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"Kids who acquire a second language early in life show increased cognitive abilities over their monolingual peers." - American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
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Why Immersion?By Julie Sweitzer, Parent, Park Spanish Immersion School, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
The answer seems so obvious now, but six years ago the concept seemed too radical to consider seriously. Sending my baby off in the care of strangers and trusting them to teach her reading, writing, and arithmetic in English was difficult enough. Surely asking her to learn from people who spoke in a language neither she nor her parents understood was an unnecessary complication. Fortunately we decided to explore language immersion before rejecting it, and in doing so completely changed our minds, and our children's futures.
Now that we are in our fifth year (and second child) of immersion schooling, answering the question Why immersion? has become easy. At an ACIE workshop with other immersion parents, as well as in other conversations, I have learned that we all had similar reasons. Perhaps sharing my top seven reasons (at right) will encourage other parents to fully explore immersion for their children. So how did we learn these things, and how can you share them with others? I went to an open house, before our school even existed. Copies of many research summaries were provided, and I read them all. I talked to parents in other immersion programs, who reinforced the research by confirming that their children's skill levels were age-appropriate in all subjects. Most importantly, I watched the teachers who would be opening our school demonstrate a lesson in Spanish with a group of English-speaking kindergartners. The kids participated and responded, even with an audience. Those "strangers" to whom I was going to entrust my child were no longer strangers, and were obviously skilled. Suddenly it was clear what our decision would be. My heart followed where my head had led, and as Robert Frost first said in The Road Not Taken, "I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." |
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