Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are thinking about enrolling our 19 month old daughter into an early childhood development center that does full spanish immersion. They only speak spanish to the child every day. My household is english speaking. Do you think it will present communication problems with my toddler? she is just starting to speak words and I dont want to have another communication problem with her. Secondly - Does it stick after she will be done with daycare and going to kindergarden? Just wanted some opinions before I make a decision.
Is the spanish immersion a good way of teaching? I have heard once that if you try to teach a child a new language when they are this age - it opens up learning pathways and that she/he will be able to learn even better. That true?
Immersion is the best way to learn a language. Especially for a child. If she is immersed at the age she is now, she will be able to speak and understand it as if she were a native speaker. The thing is that it must continue way past kindergarten. If she stops that young she will most likely forget everything.
Immersion is the best way to learn a language. Especially for a child. If she is immersed at the age she is now, she will be able to speak and understand it as if she were a native speaker. The thing is that it must continue way past kindergarten. If she stops that young she will most likely forget everything.
Children do well in this situation. Continue speaking to her in English only at home. Let the daycare speak to her in Spanish. She will learn both languages and be able to separate them because different people will speak each language.
This is often how kids learn if the home speaks a second language and the school speaks only English.
So I grew up in Canada where there are a ton of French immersion schools. My experience was that as long as your child doesn't have any learning problems, it's excellent. If you start to see signs of a learning disability, then I would reconsider, chances are of course that you won't. And the other poster is right, if you don't continue it she will lose it almost instantly.
My grandfather grew up in northern Vermont and spoke only French as a child before joining the military when he was 17, by the time I knew him his French was very limited. So keep it up!
It depends. Out here, the problem with our Spanish immersion schools is that the children often end up having below average English skills, because they're not getting the formal English practice they need.
The immersion schools where you live might be different, but it's something to consider.
i am only talking about my daughter who is 19 month old going through this early childhood development center till about 5 and then she will go to her kindergarden that is not spanish immersion.
She might retain some knowledge and good pronunciation, but if she does not continue her education in Spanish and you do not speak it at home, she will lose it due to lack of practice. I don't think learning both languages for a while will hurt anything, but I wouldn't pay extra for it.
I agree it probably won't hurt but it's not going to do much good either.
One of my kids was in bilingual classrooms where they attempted to immerse both English and Spanish speakers with each having a half a day in the other language doing the same subjects in each, repeating the same subject matter, but all that did was eliminate important time for math and science. He would have been better off in an all-English classroom and he missed a lot of important concepts during those years. He doesn't speak Spanish, none of the kids picked up any fluency in Spanish so half their school day was just a waste.
At least at 19 months of age, it's not a matter of giving up other academic subjects to devote time to this but not likely it will be lasting.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
