Union Bilingual Preschool

Muchas Gracias!

Kris — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:31:44 +0000

We just wanted to send out a big MUCHAS GRACIAS to all of the wonderful people who contributed to such a fantastic year at Union Preschool. This summer we will have many fundraisers and opportunities for your children to be involved outside of the school setting so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts!

Enrollment is already taking place. If you would like your child to be considered please fill out an application form and we will send out the new Fall 2010 orientation packet as soon as it is available. Space is limited so reserve your spot soon! As always, if you have any questions feel free to email us at info@unionpreschool.com!

Quick Announcements

Kris — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:34:17 +0000

This week is shaping up to be one of the best weeks we’ve had so far at Union Preschool! We would like to send a BIG BIENVENIDOS to all our new students joining us this session and we hope that they enjoy coming to preschool!

Spanish can be difficult for everyone to learn, especially young children who can become very easily frustrated. Please remember to use the words and phrases that we send home each week and work with them with your child. It will make their experience at preschool much more enjoyable.

We are in need of people to volunteer to help clear snow in the mornings before preschool. If you can and are interested, make sure to look for the sign-up sheet at the school!

Also, if you would like to take any of the pets home, there are sign-up sheets for that as well!

We hope all is well and want to wish you all buenas suerte with this new year!

Getting Started

Kristen — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:49:47 +0000

We want to thank all the parents for their patience and commitment during the first few weeks of school. Our teachers have learned a lot and so have the children and we know it’s going to be a great session. We just want to remind you about the Home Language Reinforcement cards that you should be receiving every Monday. If you have not received any cards, please talk with the teachers. We also want to encourage you to take advantage of our bilingual lending library, which contains books designed for children who are learning to read. We will be adding more challenging Spanish books for parents to read at home with their children very soon. If you have any questions about the lending library, please ask the teachers. Finally, our teachers will be adding to the Teacher’s Blog starting this week, so check back for photos and information from the teachers.

Thanks again for your support and please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about the school so far.

Sincerely,
The Union Preschool Directors

Angie’s Restaurant Fundraiser

Holly — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:31:17 +0000

Locally owned Angie’s Restaurant generously offered to give Union Preschool 15% of their profits last Wednesday night. Our non-profit board and preschool committee members worked hard to get as many people as possible to go eat at Angie’s. Those who came can attest to good times and tasty local food. Committee members volunteered to sit at and greet customers as they came in, which helped raise awareness about our school.

Union Preschool fundraisers help generate money for needed supplies and financial aid for low-income families. We are so grateful for everyone’s help, donated time and efforts, and monetary donations!

Thank you!

Carpool Options

Kristen — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:23:13 +0000

We would like to encourage parents to consider joining a Preschool Carpool. Carpooling can help reduce our carbon footprint, as well as reduce traffic congestion during drop-off and pick-up times. It may also help you save time and be more productive while your child is at school. If you would like us to suggest other parents who live in your area, please let us know. You could also leave a comment here with information about what days you’re interested in and where you live (you could put a general area if you don’t want to put your address online).

There is also a bus stop right by our new location, so if you would like information about the bus route, let us know.

Union Bilingual Preschool Open house

Kristen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:49:46 +0000

*Please note the date change
We are excited to announce we will be having our first open house on August 26th, 2009 at our new location (the Unitarian Universalists Church on 596 E. and 900 N. in Logan). The event will last from 6:00-7:30 and our new teachers will be there to answer any questions and to meet the children. There will also be live music, children’s activities, and refreshments. Please come and invite anyone interested in our bilingual preschool.

Graduacion

Holly — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:49:33 +0000

Hoy fue el dia de graduacion, un dia feliz y a la vez triste.

Feliz por que sabemos que cada nino se lleva una semilla de un idioma nuevo y que a su tiempo crecera y sera un arbol o flor y dara fruto. Triste por que tal vez ya no nos volvamos a ver en mucho tiempo. Pero tenemos la alegria de pensar en el futuro y todo lo que traera. Conocer ninos nuevos y empezar desde cero (o uno) a sembrar la nueva semilla del nuevo idioma.

Recuerdo la expresion de los rostros de los ninos el primer dia de clase. Fue a si como, “QUEEE NO SE QUE ME DICES, ESTAS HABLANDO CONMIGO, POR QUE NO TE ENTIENDO NADA,” pero al pasar los dias, nos fuimos familiarisando unos con otros, y a enterdernos un poquito mas cada dia hasta que por fin esas cara de “no te entiendo nada”, cambiaron a palabras o frases en el mismo idioma.

Estamos muy contentas de haber colaborado a que este mundo sea mejor ensenando a los ninos a reciclar, hacer composta (fertilizante para la tierra) y hacer la diferencia entre basura y reciclar; Pequenos pasos hacen una gran diferencia.

Fueron 4 meses inolvidables donde ayudamos a 13 ninos a usar su imaginacion y dar lo mejor de si mismos cada dia, a no ver diferencia de color o de idioma si no simplemente ser amigos y divertirse juntos.

Gracias a todos los papas que fueron parte de esta aventura. Gracias por tomar el tiempo para que su hijo aprendiera, Gracias por todo su esfuerzo, dedicacion y paciencia.

Yenny

A Post from Yenny

Kristen — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:41:15 +0000

Es increible como se va el tiempo, ya estamos por terminar una semana mas y el ciclo escolar termina.
Esta semana estamos haciendo evaluaciones a cada nino y estoy muy contenta de ver y escuchar cuanto han aprendido.
La evaluacion consiste en hablar con ellos todo en Espanol (o Ingles, dependiendo en su primer idioma), y que ellos contesten tambien en Espanol. (Numeros, Colores, Animales, Acciones, etc…)
Estamos muy contentas de ver como los ninos estan usando el Espanol (los que hablan Ingles) y Ingles (los que hablan Espanol) como parte de la vida diaria.
A la hora de comer escuchamos: Agua, leche, jugo, manzana, cacahuate (esta es dificil de pronunciar pero la estan usando), verde, rojo, azul, amarillo, etc. Su vocabulario se esta ampliando cada dia un poco mas.
Todos son amigos!!!!! Cada dia juegan con diferentes amigos, dandose la oportunidad de jugar con todos. Lo ultimo que puedo decir es: Que es impresionante como han aprendido tanto en tan poco tiempo.

Week 7

Holly — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:33:30 +0000

This week we have been learning about animals and their homes. We have had so much fun pretending to be animals and learning about where each one lives. The kids have been particularly interested in the real bird’s nest and eggs. We passed them around the circle and each child got to hold them. Then we made bird houses out of milk cartons and put bird seed in them. Each child got to take their bird house home.
We read some stories together about elephants, owls and of course, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” and “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?” The kids all love the repetitiveness of these books because they can help to read them. We are all becoming really good friends. The kids are looking out for one another and helping each other. They play together so well during free time and outside time. It is really sweet! The last thing we did this week was making our own bird’s nests out of food items. We used peanut butter as the “mud”, pretzels and coconut as the “twigs” and raisins as the “eggs”. What a fun activity! The kids love these types of hands-on lessons.
Maestra Jessica

Bilingual Immersion Research

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:17:58 +0000

Fifty years ago, bilingualism was strongly discouraged. Existing literature contained negative connotations because scholars described bilingualism from a monolinguistic perspective. Bilinguals were viewed as a deviation from the norm, and in certain regions, bilingual children were punished if they were caught speaking minoritized languages at school (Romaine, 1989).

In a revolutionary study in the early sixties, Peal and Lambert introduced an idea that would help to change the general attitude toward bilingualism. They “drew attention to the fact that sampling methods had been lacking in accuracy and had created biases against bilingual children” (Döpke, 1992, pg. 4). They also maintained that bilinguals achieve greater intellectual capabilities. This claim led to additional research, and soon linguists were asserting that it is just as easy to learn two languages as it is to learn one, (Penfield & Roberts, 1959), and that bilinguals have an increased capability for divergent thinking and greater metalinguistic awareness.

This pendulum swing inspired further study. Continuing research led to the creation of a variety of different approaches to bilingual education. Over the past twenty years, many methods have been developed, and there have been very few reports of any negative repercussions due to bilingualism (Döpke, 1992). In fact, a well-established history of research maintains that multilingualism provides many advantages. Speaking more than one language has been shown to generate cognitive, academic, social, and cultural benefits (Garcia, 1985; Hakuta & Diaz, 1985; Krashen, 1996; McQuillan & Tse, 1995; Peal & Lambert, 1962). Bilingualism facilitates third language acquisition (Sanz, 2000), and developing skills in multiple languages provides personal gains and eventually leads to the betterment of society as a whole (Cho, 2000).

Bilingual immersion is a crucial component of the Unión curriculum and there are several advantages to this type of language exposure. Research shows that bilingual immersion programs:

Promote cross-cultural understanding
Preserve a native language while helping students acquire a second language
Enhance divergent thinking and metalinguistic awareness
Increase academic achievement in all areas

(Genesee, Paradis, & Crago, 2004)

It is our hope that we can help children achieve the benefits of bilingualism through the Unión two-way immersion program.