Lanaguage Immersion Programs in DC or VA for 2/3 yrs

[Anonymous]

I am interested in a language immersion program for my 18mos..in dc or va. Can anyone recommend any? Also, do some of the montessori have langauge immersion?

[Anonymous]

OP can you clarify? Are you looking for immersion pre-school programs for a 2 or 3 year old? Or are you looking for immersion programs for children up through elementary and/or middle school? Also, do you want public or private? Because if you want public you're going to have to be a resident of the school district you're interested in. There are lots of immersion programs in several different languages, can you narrow down what it is you are seeking?

[Anonymous]

OP here..ideally, i would like to get my 18 mos started in either french or spanish and leads up to elementary/middle school. private/public is fine. currently we live in fairfax but are willing to relocate based on program.

would the 2/3 yrs programs be considered daycares/preschools? first kid here so this is all new to me(:
thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Had you answered Mandarin I would have said DC or MoCo. However, if your target language is French or Spanish you ultimately want to be in Fairfax County. FFX has more language immersion programs than anyone (either French, German, Japanese, or Spanish in every cluster), so you have a much wider array of choices over where to enroll and where to live.

Since public Pre-K doesn't exist in VA you'll have to find a private immersion pre-school if you want to start now. (Unless of course, you want a bilingual nanny). Maybe post in the Pre-school forums and see what you can find?

[Anonymous]

CommuniKids Preschool in Falls Church offers Spanish or French immersion preschool programs beginning at age 2 1/2. They have an education consultant on staff to help you identify immersion elementary schools and assist in the lottery or admissions process. www.communikidspreschool.com.

[Anonymous]

OP here!! Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Also, consider Lango immersion classes for your little one. They are new there is a Lango in Fairfax, I think. go to www.langokids.com. There are locations all throughout the DMV.

[Anonymous]

CommuniKids (locations in DC and VA) also has weekly immersion classes for children as young as 18 months. VA location offers Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese. www.communikids.com

[Anonymous]

Once a week language classes at CommuniKids etc are not immersion. Don't get me wrong - I've heard good things about the classes but by themselves they're not going to make a child fluent in another language. OP, I'd recommend the CommuniKids preschool program (as opposed to the regular classes) in VA, or an in-home day care where the providers speak to the kids in that language (the best way to learn).

For elementary school, Arlington offers a great Spanish immersion program, which includes music and art education in Spanish. You can live anywhere in the county and feed into one of the two immersion schools. Unlike Fairfax or Montgomery County, where there is far more demand than availability for immersion, you actually have a solid shot in Arlington at getting into the program.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You can take a free class at Communikids to see how you like it. We love it. Started with half-day summer camp and now in preschool.

Be aware that some programs in public schools may say "dual immersion" which is actually bilingual with half teaching in Spanish and half in English. (I was totally confused by this at first.)

Good luck!