This is from a previous post…


“We did not send him expecting that he would be fluent at the end of ES. We knew that the focus was more on learning the spoken language and even that would mainly be in Science and Math. He is taking the language in MS now. It is a regular class. He is taking the HS level 1 class. The benefit that his class has because it is all immersion kids, is that they know the alphabet and what the language sounds like. They have an idea about the grammar because they have been listening to the language and done some writing in the language. He is feeling more confident with his abilities in the class and I would guess that they will pick up the pace as they are doing more grammar and vocabulary tests. They have completed several presentations about their family and pets and other subject matters.”

Montessori doesn’t make think of rigorous study. I couldn’t stomach listening to the German language, it is ugly and I can’t help thinking of two World Wars with Germany and six million Jews killed along with millions of others every time I hear it.

I was pulled out for French classes starting in 2nd grade and I hated it. I had no choice until 8th grade when I could finally leave it behind. Ironically my mothers family is 100% French Canadian and my mother is the first English speaker in the family

I would choose Spanish. It is one of the most common spoken languages in the world. It’s one of the more logical languages where there aren’t so many silent letters and odd spellings. Not many silent letters either. The words can be sounded out.

We tried to get Spanish immersion in our city but there was a long waiting list. Starting in kindergarten they would be taught only in English one week, the next week they would be taught in Spanish alone. The two languages were equal The program went through high school. The kids graduated bilingual. There are enough Immigrants who only spoke Spanish and enough Latino Americans in the program so plenty of friends to speak the language. They are fully bilingual upon graduating high school in reading, writing, speech

I wouldn't pick any of the language ones. Honestly, I'd probably choose the last option.

Anonymous wrote:Montessori, but only if it's "real" Montessori and a good one that goes at least up to middle school and I could afford the whole time. Actually, any private school would be best.

As for the other choices, I would just go with my neighborhood school or whatever is most convenient. Immersion programs aren't usually very good, but if I had to choose then I guess I'd choose the German and definitely avoid the Spanish, just based on the likely quality of the teachers.

...what does this mean?

Montessori, but only if it's "real" Montessori and a good one that goes at least up to middle school and I could afford the whole time. Actually, any private school would be best.

As for the other choices, I would just go with my neighborhood school or whatever is most convenient. Immersion programs aren't usually very good, but if I had to choose then I guess I'd choose the German and definitely avoid the Spanish, just based on the likely quality of the teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montessori, as long as you check out the quality first, and they administer standardized tests at least yearly. If it is a good Montessori school, there should be no problems transferring to public/private middle or high school when the time is right

The Montessori is K-8 I should add.

Even better. They can transition to high school in the appropriate level classes, vs middle school where you may be limiting to 7th grade English, or alegbra, or whatever. It’s nearly impossible to deviate from grade level classes in middle school beyond math, but even that is limited to a year or two above.

German one if I were you. Public one for us.
I'm European.

The German one would have the best academics.

Anonymous wrote:Montessori, as long as you check out the quality first, and they administer standardized tests at least yearly. If it is a good Montessori school, there should be no problems transferring to public/private middle or high school when the time is right

The Montessori is K-8 I should add.

Our base school was a language immersion school in FCPS so we enrolled our child in the language. Neither of us speak the language but we liked the idea of our child being exposed to a new language and the challenges that come from learning a new language. The school was upfront that they taught Science and Math in the target language but that they would not be teaching grammar for the target language. We saw various writing assignments in the language so we know he was doing some writing in the language. He was reading some younger books and magazines in the target language.

We did not send him expecting that he would be fluent at the end of ES. We knew that the focus was more on learning the spoken language and even that would mainly be in Science and Math. He is taking the language in MS now. It is a regular class. He is taking the HS level 1 class. The benefit that his class has, because it is all immersion kids, is that the know the alphabet and what the language sounds like. They have an idea about the grammar because they have been listening to the language and done some writing in the language. He is feeling more confident with his abilities in the class and I would guess that they will pick up the pace as they are doing more grammar and vocabulary tests. They have completed several presentations about their family and pets and other subject matters.

We appreciated the ES program because it provided something different that challenged him in school. I do think that the kids taking the language in MS have a solid basic foundation that is making the language a bit easier for them. Not to mention, there is a lot of literature pointing to learning a second language benefiting in brain development and growth. If you think your child is struggling in one of the classes taught in the langauge, you might want to move out of immersion. I know some kids moved out when they were struggling with math in the target language.

Montessori, as long as you check out the quality first, and they administer standardized tests at least yearly. If it is a good Montessori school, there should be no problems transferring to public/private middle or high school when the time is right

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid FCPS.

The educational quality is rapidly evaporating due to the SB, Reid, and Gatehouse.

This sounds like Milwaukee, not anywhere in the DMV.

You are smart!

Anonymous wrote:If it’s not a bad school district, maybe just go to the school the neighborhood kids all go, so your kids won’t be left out having no friend to play with. Otherwise, maybe Montessori ( a real Montessori, but I would concern about if kids can fit into public MS or HS later), or Spanish immersion.

It's a bad school district and there aren't neighborhood schools in the traditional sense, so neighborhood kids go every which way.

Anonymous wrote:Either Option 4 or option 5. We are in FCPS-land and chose option 4.

One caveat is that Montessori schools have large variance in what is taught and teaching style, even within the set of AMS or AMI schools. So visit and watch before selecting it. Also, because Montessori usually is open classroom, teacher quality/style might matter more than in a classroom with desks.

This is so spot on. I’d look at the % of experienced teachers in each school to see if there’s a big difference between buildings. Great schools should have the metric.

Anonymous wrote:Do you speak any of the immersion languages at home? If yes, that one. Otherwise, the neighborhood school.

This. We would pick German because DH speaks German fluently. Nothing else factors in.