Interesting! Your child has to do the test, right? |
Yes, you're correct. After 1st grade, the student will need to test into the program. |
| Anyone know how far down waitlist generally goes for 2nd grade at RCF? I have one kid who got an invite but my other kid has a waitlist # in the 30s for 2nd grades d not loving the idea of going to 2 separate schools. Thanks. |
Yes indeed. My kid speaks French (French-American family), reads and write pretty well. Thats one of my doubts. Is it worth giving her more exposure to French during the day + having her join a potentially more engaging and tight knit program for 2 years. Or should i leave her in regular Piney Branch school and focus on other topics (like math). I am very torn... For those who are at SCES (or other immersion programs): do you feel like you have to sacrifice a little bit on the other part of the academic curriculum to gain a second language? |
| The only thing I feel like my SCES French kid has missed out on is English math vocabulary (which we try to teach her) and English reading (it took her a bit to really get into English reading though she loves it now). The actual curriculum is exactly the same as non-immersion programs (and SCES has compacted math - in French - for those who qualify). |
Thanks ! Do you thik that affect your kid's MAP test scores? As i assume those are taken in English ? (asking to know if it affects chances to get into TPMS and Eastern Magnet programs) |
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It's hard to know what her MAP scores (yes, MAP is in English) would have been if she weren't in immersion... She started in kindergarten. SCES doesn't start MAP for immersion kids until 2nd grade, because they feel it would be unfair to make them do standardized testing in English before that.
We did work with her on some basic English math vocab before taking the tests (and I think they tried to do a little of that in school too). He scores are high so I have never attributed any problem to being in immersion. If your kid has been going to school in English until now then she should be fine, though if you're already speaking/reading/writing French at home then obviously the value of immersion is relatively lower for you and your child. Immersion is a nice community for sure, but we are friends with kids outside of immersion too (meeting them through afterschool activities, etc) so I'm not sure I would go just for that reason, though if you think you're potentially interested in continuing immersion in middle school (at SSIMS) it would be nice for your child to meet others in 4th and 5th grade that she would be continuing with to the middle school program. |
I don’t. In ES the curriculum is highly standardized and other than language skills, everything being taught is the same whether immersion or not. It’s slightly horrifying to me that Eureka Math is available in French, but that’s what they use. |
| Also, the data on the neurologically protective effects of being bilingual is so convincing—it honestly feels like the brain health equivalent of getting vaccinated and not in any way like a sacrifice. |
I absolutely agree with the health benefits |
Found out recently that someone was WL #34 last year and got into that program... So your chances are really good |
| Last year, my kid, who was #8 for Sligo Creek, got a spot about 2 weeks later. We are there now and love it. Friends with kids at Maryvale love it too. |
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Immersion’s effect on standardized tests depends on your child. One of my DCs wouldn’t have done well at immersion - she has a longer learning curve for ELA.
My other DC is a quick learner and tests in the 99 percentile in her full immersion program. If she didn’t get into the immersion program, she would’ve languished in the regular curriculum, so this was a good fit for her. Not sure about the brain health benefits, but learning language is so much easier in the primary years, from my observation. DC in kindergarten has learned probably more than double the Spanish vocabulary than my four years of HS Spanish. And I definitely want my kids to be fluent in a foreign language. |
| We are on WL. Would and when we ever know of our status by the end of the enrolment window for a current year? |
You can call the office and ask where they are on the wait list thus far. But they will not be sending out updates or anything. |