Reply to Ward 6 and Miner ES: Grassroots Movement for Dual Language (Mandarin) Program

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Ward 6 and Miner ES: Grassroots Movement for Dual Language (Mandarin) Program"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=warrenox][quote=Anonymous][quote=warrenox][quote=Anonymous][quote=warrenox][quote=Anonymous]Stupid question- does it HAVE to be Mandarin?  [/quote]

I believe that DCPS will choose the language by what is available to them.  DCPS knows that Yu Ying has extensive waiting lists for their Mandarin program.
It will not be Spanish because they already have immersion schools for Spanish.

I have had reservations about Mandarin as well, but after reading and understanding that Elementary kids can soak up Mandarin as easily as French or Spanish at that age, then my uneasiness was alleviated.

The benefits of a child being exposed to Mandarin at such a young age is that they are learning a Level 6 language (language difficulty ranking based on learning a language as a adult).  If you learn a higher level language, it becomes immensely easier to learn a lower level language later in life.  So if you wanted your kid to learn French or Spanish, he/she will have a easier time with it because of their exposure to Mandarin at the Elementary level.

[/quote]

I agree with everything you're saying, BUT, I don't see how people will be drawn to AND STAY IN a school with a 20% proficiency rate across the board when the language is Mandarin. Honestly it's hard enough to support the Spanish language in a place where so many kids have access to spanish speakers. I can't imagine how that would even be possible with Mandarin. [/quote]

The language would start only at the earlier grades.  It's impractical to start at every grade.  So you would have Pre-K and Kindergarten as your beginning Mandarin students.  As these kids move up through the school, the Mandarin education would move up with them until it reaches all grades at the school.  I agree that you don't start introducing Mandarin to kids who haven't been exposed to it at the pre-K or Kindergarten level.

I don't understand what you mean by support?  Does every child learning Spanish at school have Spanish speaking parents?  I highly doubt that.  Do you mean support groups that help parents? Here's one...

http://paassc.com/  - African American parent group for children learning Chinese

[/quote]

What I mean by support is that children need more than just school to truly learn a language.  Yes, I know that the prevailing wisdom on DCUM and maybe DC in general is that you can just dump your kid at your immersion school and your child comes out speaking perfect Spanish/French/Hebrew/Chinese.  But the reality is that children really DON'T become truly fluent unless families REALLY try.  That means hiring a babysitter/au pair/family member who speaks the target language to speak to the child.  That means interacting with that particular community to better understand the culture and language.  Every child I've ever spoken to without this sort of support does not really speak the language.  Yes, they can understand and put some words together, but that's not fluency.

Are you also prepared for the fact that parents can't help kids with homework unless they speak mandarin?  And yes, I realize that a good many subjects will also be taught in English, but Mandarin taught ones will be out of the reach of parents.  And frankly, in a school with 20% proficiency, parents NEED to be a part of the picture.  They can't feel that they're not able to help their kids.

Look I live near Miner, and I WANT THEM TO SUCCEED.  I want Miner to be the amazing school it definitely can be.  But I really don't think Mandarin immersion is the way to achieve that.  [/quote]

Do I believe every child that would attend an immersion program at Miner would become fluent in the language?  Of course not.  Then why do it?  Because of this right here....

http://www.bhlingual.com/brain-benefits-bilingual-infographic/

Cognitive skills.. A child learning another language has their mind mapped a different way that sharpens their cognitive skills; makes them better multitaskers and strengthens their memories.

Even if a child doesn't become fluent, they have had that learning experience in earlier years which helps shape their brain and allows them to be more flexible learners in life.  That's the biggest benefit, not what language is learned.

As far as homework, I cannot help them if they speak Mandarin, French, Spanish, or any other multitude of languages.  Am I prepared for that?  Yes.  How?  Because like any homework, my job shouldn't be to show them a new concept; they already should have the concept, homework is just practice.  It's probably scarier for the parent than it is for the child grasping this idea.  Here are some ideas for helping with homework.  A local immersion program would also involve the parents and help them understand what kind of homework a student should expect and how a parent can help.

http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/acie/vol3/Dec1999_Homework.html

Finally, the 20% that you throw up isn't an assessment on the kids who would be starting in an immersion program.  Do parent's need to be a part of the learning for those kids with the 20% proficiency?  Absolutely.  But I'm not a parent of a child with 20% proficiency, so I cannot change the home environment for that child or help that child with their homework.  Why do you think there is only a 20% proficiency currently?  And how do you translate that number and assume that would mean kids going into a immersion program will only be 20% proficient?

You and I do have something important in common; we both want to see Miner succeed.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics