Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:46
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Not the PP you're responding to but I'm not impressed with the DC immersion charters I've visited since moving to DC 15 years ago (all these schools).
In cities in my native North Carolina, public immersion elementary programs, partial immersion middle school programs, and International Baccalaureate Diploma high school programs are much more serious than those here.
Too many DC immersion admins and parents pretend that the immersion is working great, when it obviously isn't, because the school system is just too screwed up for that to be true.
In cities in my native North Carolina, public immersion elementary programs, partial immersion middle school programs, and International Baccalaureate Diploma high school programs are much more serious than those here.
Too many DC immersion admins and parents pretend that the immersion is working great, when it obviously isn't, because the school system is just too screwed up for that to be true.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:45
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Now that we are facing middle school and have only one option for the language my child has been learning for 6 years, I regret not having her learn Spanish. There are many more options to continue with Spanish than the language she is learning. I didn't realize she would love it so much and want to continue.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:17
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:We have a tutor! This is the delusional DC immersion charter mentality in a nutshell.
We have a tutor, so the kid speaks the language well. Never mind the fact that we know little about this language and culture and don't have ethnic friends or neighbors who speak this language with our child. We deny that the kid needs a Chinese-speaking adult in the home or bilingual peers to speak this language.
Totally ridiculous.
Are you narrow minded or just jealous? Or both?
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:16
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I always find it interesting that all the families who aren’t native speakers are confident that their kids speak “tons” of the target language. How are you confident of this? How do you know your preschooler is “fluent”?
This attitude is so tiresome. Of course kids in immersion aren't perfectly fluent (especially before age 10!); just like many people with second languages aren't perfect in the second language. I bet compared to before, the child does know 'tons' of the language. The point is to start down the road to fluency - some will get there sooner than others - thus teaching kids an important life skill in this shrinking world and potentially opening up more opportunities down the road. My DS, while probably not a perfect Spanish speaker, appears to communicate effectively with other Spanish speakers, and he's only 8 - I have enough knowledge of Spanish to feel confident about this. I imagine it will get even better as time goes on. Another perk is that it provides extra challenge at school.
It's fine if you don't prioritize second languages - maybe your kid does math club, or a sport, or plays an instrument. I doubt they will have achieved perfection in those skills by age 10, but that doesn't mean there isn't value.
What's tiresome is the attitude that plenty of kids who can barely manage a basic conversation in the target language in the upper grades at immersion charters are routinely presented as "proficient" or "fluent."
This is common with immersion study in this City, particularly for French and Chinese.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:11
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
We have a tutor! This is the delusional DC immersion charter mentality in a nutshell.
We have a tutor, so the kid speaks the language well. Never mind the fact that we know little about this language and culture and don't have ethnic friends or neighbors who speak this language with our child. We deny that the kid needs a Chinese-speaking adult in the home or bilingual peers to speak this language.
Totally ridiculous.
We have a tutor, so the kid speaks the language well. Never mind the fact that we know little about this language and culture and don't have ethnic friends or neighbors who speak this language with our child. We deny that the kid needs a Chinese-speaking adult in the home or bilingual peers to speak this language.
Totally ridiculous.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:10
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:I always find it interesting that all the families who aren’t native speakers are confident that their kids speak “tons” of the target language. How are you confident of this? How do you know your preschooler is “fluent”?
This attitude is so tiresome. Of course kids in immersion aren't perfectly fluent (especially before age 10!); just like many people with second languages aren't perfect in the second language. I bet compared to before, the child does know 'tons' of the language. The point is to start down the road to fluency - some will get there sooner than others - thus teaching kids an important life skill in this shrinking world and potentially opening up more opportunities down the road. My DS, while probably not a perfect Spanish speaker, appears to communicate effectively with other Spanish speakers, and he's only 8 - I have enough knowledge of Spanish to feel confident about this. I imagine it will get even better as time goes on. Another perk is that it provides extra challenge at school.
It's fine if you don't prioritize second languages - maybe your kid does math club, or a sport, or plays an instrument. I doubt they will have achieved perfection in those skills by age 10, but that doesn't mean there isn't value.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 07:05
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:I always find it interesting that all the families who aren’t native speakers are confident that their kids speak “tons” of the target language. How are you confident of this? How do you know your preschooler is “fluent”?
My preschooler’s teacher only speaks to our child in Spanish and our teacher says DC understands everything.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 06:59
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
YY, no regrets. Wonderful school and we love the PYP program. Kid got 5s on PARCC, advanced reader, but loves math and shows a strong interest in engineering. We have a Chinese tutor.
Anonymous
01/30/2019 06:19
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Our charter does a really good job at teaching Spanish and that I believe is because we don’t allow students after K (LAMB). The vast majority have been there since PK3 and it shows. I honestly can’t imagine entering the school at first grade or later- kids are expected to work at grade level or above in Spanish. Preschool seems like a good time to learn a language but elementary school is for focusing on lots of other important skills like math, reading, etc. I am not an educator though so maybe there is a way to get kids to catch up quickly that I just don’t understand.
Anonymous
01/29/2019 23:40
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Good point.
If you speak a target language fluently, know that most of the kids in your child's immersion program speak it poorly (considering that they've been in 100%- 50% immersion for years), and note this, you're called names here. You're a creep, troll, somebody who trashes programs as a hobby etc.
At the charter immersion program we left, all the kids were given high grades for speaking the language, presumably because it was unfair to grade kids down if their parents couldn't afford to supplement. What a joke.
If you speak a target language fluently, know that most of the kids in your child's immersion program speak it poorly (considering that they've been in 100%- 50% immersion for years), and note this, you're called names here. You're a creep, troll, somebody who trashes programs as a hobby etc.
At the charter immersion program we left, all the kids were given high grades for speaking the language, presumably because it was unfair to grade kids down if their parents couldn't afford to supplement. What a joke.
Anonymous
01/29/2019 22:50
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
I always find it interesting that all the families who aren’t native speakers are confident that their kids speak “tons” of the target language. How are you confident of this? How do you know your preschooler is “fluent”?
Anonymous
01/29/2019 21:54
Subject: Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
No regrets. Dcps dual language programs have been great for our kids. We don’t do any extra supplementation beyond letting them watch tv in Spanish. They are above grade level in English, spanish reading and math.
Anonymous
01/29/2019 21:18
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
I have a first grader in an immersion program in FCPS and we are enjoying it. He seems to be doing a good job learning the language and is fine in his other classes. It probably helps that he was already above grade level in math and English at the start of the year. His teachers are pretty strict and work hard to keep the kids focused because they have to learnt he regular cirriculum and the langauage.
It really depends on the child and their needs. We are at an immersion school. About hald the kindrgarteners joined the language immersion program and half did not. I talked with a good number of the parents who didn’t and they said they knew it would not be a good fit for their child. Most of them had the benefit of an older sibling in the program so they had a good feel for the requirements.
It really depends on the child and their needs. We are at an immersion school. About hald the kindrgarteners joined the language immersion program and half did not. I talked with a good number of the parents who didn’t and they said they knew it would not be a good fit for their child. Most of them had the benefit of an older sibling in the program so they had a good feel for the requirements.
Anonymous
01/29/2019 20:59
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:Immersion parent here. Is my kid fluent,? NO. But above all language immersion schools/HRCS offer a middle class parent/student network that you don't find in DCPS. So you decide.
We live IB for Deal. We have a great group of families at our neighborhood school, if that's what we were seeking. That had zero to do with our decision to enroll our child in an immersion school. YMMV.
I actually wouldn't be surprised later on if PPs like the above end up with regrets, if language immersion itself wasn't the main reason to enroll, but rather, "network" reasons. It gets hard to support in later grades, particularly if you don't speak the language of instruction.
Anonymous
01/29/2019 20:52
Subject: Re:Does anyone have language immersion regrets?
Anonymous wrote:Immersion parent here. Is my kid fluent,? NO. But above all language immersion schools/HRCS offer a middle class parent/student network that you don't find in DCPS. So you decide.
Really? Middle class “networks” are strongly in the minority at DCB and Stokes. And whatever network is available at MV, it hasn’t helped its test scores.