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Preschool and Daycare Discussion
Diversity at Chevy Chase/Bethesda/Tenley-area preschools?
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Anonymous
| My daughter is 3 and understands English, but does not speak it (we speak another language at home). I'd like to find a preschool that is international, with other countries and languages represented. I am not looking for an immersion program, or a bilingual program. We don't speak either Spanish or French, so I think an immersion program would be too much; we'd rather focus on English for now. Can anyone recommend a preschool that has experience educating children whose native language is not English, and that are diverse in terms of culture/national backgrounds? Thanks in advance. |
Anonymous
| check out oneness: http://www.onenessfamily.org/ |
Anonymous
| Are you familiar with the school? I thought the tuition was a bit steep at $17k for 5 half days. |
Anonymous
| St. Columba's in Tenleytown gets a lot of World Bank families. There's not a lot of racial diversity there, but a fair amount of linguistic diversity and a lovely program. |
Anonymous
I assumed you are looking for something for this fall - and given that places like St. Columba's would probably be full with a waitlist a mile long did not propose it. Historically Oneness might have an opening now for the fall. |
Anonymous
| OP-Thanks for both your replies. Yes, I'm looking for the fall, and yes, St. Columba's has a waitlist. Any other suggestions are most appreciated. |
Anonymous
My 3 yo dd will be attending All Saints preschool in the fall. She speaks two other languages besides English. I can't speak to how diverse the school is as a whole since we haven't started but there would be at least one other "polyglot" in her class  I think they may still have openings.
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Anonymous
| bump |
Anonymous
| OP, we are in same bought, and i toured several preschools when we were choosing place for DC. She knew no English at all when she started at 3 yo. Most preschools noted that it is not a big issue for someone so young, and as far as I remember all of them had experience with kids (most answers usually sounded like: oh, that's no problem...we had little boy / girl who spoke only italian / russian / etc. when he/ she started last year and by end of first 1-2 months couldn't tell the difference...), as well as examples about how they accommodated (e.g. teacher who spoke the language that could help / dictionary prepared by parents to help understand basic stuff e.g. eat, water, potty and so on). I would not focus too much on finding an 'international' preschool but on one that you like and make sure you ask this question and see what they respond. |
Anonymous
| boat... not bought |
Anonymous
I agree--our co-op routinely has kids who come in speaking other languages, and we also have opportunities to celebrate different countries and their traditions. I'd focus right now on finding spots (or getting on wait lists, since things can open up over the summer), and then checking in with the individual teacher to see if your child would be a good fit. |
Anonymous
| OP: that was actually my attitude last year, but we did not have a good experience. I am specifically looking for preschools that are diverse linguistically, and ethnically, if ossible. Any other suggestions are most welcome. |
Anonymous
| DS is at Auguste Montessori (across the street from Murch Elementary). It's a wonderful little school with a diverse group of students many of which do not speak English at home. They have a rolling admissions so it is possible that there are spots available. |
nava_edelen
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Hi, I am director of Chevy Chase Reggio and I can say we are fortunate to have a wonderful set of families from diverse backgrounds. I am orginially from Peru so we incorporate Spanish regularly but we have had several children who came to us from Thailand, Turkey, Colombia, and France. Many of these kids knew very little english and now they are on their way to becoming tri-lingual. I really enjoy the opportunity to bring stories, songs, and games from so many different cultures into our classroom.
Patricia |