention a rocky start.

Edu-Katherine
Community Team

Thanks Katherine; it's nice to hear positive experiences. She's definitely doing better, although she sometimes asks when she can go to "English kindergarten." I think part of the problem may be that in her class, there is a higher ratio of kids who are native Spanish speakers. There are supposed to be 10 and 10, but I think 15 of the kids in her class already speak Spanish, so I can see where she would feel out of place. And I hate to stereotype, but of the four K classes, she got the one male teacher. He's great, but it might have been more comfortable for her to have one of the women. Overall, I think things are going fine, but I hope her father (we're divorced) doesn't push for changing schools at the end of the year. I think that would put her at a disadvantage.

Hi Kate,

The spanish immersion school in our town increases the amount of English used each year (so in K it's almost all spanish, in first grade it's a little more english, and by the end it's 50/50).  Maybe if yours works the same way it will give your ex (and your daughter) more hope that it will get easier from here.  It would be a pity to have her get through the first (and toughest) year only to give up!

Our son is not in that school (we moved across the country weeks before he started and I felt like starting an immersion school was too much to throw at him at once!) but I love the idea of it and friends who have their kids there really love it.  You're giving her a great gift of learning another language (and learning how to succeed in challenging environments).

Kat

My 4-year old daughter has been in spanish immersion preschool for 1.5 years now.  She is doing terrific and is totally fluent in both languages.  Immersion has been great for us and we are hoping to find a kindegarten in the area that is spanish-immersion as well.  I think your instincts are right to stick with it, I'm sure in no time your daughter will think learning in another language is perfectly normal.  She may be at a disadvantage b/c many of the other kids already speak spanish but at such an early age she will catch up before you know it!

Good Luck!

When I was 5 my parents chose to put me in a Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program (JBBP). It was obviously not the same extent that your daughter's Spanish immersion program is, but it was a great experience for me. Most of my classmates knew no Japanese, although a few were native speakers. I continued taking classes through eighth grade, but had to stop when my high school didn't offer the language. But it taught me how to learn a language, and now after almost four years of Spanish I am close to fluent, so from a student's perspective I would say to stick it out if you can.
 
Just an idea, maybe you could have your daughter try to teach you and/or her father some Spanish. This might help boost her confidence and also her father's if he sees how much she is learning, and make it fun for her because she would know something her parents don't.