Cooke vs Mundo verde

[Anonymous]

What would you do? Ds has gotten into pk3 at both hd Cooke and Mundo verde. We live in columbia heights so the commute is not a relevant factor in our decision making. I am not completely comfortable with the concept of full immersion but also recognize that there are some challenges with the program at Cooke-- namely a really poor after school program and serious concerns about staying after k. What would you do??

[Anonymous]

Go with MV. You aren't likely to get a space there again. The public school can be your default if the charter doesn't work out.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. I toured Cooke and while the classes at the early childhood level seemed excellent, the upper grades were not as engaged as one would hope. We have friends at MV and they are very happy.

One of the reasons I would go with a DCPS school over a charter would be to have acceptable middle school and high school tracks. That wouldn't be the case for Cooke anyway--it tracks to CHEC.

[Anonymous]

I don't get why you aren't comfortable with full immersion? Your 3 year old won't be fazed by it one bit. After a month or two he/she will naturally understand that at school he/she will be using these other words. They'll just switch over automatically. You keep reading to your kid at home in English and when he/she is in kindergarten, you'll have the beginnings of a biliterate kid. When it all comes together they'll have such an advantage of learning in two languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go with MV. You aren't likely to get a space there again. The public school can be your default if the charter doesn't work out.

Totally agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you aren't comfortable with full immersion? Your 3 year old won't be fazed by it one bit. After a month or two he/she will naturally understand that at school he/she will be using these other words. They'll just switch over automatically. You keep reading to your kid at home in English and when he/she is in kindergarten, you'll have the beginnings of a biliterate kid. When it all comes together they'll have such an advantage of learning in two languages.

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to commit to Full immersion and help your kid develop the second language (in this case it would be Spanish) at home too. It's not just "The school does the work" approach. You have to work with the school as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to commit to Full immersion and help your kid develop the second language (in this case it would be Spanish) at home too. It's not just "The school does the work" approach. You have to work with the school as well.

Ay, que pena.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to commit to Full immersion and help your kid develop the second language (in this case it would be Spanish) at home too. It's not just "The school does the work" approach. You have to work with the school as well.

Ay, que pena.

Oy! Dios Mio. (also known in our house as oy vez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to commit to Full immersion and help your kid develop the second language (in this case it would be Spanish) at home too. It's not just "The school does the work" approach. You have to work with the school as well.

Ay, que pena.

Io hablou espaniol, POQUITITO!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you aren't comfortable with full immersion? Your 3 year old won't be fazed by it one bit. After a month or two he/she will naturally understand that at school he/she will be using these other words. They'll just switch over automatically. You keep reading to your kid at home in English and when he/she is in kindergarten, you'll have the beginnings of a biliterate kid. When it all comes together they'll have such an advantage of learning in two languages.

I wouldn't have put it like this. Rather, OP I would ask if your hesitation has more to do with your concern for your child or about your support? For example, if your child has language acquisition issues and special needs, I personally might think twice about an immersion program. If, however, your concern is that you're not sure how to support your child's acquisition of a language that you don't speak, you should know that you're not alone in this. I have a child in a language immersion program, and I can only speak a few words of it. I won't kid you and say it's easy all the time, it's definitely more demanding - as a parent - to have a child responsible for work in a new language and not being able to help. It's also really rewarding to watch my child developing a skill that I don't have. We do nightly readings (she reads, I listen). I do my best to be supportive and I know that there are a lot of other parents in the same boat. One thing is very apparent to me, my child has no idea that learning a second language is "hard" - it seems fun and easy via the immersion method.

I'm biased of course, but I'd recommend you take the MV space and see how it goes. Your DC may love it. If not, you can always withdraw to your neighborhood school, but the opportunity to grow up fluent in another language will slip away.

[Anonymous]

I would love to be in at Mundo Verde and would certainly choose that over Cooke for all the reasons given above--plus I am a fluent Spanish speaker who would love to support this at home. And I'm into sustainability. For me the choice would be clear for those reasons.

But I also think that immersion schools are harmed by parents who half-heartedly enroll despite not being into immersion (and the other focuses of the school in this case).

What do immersion parents think about this theory?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to be in at Mundo Verde and would certainly choose that over Cooke for all the reasons given above--plus I am a fluent Spanish speaker who would love to support this at home. And I'm into sustainability. For me the choice would be clear for those reasons.

But I also think that immersion schools are harmed by parents who half-heartedly enroll despite not being into immersion (and the other focuses of the school in this case).

What do immersion parents think about this theory?

Agree. For some people immersion is the IT thing to do. For others, it's more of a necessity, keeping the mother tongue of one of the parents, or developing an skill that everyone else in the household can support. I don't get parents who applied for fully immersion schools and are not sure they can or want to support that at home. Sure, your child will learn the language, but you can easily loose a second language if you don't practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you aren't comfortable with full immersion? Your 3 year old won't be fazed by it one bit. After a month or two he/she will naturally understand that at school he/she will be using these other words. They'll just switch over automatically. You keep reading to your kid at home in English and when he/she is in kindergarten, you'll have the beginnings of a biliterate kid. When it all comes together they'll have such an advantage of learning in two languages.

I wouldn't have put it like this. Rather, OP I would ask if your hesitation has more to do with your concern for your child or about your support? For example, if your child has language acquisition issues and special needs, I personally might think twice about an immersion program. If, however, your concern is that you're not sure how to support your child's acquisition of a language that you don't speak, you should know that you're not alone in this. I have a child in a language immersion program, and I can only speak a few words of it. I won't kid you and say it's easy all the time, it's definitely more demanding - as a parent - to have a child responsible for work in a new language and not being able to help. It's also really rewarding to watch my child developing a skill that I don't have. We do nightly readings (she reads, I listen). I do my best to be supportive and I know that there are a lot of other parents in the same boat. One thing is very apparent to me, my child has no idea that learning a second language is "hard" - it seems fun and easy via the immersion method.

I'm biased of course, but I'd recommend you take the MV space and see how it goes. Your DC may love it. If not, you can always withdraw to your neighborhood school, but the opportunity to grow up fluent in another language will slip away.

OP, I agree with PP and have a similar experience. We had a good IB option but decided to go with language immersion because we figured that we could always enroll in K at our IB school if the immersion option didn't work out. My child is doing well in language immersion and we are not fluent in the language. My husband and I are getting better because we have to in order to support our child. I have noticed that his language acquisition in English has slowed (not regressed) compared to his friends in non-immersion programs. I am not worried as his language acquisition in Spanish is increasing rapidly and as PK4 student, he as started reading in Spanish (he was starting to read in English last summer but seems to have shifted to skills to Spanish). His math skills are developing well and at home he has demonstrated the ability to transfer that ability between Spanish and English. My child has also started to translate in everyday situations, e.g. when he hears someone speaking Spanish at a store or hears a song in Spanish. It is awesome to watch him develop and even though I took several years of Spanish and French in high school and college, starting in early childhood gives him the advantage-- especially his accent! Overall, I am happy with our decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to be in at Mundo Verde and would certainly choose that over Cooke for all the reasons given above--plus I am a fluent Spanish speaker who would love to support this at home. And I'm into sustainability. For me the choice would be clear for those reasons.

But I also think that immersion schools are harmed by parents who half-heartedly enroll despite not being into immersion (and the other focuses of the school in this case).

What do immersion parents think about this theory?

Immersion parent, and I am inclined to agree. I knew immersion was important to me from the very beginning. The caveat is that I think some parents legitimately don't know that in advance, however they have an open mind to the possibility that it's something they and their children might value. As they see their child taking joy in learning a new language, they can come around to that point of view. I've seen a number of families become quite passionate about a second language, when it wasn't something they anticipated before enrolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you aren't comfortable with full immersion? Your 3 year old won't be fazed by it one bit. After a month or two he/she will naturally understand that at school he/she will be using these other words. They'll just switch over automatically. You keep reading to your kid at home in English and when he/she is in kindergarten, you'll have the beginnings of a biliterate kid. When it all comes together they'll have such an advantage of learning in two languages.

my child is at MV in PreS and it was not as seamless as this poster makes it. my child much prefers 'english' days.

the fall was challenging - part of it was the new school - there were a lot of tears at drop off not just from my child but from classmates as well. Drop offs during spanish days were particularly challenging for my child and children who did not speak spanish. (my observation)

this became easier as time progresses - maybe if it was only spanish all the time the window would have been shorter ?


If you are on the fence - maybe you can go visit MV and see what it looks and feels like. Obviously April is a lot different than Sept in a classroom of now mostly 4 YOs but it will give you a sense of what to expect.