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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Monolingual DC language immersion parents I talk don't get it.   They think that picking up and retaining languages is a snap for kids.
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You must not have talked to us because no that is not how we think.  We talked extensively to current parents at immersion schools outside of DC and also adult friends who attended language immersion schools growing up before we made the decision for our DC to be at a Spanish immersion charter.

We know going in that it would be challenging.  We have engaged outside support in addition to summer immersion camps, plans for vacation travel to Spanish speaking countries, and once DC is older, summer camps abroad in Spanish speaking countries.

We are far from the only family doing this at our charter.[/quote]

Great, you have the drive and resources to make the most of immersion for your child(ren) in the long-term, although, from the sounds of it, you don't speak Spanish at home. But you're not in the majority doing this at any DC immersion charter. The only bona fide two-way immersion program in DC is found at Oyster. But as Oyster's in-boundary population becomes more white/high SES, the Latino population of the school drops, hurting the immersion experience. The fact is, a great many DC charter immersion parents are mainly running away from low-performing in-boundary schools. They're much less serious about immersion study than you, and/or don't have the resources to support serious immersion study. DC charter does little to help low SES families support immersion outside of the classroom, unlike MoCo, where low SES immersion students are routinely sent to free or low-cost summer immersion camps.

We speak a language taught in a DC charter, and at DCI, at home (not Spanish). When we speak to upper grades elementary school students who attend this charter in the target language, and some of the most advanced DCI students studying it, we're seldom remotely impressed. We used to volunteer at school events once in a while but stopped. The whole arrangement was just too silly.[/quote]

Of course if it’s not Spanish and it’s either French or Mandarin, the program won’t be strong due to lack of native speaking students/families.  That’s a well known fact.  Families who have kids in these programs don’t have a high expectation for proficiency.

But if it’s Spanish, then yes lots of native speaking families in some of the charters/DCPS.  There are also lots of UMC families like ourselves who can afford to supplement outside of school.  We are at a charter and in the charter world, some schools have stronger programs than others.  I can’t speak for the DCPS immersion schools.

Lastly, no, for low SES families in charters or DCPS, there are no free outside support.  It is what it is.  I would say though that many in this category don’t want language immersion.  Look at the DCPS schools that offer 2 tracks - traditional and immersion and you will see these socioeconomic divisions.

Language immersion gets more and more difficult as you go up in the higher grades and some of the lower SES kids struggle since they don’t have outside support.  Eventually the parents will pull their child out of the school to go the non-immersion route.[/quote]

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