Full language immersion programs

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I'm a DC mom with an eye towards moving to Baltimore (where hubby works), so this is a general question about schooling rather than a question about a particular school. My daughter is 2, so I have a few more years to figure out the school thing, but I have my eye on a charter school up there that offers full language immersion in either Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese or Russian (you have to choose one). I love the idea of learning a language early, but I wonder if a full immersion would result in some lag in her English grammar, spelling and vocab. Or am I worrying over nothing? (For what it's worth, hubby speaks French, but otherwise, we are English speakers.)

Anybody out there with experience in full language immersion programs?

[Anonymous]

you might have better luck posting this in "schools general"

[Anonymous]

I have a son in Mandarin immersion. I did read somewhere that in immersion children initially may lag a bit behind in English, but that it disappears by 3rd grade. Immersion is hard on kids in the beginning and if I suspected my child had a learning disability, I probably wouldn't do it. That said, it has been wonderful for my son. I like that he is learning one of the more difficult languages for English speakers to learn.

[Anonymous]

One school that offers immersion programs in four languages?It sounds amazing but how does one school pull that off? If you proceed, be sure you have a sure-bet backup if things don't work out in full immersion. I wouldn't worry about the lag, it disappears as the OP noted.