When we asked for feedback at the end of the session, parents agreed across the board that their child’s ability so speak and understand the second (and in some cases the first, as well) language had increased. They also said that they liked…

“[that my child] learned a lot of Spanish words, phrases, concepts, etc…”

“The activities and teacher.”

“[that] it was a great learning atmosphere.”

“[that] they incorporated a lot of music.”

We appreciated the comments written by the parents, and are doing our best to make improvements where necessary. For example, one parent suggested that we get a bigger space for the preschool. We are hoping to be in a new building by fall of 2009.

We had a great group of parents the first session, and we look forward to working with them in the future. We greatly value their input and participation in the school as it can make a world of difference for the children!

Eliza, my three-year-old, can’t wait for the break to be over so she can see here friends at “Spanish School” again. She really loves the idea of speaking a second language. At the graduation ceremony on the last day of class, Eliza came to the front of the crowd to receive her achievement certificate, photo book, and praise from the teacher. She was thrilled with the positive attention. Yenny, Eliza’s Spanish-speaking teacher, told the group that Eliza was excellent at telling stories in English and “Spanish”. This was no surprise to me because she has begun to do this at home. She loves to read in a made up language, with Spanish words mixed in. It’s rewarding to me to watch Eliza get so excited about using a second language, and it’s so adorable when she tries. I know that her Spanish comprehension exceeds her ability to speak Spanish right now, but I hope that with more exposure through activities, stories, games, and play, her speaking skills will improve, as well..

As Holly and I continue to fine-tune the curriculum, we are trying to make the activities and language experiences as authentic as possible. Research shows that “[a]n early focus on oral communication skills in the L2 [second language] ideally allows students to learn the new language through meaningful interaction (Krashen, 1999; Swain, 1993)”. One advantage to the Union Preschool method is that we are dedicated to consistent second language immersion through authentic, meaningful interactions each day. Although we are incorporating two languages, English and Spanish, we are careful not to “mix” or codeswitch languages, which can lead to unstable, unsystematic language exposure (Benson, 2002). We hope that children at the Union Preschool will have access to fun, safe, authentic language learning experiences that will open their minds not only to language, but to all areas of learning.

In keeping with our goal for authenticity in the classroom, we are adding several elements to the curriculum that will give children the opportunity to experience new things while being immersed in a new language. For example, gardening, caring for fish, cooking, recycling, and composting are new elements to the weekly routine. Our hope is that their language acquisition will be more natural, as they learn Spanish and English vocabulary and concepts in the context of authentic experiences.

I know Eliza will enjoy these new elements at her preschool because she loves to help me do these things at home. She is anxious to return to preschool and I am excited to watch her language development progress as she has English and Spanish exposure during meaningful, contextual, authentic activities.

One parent explained to me once that it was difficult for some native Spanish-speaking parents to want to send their child to a preschool to learn English, when all they really had to do was turn on the TV, and the child would learn it. As an educator, I see a few problems with that scenario, so I was thrilled when I found this article called The impact of bilingual preschool education on the language development of Spanish-speaking children by James L Rodríguez, Rafael M. Díaz, David Duran, Linda Espinosa (Stanford University,  University of Missouri, Columbia). (Copyright © 1995 Published by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.).

Basically, it just confirms that Spanish speaking children learn English faster when they are in preschool and they maintain their Spanish! One big issue facing many Hispanic families today is language and culture loss among 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation children, which is why language and culture maintenance are so important (not just maintenance, but helping the children feel proud of their heritage).

I am only including the abstract below:

This study addressed the question of what effect bilingual preschool education has on the Spanish and English language development of Spanish speaking children. This question was addressed by measuring the language proficiency of children enrolled in a bilingual preschool program and children who stay at home during the day. Three dimensions of language proficiency were examined: language reception, production, and verbal complexity. Using a repeated measures design, it was found that children enrolled in preschool gained proficiency in English at a faster rate while maintaining a similar level of Spanish proficiency as those children who stay at home during the day. Results of this study are discussed in terms of current issues in the early childhood education of non-English-speaking children.

There are so many benefits to bilingual immersion, but I realize that it doesn’t help much if I tell you about them. What does the research say? In one rather comprehensive article found in the Bilingual Research Journal in Spring 2002 (Vol 26, Number 1) called Two-Way Bilingual Immersion: A Portrait of Quality Schooling by Barbara V. Kirk Senesac from the Central Michigan University you can read all about it! This study also includes information about what features a bilingual immersion program should have. I am only including the portions of this lengthy article that I felt were most relevant here:

“For majority language students [in our case: English], the immersion model, in which the content areas are taught through the minority language (L2) [in our case: Spanish], has been most successful for reaching a high level of L2 fluency and literacy (Cohen, 1975; Genesee, 1987; Lambert & Tucker, 1972).”…..

…..”As the students receive instruction in what is the second language for each group, immersion in learning content in their second language provides natural contexts for language acquisition. Students of each language group serve as models for the other, shifting from being the expert to the novice as they interact in negotiating the curriculum. By regarding language as a resource to be developed and integrating language minority and language majority students for most content instruction, an instructional environment is created to promote positive cross-cultural attitudes and enhanced self-esteem.”……

…..”Therefore, it is important to consider what factors are essential for a quality two-way bilingual immersion program. According to Lindholm (1990), these include: (a) a minimum of four to six years of bilingual instruction; (b) a focus on the same core curriculum that students in other programs experience; (c) quality language arts in both languages; (d) use of the target language for a minimum of 50% of the time to a maximum of 90% in the early years; (e) an additive bilingual environment for all students to learn a second language while developing their first language; (f) a balanced ratio of students who speak each language; (g) positive interdependence among students promoted by the use of strategies such as cooperative learning; and (h) characteristics of effective schools such as qualified personnel and parent-school collaboration. These features have also been identified in descriptions and evaluations of successful two-way bilingual immersion programs (Cazabon, Lambert, & Hall, 1993; Freeman, 1998).”……..

………”another feature worth emphasizing as critical for effective two-way immersion is reflective teaching. Reflective teachers utilize a repertoire of assessment techniques such as observations, conferencing, dialogue journals, and portfolios to obtain feedback on their instruction and student learning. Based on these results, teaching is modified according to students’ curricular and language needs respecting their cultural orientations and sensitivities (Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan, 2000).”……

……..”The faculty and staff consider themselves family. There is not only a strong sense of professional collegiality and collaboration but they also celebrate birthdays, ethnic holidays with special luncheons, and teach each other’s children.”……..

…..”[...] extensive use of cooperative learning groups heterogeneously structured to increase opportunities for language acquisition, understanding of content, and cross-cultural communication skills.”…….

…..”a strong collaborative relationship between the home [and] community”…….

…..”Parents and community members have been involved in all aspects of Inter-American [the model school for this study] including shaping the vision for the education of their children, assisting in classrooms and extracurricular activities, tutoring, sharing their talents with the students, raising money for school projects, collaborating with teachers in developing and revising curriculum, student assessment, and participating on finance and teacher selection committees. So many parents were involved that a parent volunteer coordinator was hired, and when funding was not available, volunteers assisted in the coordination of these activities.”…..

….”This tradition of parent collaboration in decision-making continues through the Local School Council mandated by the state for site-based management and the redefined Parent Advisory Council. The Local School Council (LSC) is comprised of 11 elected members: six parents, two teachers, two community members, and the principal. The role of the LSC includes setting goals and priorities for the school, developing and implementing a school improvement plan, selecting personnel (including the hiring and annual evaluation of the principal), budgeting funds from discretionary and categorical state and federal programs, fundraising, and setting school policies. The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) is a voluntary organization of parents who contribute to the LSC decision-making, organize workshops for parents, raise funds for projects, and provide volunteer support for school activities. Reflective of Inter-American’s goals of bilingualism and biliteracy, all meetings for both the PAC and LSC are held in Spanish and English, and newsletters and other print materials are produced in both languages.”…..

….”the two-way bilingual immersion model serves to level the playing field by elevating the status of the minority language and culture, which is a decisive variable for minority students in promoting equal educational opportunities (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1988; Cummins, 1989; Cummins, 2000; Freeman, 1998). In contrast to the larger society, the school thus becomes a social context in which the language minority students’ language and culture is “legimatized,” and these students gain the “right to participate” on a level equal to the majority language students (Freeman, 1998).”….

…..” a challenging core curriculum with students heterogeneously grouped for instruction; (b) a nurturing, family atmosphere with high expectations for learning and personal development; (c) a dedicated, collegial and highly trained staff; (d) pedagogical approaches and strategies that are student-centered, fostering interaction and active engagement in learning; (e) a thematic curriculum reflecting the culture of the students; and (f) parent and community collaboration.”….

I thought I’d provide a little more background on this preschool. Ever since I learned to speak Spanish, I have wanted the same for my children. At first, I thought I would simply speak only Spanish to them, while everyone else spoke English to them, and they would pick it up naturally from me. Yes, it was a good idea for a few years… until I actually had children. I learned very quickly that I am not as disciplined as I would have hoped. My Spanish didn’t come as naturally to me as it had in years past. I felt awkward being the only one speaking Spanish to my children. I began to question my Spanish grammar, and decided that I didn’t want my children to learn incorrect Spanish. I admit, I gave up for a little while. Sure, I would try to put the occasional movie on in Spanish when Spanish audio was an option, but I knew it was not enough.

As my daughter reached preschool age, I began to look for preschool in my area for her. I know that many parents choose to keep their children out of preschool, but I work part-time, and my daughter was SO ecstatic about the prospect of going to school. So, we looked around, and the best option (in  my mind) was a preschool that was affiliated with the local university. I liked it because of it’s reputation and because it had a very diverse population of students from countries around the world. We took a tour of the school, and were excited about being enrolled.

However, as we waited for the session to begin, I thought once again about how badly I wanted my daughter to learn Spanish. I knew from my post-graduate studies that early language exposure is critical, and that young children could pick up languages with more ease and correct pronunciation that older children or adults (many argue that there is a distinct language window of opportunity before the age of five). So, I decided to look one more time around the area for any program – large or small – that could offer Spanish to my daughter. I searched, made phone calls, but there was nothing. Well, to be fair, there was a program that taught Spanish to children whose parents were migrant farmers, and there were two at-home daycares where the person in charge could speak Spanish to the children at the parents’ request (but they had no experience or background in education). I was determined to make something work, so I actually called numerous preschools throughout the surrounding area, and asked them if they would consider adding a Spanish component to their curriculum (I even offered to help them – for free – get it off the ground). Unfortunately, none of them were willing “yet” to make that adjustment.

I’ll admit, I was discouraged. How was it possible that there was NO way for children to learn another language in an area where the Hispanic population was so prevalent? It didn’t make sense. I thought to myself, “No wonder there is such a cultural divide here.” I then told my husband that we either had to do something about it, or move to a place where Spanish immersion preschools existed.

My sister and I got to work. Fortunately, we had some experience starting monolingual and bilingual immersion preschools from our post-graduate work. So, we began hammering out a curriculum with a very specific goal in mind. It was a little challenging to run a household with two young children, keep a part-time job, and create a preschool all at once, but we felt that it was important for our children. Not only for our children, but for the community. I loved being able to create what I hoped would develop into the ideal preschool (being able to incorporate fair-trade and recycled materials, having a strong environmental and cultural components, etc). I wanted it to be the kind of preschool that would be awesome and incredibly appealing to me if I was seeing it for the first time. So, with no budget at all, we mustered up enough supplies to start a pilot program.

I can say now, that the pilot program was a noble effort, but it was still far from the vision we had. We have a lot of work cut out for us. We are still making changes. We are constantly tweaking and checking all aspects of the preschool to make it as successful and effective as possible. I am genuinely excited about the direction in which it is heading, and that my daughter (daughters, eventually) gets to be a part of it!