Comments on: Two X’s the First Grade

By: Teachers Take Action — Writer Dad

Teachers Take Action — Writer Dad — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:32:16 +0000

[...] I posted a video detailing the differences between a tired yesterday and an eager tomorrow. On Tuesday I wanted to look at the dual immersion program our daughter attends, where the majority of her day [...]

By: Jamie Simmerman

Jamie Simmerman — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:37:33 +0000

“Children are sponges, and we should not ever underestimate them, because they will absorb all that we ask.” I don’t think there’s such a thing as a vocabulary”too rich” for children. Perhaps someone with a wonderful passion for writing should write children’s books for parents who are intelligent enough to see that. (And to hell with what agents say.) ;=) I have always spoken to my children like adults, and they ask when they hear a new word. We throw in a little Spanish, Italian, and Pig Latin. It creates fluent children who are excellent communicators. Couldn’t we all use a few more of those?

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:04:18 +0000

Randi: Sorry, I’m on a Mac. I think it might be called the “alt” key on a PC, though now that I think about it, the entire keystroke might be Mac specific. If so, sorry. : > (

Laurie: No doubt. Out here, there’s often a separate pay scale for bilingual employees. We are fortunate to have found such a wonderful program for our children.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:57:17 +0000

Having two languages under your belt (especially Spanish) is such an asset. Employers jump on hiring bilingual folks. Besides, the sense of accomplishment that you can communicate to folks when others cannot is such a boost. A duel program sounds great. Way to go!

By: Randi

Randi — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:24:17 +0000

Amazing Mia story! She is more fluent after one year, than I was after four! I’ll bet Cindy was so proud of her at that moment.

And WHAT option key? I have looked over my entire keyboard–no option key. My kb is a loser.

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:29:10 +0000

Trina: I LOVE what you’re saying about your child’s K-4. Sounds terrific. Many parents do miss the boat. There is no waiting period for music and language. It should be offered to a child from birth forward. Their minds at that age are so hungry for anything they can absorb, there is absolutely no reason to keep them from the very best our world has to offer.

Tobias: That’s really cool, Tobias! I’d settle for one other language. Unfortunately I have to work really hard on my Spanish. I hope, at some point, to spend several months in Spain. I think I would absorb the language with rapidity if I were surrounded by it every day. Or I could just speak to my children who can learn so much faster than me.

Randi: Ha! I have a six year old at the laundromat story too. Mia was there with her mom. We live in a neighborhood that’s approximately 80% hispanic. It is assumed you speak Spanish. Cindy was loading clothes into the dryer when this lady came up to her shooting machine gun syllables en español. Cindy was trying so hard to understand, but certainly sinking more than swimming. Mia stepped up from behind and gave Cindy a flawless translation. This, after one year of the immersion program. Why every school doesn’t offer SOME TYPE of program like this is just totally beyond me.

By the way. You hold down the option key and then press n. Automatic ñ.

Patricia: Ah, the last child. I understand. Birth order is a funny thing, I think. Sounds like you’re a lot more right brained then left. My grandfather could do crazy math, even in his late 90′s, but I don’t think I saw him ever read a single time. We are each different, but we share the need to learn. Hopefully the scaffolding of tomorrow’s educational institutions will be able to support it.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:35:22 +0000

My parents spoke French at home and my Father signed the news every night to stay in practice….Our English was corrected to perfection and our grammar was never ignored…
My siblings could understand and my sister was very good in Spanish also.
I – with much hard work could read French and recognize some words. When I was the only one left at home, they stopped trying to teach me and spoke only English….
Not every kiddos just learns by their ears….I read Encyclopedias when I was 5 and knew what I was reading but anything mathematical and many things spacial were just awful for me to try to master – now discover it is amazing that I can drive a car.

My brother and sister now in their 60s can barely read, but wow can they do math…
I have always been so disappointed not to speak French….and all my cousins still tease me…
The other good news besides still being able to read so well…is that my children enable me to be on the internet and write here – they are so encouraging and helpful around their busy lives.

Keep writing about this it is important stuff of life!

By: Randi

Randi — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:02:14 +0000

I love the idea of dual immersion! Too often we think that it’s the rest of the world’s job to learn English.

When I’m teaching I love it when I am able to teach the kids a word or two of Spanish. I took four years of Spanish in high school, sort of. By the time I got to 3rd and 4th year Spanish, there was just another kid and me in the class so they just stuck us back in with 2nd year Spanish. So I actually had 2nd year for 3 years. I was robbed. :) I am not fluent but can read better than I can speak.

I took my daughter Megan to the laundromat when she was six. I had already taught her some basics. There were some Mexican men there also doing laundry. Megan walked up to them and said, “Hola! Como estas?”
They laughed and one answered, “Estoy bien, gracias. Y tu?” She replied, “Estoy bien tambien.”
One of the men then said, “Cuantos anos tienes?” She became flustered because they had asked her something she didn’t know. She ran back to me in near tears. I told her, “Go back and tell them, ‘Tengo seis anos’.” She did but had had enough after that. [sorry I couldn't figure out how to get the ~ symbol above my n]

Children have this amazing ability to recognize different languages. Although Megan did not understand what the Mexican men were saying to each other, she recognized it as Spanish and so greeted them. When my son was nine, we took him to a national park to see some petroglyphs that had been left on canyon walls by Native Americans. A French family was there. My son has never been taught French, yet he walked up to the father and said, “Excuse me, I heard you speaking French. Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower in person?” The father switched to English and my son had a new friend. One who’s actually seen the Eiffel Tower–my son’s obsession.

By: Tobias

Tobias — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:46:24 +0000

I’ve always been shocked by people who think Dual Immersion is somehow harmful for small children. What precisely do they think all the kids who speak something other than English at home do? I was lucky enough to grow up in a diverse area so as a child I could carry a short conversation in languages ranging from French to Thai. I never picked up Spanish even though it was the first language of both my parents (all my sisters did, I got too flustered when our cousins would make fun of me), but now that I’m older I’d like to try re-igniting the part of my brain it’s all stored in.

Actually, I’d like to learn as many languages as possible. Not only is it useful, it’s just fun to be able to hold conversations without anyone knowing what you’re saying. As a kid that was my main reason for wanting to learn Irish, what’s better than being able to have your own secret language?

By: Trina

Trina — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:36:48 +0000

I think some are starting to realize what young children are capable of , but so many expect so little. Such a shame. So, it is not just understandg that they can, but expecting that they will. Plus, yes, yes, yes, to dual immersion styles of learning – that is paying attention – beautiful – the child gets it. Yet, so many adults miss it. So many teachers do not require it. So many parents miss the boat on preparing their children to do it – pay attention that is :-) Where we are, we have charter schools as an alternative to the public system. The one I chose for my children k-4 required feedback from everychild throughout the day, and the teacher roved the room to ensure each child was participating. In addition the administration, staff and parents willingly participated in a triangle of cooperation, ensuring success of the kids, program etc.