Today I registered Vivianna for Kindergarten.
What a weird thing to do! She is my
baby after all.
But not really...cause two babies have come under her and pushed her up to Big Girl status a long time ago. However, she will
always be her Mama's baby no matter how old she is!
The woman who took her assessment was Bilingual and she asked Vivi a question, to which Vivi must not have heard because she didn't answer. The woman said "is Spanish her first language?" We don't get that often, but I always find it interesting that others of Hispanic ethnicity can always see that Vivianna is indeed Latina herself! I told her No...she speaks only English but we are enrolling her in Dual Language Kindergarten with the district and she got a huge smile on her face and said, "that is a fantastic decision, Mom!"
You see, for the first time ever for our very large district, they are offering what is called a Two-Way Dual Language Program. They have always offered One-Way which is where Spanish speaking students learn English.
The best way to describe what this new program will be is taken from our district website:
Recognizing the economic and social values of multilingualism, L*** has expanded its model of language instruction to provide non-Spanish speakers the opportunity to learn Spanish, while Spanish-speaking children learn English (two-way dual language) In the program, non-Spanish speaking children and Spanish-speaking children will be integrated into kindergarten classrooms. In kindergarten, classes will have one day of instruction in academic English by a fluent English speaking teacher. The next day, they will move on with the academic content but it will be taught in academic Spanish by a fluent Spanish-speaking teacher. The time spent in each language will increase as children move up through the fifth grade. Research findings have long supported the use of this model as the most effective means of educating children as they learn other languages.This means that my Latina daughter will be given the opportunity to go to public school K-5th as a Bilingual student. She will receive her entire school instruction/curriculum in English one day and in Spanish the next, rotating in the A/B pattern until the 3rd grade when it will switch to an entire week of curriculum in English and the following week taught in total Spanish. She will be in a class made up of almost entirely Hispanic...Spanish as their first language students. Although the district is hoping to have 100's of English speakers enroll to even up the classrooms a little better.
We have been to an information meeting where the highly qualified Dr. who is spear heading this project told us she has done this in 17 different districts and has seen amazing results. She told us that learning a new language takes an average of 3-5 years...so that well before her 10th birthday, our daughter will be totally bilingual and biliterate...and actually be able to act as a translator between English and Spanish speakers.
We could not be more excited about this opportunity!
But I will admit that we were quite skeptical at first...seeing as Billy and I do not speak Spanish.
We are told that this will not matter at all in how quickly she learns, because the Dual-Language curriculum is most effective in the fact that it teaches Spanish THROUGH the content vs. the traditional way of learning Spanish
as the content...seen here:
In the above example, Spanish is taught as vocabulary in conjunction to its English counterpart.
In Vivianna's classes, English and Spanish are taught separately
through the curriculum...Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.
Meaning she will always have two teachers on rotation...and on her Spanish teachers day, that is the only language that will be spoken in the classroom by teacher and students...for
7 hours!It will not be translated into English.
Worksheets, books, exams, and classroom lessons will be entirely in Spanish from day one.
Yikes!We were obviously quite concerned that for the first few months of Kindergarten, our precious daughter will have
no clue what the heck is going on! But we have been assured that so much of this age group is visual and that at this age, their brains are sponges and they soak it up in record time when immersed in it. The two teachers work closely together to teach the same material that is being offered in the other general ed classrooms, but to build on one another's lessons...not repeat the same material.
For example: By 3rd grade she may be reading Charlotte's Web like all the other 3rd grade classes are...but the second week in, she would be required to read and write a report on:
Why are we doing this you may be wondering? I know I have gotten along just fine my entire life only knowing one language. Well, for one...our daughter is of mixed racial heritage. She may identify with the White culture or she may identify with the Hispanic culture. Either way, it would be nice for her to be able to speak both languages. But more importantly, we want our children to be globally aware. It is not a priority to us that by being bilingual, she would be more "marketable" or make higher SAT scores and be in the highest salary bracket one day... as the Dual Language information meeting pointed out could happen. Or, because studies show that once you are able to learn a second language, it is that much easier to learn a 3rd or 4th...becoming at that point Multilingual...although I do see that as a bonus.
No, we want our children to be global so that they can be comfortable with other people groups and languages. I have high hopes that my kids will go out into the world and change things one day. But I want them to do it for the glory of God and His kingdom.
As I was taught in College and it has stayed with me all these years is that there are only two things that are eternal: the souls of men and the Word of God. I want my kids invested in these two things for the short time they are on this earth in retrospect of eternity. And if learning another language other than English puts them on the path to one day be a missionary, or an international doctor, or a pastor, or an orphanage worker, or a bilingual teacher....then point me in the direction of where I sign them up!!
Unfortunately, Isaac has missed the age cut-off to be considered for the program...however we will be praying seriously about whether this would be of benefit to Jayden as he enrolls in Kindergarten (or shall I say, Guardería) a year from now.
For this year, we look forward to the possibilities and opportunities that await our little nina.
She knows she is going to "Spanish Kindergarten" and her face lights up when you mention it.
I may be enrolling her in Spanish schoolhouse summer camp in August as a little boost, we haven't decided yet as it is not cheap! But for now, she will enjoy watching some of her favorite Disney DVD's with the language setting clicked to
Spanish.We are all quite excited to see how this goes!!
I know this is not an original idea...but a friend blogged that her daughter's class was making these bird nest treats. We have never done them before, so I just had to give it a try!! It was a super easy project (perfect for my 3 rambunctious kids) and SO adorable.
You can gather these indredients for around $10.
Melt the butterscotch chips in the microwave.
Then pour a big 'ol bag of chow mein noodles in there.
And stir until they are all evenly coated.
Then just mold your nests with your clean hands.
And while they are still melty press your eggs and peeps into the nest.
We waited until the nests hardened which means your eggs will all fall out when you pick it up, so don't do that!
And there you have it!! Super fast, super fun, and very tasty!
Posts
