South San I.S.D Bilingual Program (San Antonio, Mart: school, college)

[LindaGrace]

Originally Posted by PylesinAZ

What about the hundreds of other languages that are not taught in public schools. We can't have teachers teaching in English, Spanish, Chines, Arabic...

When San Antonio is majority Chinese then we can talk about a bilingual program involving Chinese.

[Dopo]

Good luck driving to China on 1 tank of gas (I got to Mexico with ½ tank of gas)

[mimimomx3]

Kids are really, really smart. They can learn new languages very quickly. 'Bilingual education' doesn't do them any favors. Teach kids in English, provide tutoring with the funds we're using for BE, and watch them becme fluent English speakers. I know, because both my DH and I are NOT native English speakers. We started school in '60s with no English. You'd never know it now!

[LilZ_098]

Silly question as I know the answer. But wouldn't this require bilingual teachers? How many teachers in any of the districts are actually bilingual?

[Dopo]

I'll admit my ignorance... can somebody clearly explain what is "bilingual education"
because as far as I know, it can range from watching "Dora the explorer" once a week
to spending a whole day in a classroom with a teacher speaking only in Spanish.

Teaching kids anything doesn't hurt them
what can hurt them is the way is taugh (teaching algebra to a 1st grader)

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by LilZ_098

Silly question as I know the answer. But wouldn't this require bilingual teachers? How many teachers in any of the districts are actually bilingual?

There's an abundance of bilingual certified teachers out there.

[Dopo]

Everybody seems to be an expert on "bilingual education" but nobody can tell exactly what it consists off?

[LindaGrace]

Dopo, bilingual education varies greatly by district. My best friend teaches in a Northside school and I know they have bilingual classes at least through 5th grade. The classes are geared toward helping students catch up to their English speaking peers. The kids can move out of bilingual at any time if they are ready for it (and if there's space in a non-bilingual classroom in their grade).

But other districts have different approaches. If you're interested in learning about a really successful, truly bilingual program, pick up the September Texas Monthly - there's an article about this very subject.

[perticusrex]

Its usually ESL, English as a second language like LG said, for kids who need to catch up on their English so they can be/stay competitive with their peers. Some schools offer in the elementary level a Spanish class that they take in addition to art, music, and p.e. days. At least NEISD did at one point, not sure if they still do. My Grandmother was an ESL teacher for several years in the SAISD and East Central districts, she also had a bilingual kindergarten class one year where there were Spanish only, and English only children and surprisingly the kids didnt even notice the language barrier. I am unsure if that is the type of bilingual program the OP is referring to. Perhaps they are talking about Spanish immersion classrooms, where class is taught in both English and Spanish to all students, regardless of background and primary language.

[metalfish]

I didnt apreciate all the sarcasm in that letter. The comment about bilingual kids being smarter is also offensive. Im also wondering how factual all these statements being made in this letter are. I would recommend taking some writing classes at your local community college.