Anonymous
02/19/2026 23:13
Subject: Starting language immersion in 2nd grade
Anonymous wrote:Almost scared to post here but here goes: I will be doing the lottery for my rising PK3-er. I have another kid currently enrolled at a decent DCPS school. We’ve always wanted to have our kids in a Spanish language immersion setting but have lucked out.
My question is, is putting my rising 2nd grader in an immersion setting for the first time a terrible idea? I am a fluent (but not native) speaker and would be able to assist. Kiddo is extremely bright, reading like a champ, and Spanish is phonetic. I further understand that all the immersion schools in our area are 50/50 immersion by that grade level. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
I put my child in a language immersion school for the first time in third grade. Now, in 7th grade, she is caught up with some of her peers, surpassed some, and still trails the language ability of others--particularly those who speak the language at home or have a parent who speaks the language. All in all, it was a good experience, and I don't regret it.
Anonymous
02/16/2026 14:19
Subject: Starting language immersion in 2nd grade
Anonymous wrote:not in dc, but ime the level of language after one or two years of immersion is not so high as to be insurmountable by a bright/talented kid. local public immersion schools take new kids in first grade, no questions asked, and will take kids in higher grades after testing. some local immersion schools will take kids at any grade, and offer special support to help them catch up.
whether your kid resents it is going to depend on their temprament.
No school in dc offers support for kids to catch up. Not sure why someone would post about another school district. Also I’ve been told many times how fluently and perfectly people speak spanish and how wonderful their children speak spanish. Culturally very few spanish speakers will say anything negative to a stranger. In fact people will go out of their way to be kind. Many people who have told me that their kids are “nearly fluent” or who’s parents are “fluent” are not even close.
Anonymous
02/16/2026 13:15
Subject: Re:Starting language immersion in 2nd grade
Anonymous wrote:Currently teach at a language immersion school. I would highly suggest not putting your child in language immersion this late. Focus on the basic fundamentals like reading, writing and math. You would isolate your child because they would spend half the day in a foreign language and academically fall behind. Even further, Latin American families do not often invite or extend invitations over because their families are usually large enough to have bday parties and BBQs amongst themselves.
This was not our experience. Just last month went to a birthday celebration for a parent we met when our kids were in immersion school together 8 years ago - we’ve remained friends. I think it depends on whether the parents speak Spanish. We do, and we socialized a lot with Spanish dominant families.
Anonymous
02/15/2026 15:30
Subject: Re:Starting language immersion in 2nd grade
Currently teach at a language immersion school. I would highly suggest not putting your child in language immersion this late. Focus on the basic fundamentals like reading, writing and math. You would isolate your child because they would spend half the day in a foreign language and academically fall behind. Even further, Latin American families do not often invite or extend invitations over because their families are usually large enough to have bday parties and BBQs amongst themselves.
Anonymous
02/14/2026 23:14
Subject: Starting language immersion in 2nd grade
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:In my experience as a spanish tutor this is an incredibly poor decision. I truly believe 1st grade is too late, and second and above is borderline child abuse. I have never seen a child thrive in this situation. Sure sometimes they can muddle through- but is that what you want your kid to think about themselves? Do you want to spend many thousands on enrichment, tutoring, etc? I have yet to see a summer camp in this area that does a good job teaching spanish. They are essentially Spanish exposure. Changing all your screens to English works on toddlers, not on kids who can read and know how to switch them back. You’re going to teach your kid to look at the pictures and tune out the voices. Please don’t do this. If you go ahead and do it (and again, your kid will resent you) please set them up with a one on one tutor and in person group lessons.
I find this negative take really interesting. Kids in Europe and other places learn second and third languages in higher grades. I think it is a lot of work to achieve fluency, but not a horrible idea. Especially for a bright kid that wants to learn.
When they teach languages to children in Europe they do not use the immersion model. They teach it as a foreign language. Kids have greater ability to learn languages but not the same way a 3 year old can learn them. They teach grammar, vocabulary etc using word lists etc. the immersion model assumes your brain will be able to retain this information naturally. This really isn’t the case. At best your child will speak very very poorly and be deprived of some serious learning which takes place in 2nd grade.
The DC schools aren't 100% immersion at that level though, right? At most it's 50/50.
I think DCPS schools are but some immersion charters are 100% immersion such as MV. 100% in ECE and K.
No DC schools are 100% at that age.
Can’t speak for other immersion charters but MV is 100%.