Reply to the DC International Public Charter School (DCI)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But if the third language is not started before that key period (before adolescence) it will not be easily learned by the kids and they won't achieve native fluency. [/quote]

The school doesn't expect native fluency in the 3rd language, and I think it's too much to expect kids to learn a 3rd language while still learning grade level social studies and math etc. in the target language.  Name some effective examples of specific schools that start 2 new languages in early elementary and have kids stay at grade level throughout high school and also achieve native fluency in 3 languages (incl English) by graduations from 12th grade?[/quote]
That may be true for kids learning the second language, but for kids already bilingual (as many Spanish speakers already are) the third language would be their learning experience. Why can't this be accommodated.[/quote]

Accommodate your already bilingual kids yourself.  Get with other parents of already-bilingual kids at your school and start/hire an after school instructor in a 3rd language that everyone shares the cost of.  Or group with parents and rally the school to provide it.  But unless you can point to a school that's done the 3 languages successfully at elementary, along with the other basic skills/subjects, do not expect the feeder schools to risk their math and English scores just to satisfy the relatively small number of kids who enter elementary already truly bilingual.  The later test scores for DC students who enter elementary fluent in Spanish do not indicate that the majority have such a breeze with English and other subjects that there is tons of classroom time to spare on serious study of a 3rd language.[/quote]

And many Spanish-speaking kids are far from proficient in reading and writing Spanish, so they still have a lot of work to do before achieving mastery in their second language.[/quote]

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