Monolingual parents with kids in bilingual programs-- help with homework?

[Anonymous]

Are there parents out there who don't speak the target language (Spanish, Mandarin) at their children's school? Do you find this to be a problem?

[Anonymous]

I don't speak the target language at my daughter's immersion school, and it is not a problem at all. Part of her "homework" in her target language is to teach me what she is learning--songs, vocab, etc.

[Anonymous]

What about when they get to 5th grade+ and are doing math homework in the foreign language? If they need help with, say, a word problem, are you expected to be able to help out? Do you need to hire a tutor who speaks the language?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about when they get to 5th grade+ and are doing math homework in the foreign language? If they need help with, say, a word problem, are you expected to be able to help out? Do you need to hire a tutor who speaks the language?

By 5th grade, wouldn't the child be well-versed enough in Spanish to translate, and then the challenge is still only the math?

[Anonymous]

I know that in Arlington, the homework typically comes home bilingually so that you know what's going on. And math shouldn't be a problem, because it's numbers - you don't need the language to help your child out. I would think you could always ask the teacher for some additional guidance but it is true that, as they get older, you obviously won't be able to review their compositions if you don't speak the language yourself. That's not an entirely bad thing, because kids are supposed to do homework on their own.

[Anonymous]

Good question.

My child's target language is Mandarin and I know that neither her father nor I will be able to help. For the time being, she's in Pre-K so I anticipate homework being a few years away.

Having said that, I think I know how I'd handle it. Working with the knowledge that there will be other families at our school in the same situation, I'd contact other parents and work on setting up a Mandarin study hall. We're lucky that our school has Mandarin teachers, Mandarin assistant teachers, Mandarin-speaking support staff, Mandarin-speaking aftercare, and some Mandarin and Mandarin-speaking parents. With that talent pool, we should be able to identify some Mandarin tutors and build an academic support program for homework.

I'm glad you asked that OP, I think I'll bring it up at our next Parent Association meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good question.

My child's target language is Mandarin and I know that neither her father nor I will be able to help. For the time being, she's in Pre-K so I anticipate homework being a few years away.

Having said that, I think I know how I'd handle it. Working with the knowledge that there will be other families at our school in the same situation, I'd contact other parents and work on setting up a Mandarin study hall. We're lucky that our school has Mandarin teachers, Mandarin assistant teachers, Mandarin-speaking support staff, Mandarin-speaking aftercare, and some Mandarin and Mandarin-speaking parents. With that talent pool, we should be able to identify some Mandarin tutors and build an academic support program for homework.

I'm glad you asked that OP, I think I'll bring it up at our next Parent Association meeting.

PP, Which school is this? I'd be interested.

[Anonymous]

Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School (http://www.washingtonyuying.org/)

It's in its first year of operation so the oldest class is 1st grade and I don't think they have much in the way of Mandarin homework yet. That's why the situation hasn't yet arisen at the school. I'm glad the OP asked the question though, and I do intend to raise it at the next Parent Association meeting in January. The school probably already has a plan as the principal came from a Chinese school in Beijing and has implemented the I.B. Primary Years Program before - but I'd just like to know for my own personal knowledge.