Mandarin immersion school, is it a good idea without learning Spanish? (Houston: neighborhood, magnet schools)

[pmmd]

Originally Posted by LisaBrown713

Houston is opening a new Mandarin Chinese Immersion school and I am so excited to send my children there and I think it is a great opportunity.
But I am a little apprehensive and so is Dh.

I really think the school is a good idea and my kids love writing the chinese characters. But we are in Houston and with so many spanish speakers here and in the south,
We feel Spanish still needs to be learned. I have only taught my kids the basics in spanish and I need to find away to take them to the next level to fluency.

The spanish Immersion schools here were never an option because they don't perform nearly high enough for my expectations for an elementary school.
I wish the Manderin school could somehow incorporate Spanish as a fee based afterschool program so it doesn't take away from daily studies.
The students are at a good age to learn multiple languages.


What do you all think? Would you send you child to the new Mandarin Immersion school? How would you incorporate spanish if you want your kids to be multilingual?

My child is enrolled in MCLIMS, but he will not attend. I love the idea of Mandarin, but I have many problems with the fact that the program is a product of HISD. I don't have enough faith in HISD to prepare my child for high school much less college while only offering instruction in English 2 to 2 1/2 hours a day with 22 to 25 children in a class.

My child currently attends a French Immersion program, but will add Spanish as a third language in Middle School. There are so many opportunities for one to learn Spanish in Houston, that we did not feel the need to begin my child's education in the Spanish language.

There are programs across the city that offer Spanish language learning, that you can supplement by having play dates with Spanish speaking children.

[Dopo]

Some people here seem to be talking without knowing crap about the World of business by saying that Chinese is more important that Spanish.
Yes, China is a huge player in the World market, but how many countries speak Spanish?
Besides, as somebody mentioned, Spanish opens the door to easily learn Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Italian and French (France and many countries in Africa)

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by LisaBrown713

Houston is opening a new Mandarin Chinese Immersion school and I am so excited to send my children there and I think it is a great opportunity.
But I am a little apprehensive and so is Dh.

I really think the school is a good idea and my kids love writing the chinese characters. But we are in Houston and with so many spanish speakers here and in the south,
We feel Spanish still needs to be learned. I have only taught my kids the basics in spanish and I need to find away to take them to the next level to fluency.

The spanish Immersion schools here were never an option because they don't perform nearly high enough for my expectations for an elementary school.
I wish the Manderin school could somehow incorporate Spanish as a fee based afterschool program so it doesn't take away from daily studies.
The students are at a good age to learn multiple languages.


What do you all think? Would you send you child to the new Mandarin Immersion school? How would you incorporate spanish if you want your kids to be multilingual?

Why does your kids "need" to learn spanish? [mod cut: rude/racist comment] I would definitely go with the Manarin immersion, seeing that China is going to be the dominant power in the world. They're already a dominant economic power, so from a business aspect it make perfect sense.

[HoustonRonnie]

I speak fluent Dutch. Doesn't get me squat.

Ronnie

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Why does your kids "need" to learn spanish? [mod cut: rude/racist comment] I would definitely go with the Manarin immersion, seeing that China is going to be the dominant power in the world. They're already a dominant economic power, so from a business aspect it make perfect sense.

I guess you've never heard of Pemex or PDVSA (owner of Citgo)

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Some people here seem to be talking without knowing crap about the World of business by saying that Chinese is more important that Spanish.
Yes, China is a huge player in the World market, but how many countries speak Spanish?
Besides, as somebody mentioned, Spanish opens the door to easily learn Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Italian and French (France and many countries in Africa)

How many of those countries are just third world countries? How many are in the G -8(none). How many are economic powers, beside Brazil and they don't speak spanish there. Kids in this country already have a advantage because they speak english which is still the dominant language for politics, science, business. If a business man in Germany want to talk to a business man in japan they ain't talking spanish. But if I where going to have my kids learn a language it would be Mandarin.

[nervouslaughter]

The shale gas boom is bringing in billions of dollars into the US and will provide 1.5 million jobs in the upcoming future. Shale boom to fuel 1.5 million jobs by 2015, study says - Houston Chronicle
That being said, China supposedly has a bigger supply of natural gas that has yet to be tapped into and they will look to the US as the experts. I think Mandarin will come in handy.

It's also not an issue of which language is better, it's more of, which would be more beneficial in the future, amigo.

[Vicman]

According to the FAQ: HISD Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School | Houston ISD - English instruction increases through grade levels. Originally "language arts, math, science, and social studies" are taught mostly in Mandarin.

The FAQ does not state what the class sizes will be.

The State of Texas requires elementary schools to have a 22 pupil limit, BUT there are waivers which exempt a school from the limit. It would do you well to call the school and ask if they have an exemption to the class size limit. If not, then a class will have no more than 22 students.

"but I have many problems with the fact that the program is a product of HISD" - In which ways? I don't think this school is going to have the problems affecting most HISD schools in impoverished neighborhoods (anti-intellectual attitudes among the student body, students who have uneducated parents, etc.).

Originally Posted by pmmd

My child is enrolled in MCLIMS, but he will not attend. I love the idea of Mandarin, but I have many problems with the fact that the program is a product of HISD. I don't have enough faith in HISD to prepare my child for high school much less college while only offering instruction in English 2 to 2 1/2 hours a day with 22 to 25 children in a class.

My child currently attends a French Immersion program, but will add Spanish as a third language in Middle School. There are so many opportunities for one to learn Spanish in Houston, that we did not feel the need to begin my child's education in the Spanish language.

There are programs across the city that offer Spanish language learning, that you can supplement by having play dates with Spanish speaking children.

[Houston_2010]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Why does your kids "need" to learn spanish? [mod cut: rude/racist comment] I would definitely go with the Manarin immersion, seeing that China is going to be the dominant power in the world. They're already a dominant economic power, so from a business aspect it make perfect sense.

While it is true that many of our household services are provided by Spanish-speaking people, this comment of your is very generalized and ignorant. Look around in terms of education, those people with dual or more languages have better career opportunities. Spanish is a very convenient language to know where we live for our day-to-day living as well as business and vacationing.
The way I see it, the more languages the better.

[Vicman]

There IS lucrative business in the Spanish speaking world. Look no further than Miami and its economy.