Comments on: Why Bilingualism Will Have to Wait

By: A Closer Look at Dual Language Immersion Schools: San Rafael Elementary | SpanglishBaby™

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:47:53 +0000

[...] sharing my experiences investigating Kindergarten options for my daughter, including some Spanish Immersion Programs, it occurred to me that it might be [...]

By: Elsie

Elsie — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:50:06 +0000

Cynthia:
I’m so glad you posted about San Rafael. To be clear, we did not get into SR; we did get into Jackson, which is where I was given a tour, which included many lovely things, like a garden, indoor/outdoor classroom, STEM class, and a class with over 40 kids. Even though I loved Jackson–it has a vey warm feeling, just like SR, that was a deal breaker for me. I do hope that in the future, there will be a way to lower that class size. San Rafael was absolutely our top choice for public non-charters, and every parent there seems to love it. For parents in San Gabriel Valley, the PUSD and Glendale schools are absolutely great options, particularly compared to the non-bilingual public schools. I have a dear friend whose daughter will be starting in the Mandarin program here and we are excited for them. Mostly, I think that the school board here needs to invest more in the bilingual programs. I suspect that they wouldn’t need to keep closing our local schools if more of them went bilingual immersion. I hope the future is bright for SR and bilingual ed. in Pasadena!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:08:26 +0000

Dear Elsie,
You should always make the choice that fits your children best. But I also want to clear up any misconceptions you may have about the San Rafael program so they do not get perpetuated on this website. Many parents in our area look to this website for guidance on bilingual education. We have been in the dual Immersion program at San Rafael for 3 years and have loved the experience. Our class sizes have been 25, 21, and 28 ( a rise due to budget cuts.) While the education is “traditional”, classes are made up of tables with a large rug for discussions. The kinder year and first grade years involved a lot of music, poetry, author visits, and art. Yes, the school and district are underfunded. But, Odyssey and Aveson both utilize parent volunteers and lots of fundraising to support their art programs as well. We all wish we had the resources of our area private schools. The San Rafael campus is lovely and kids get involved in many cultural events including an amazing theater production each year, a monthly harvest program, and many others. Our new principal is a wonderful force. Our classroom has a wonderful library of Spanish books and my son brings a few home each week. Are there many resources I wish we had? Yes! But many parents in our program come from the progressive education community (cottage coop, walden, etc) and would not tolerate a rigid artless experience! I wish you the best of luck with your decision and just want other parents considering San Rafael or DI programs to have a truer sense of our program than presented in your post. Thanks.

By: Reina

Reina — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:24:45 +0000

Ruth, please share I am always happy to hear new ideas

By: Ruth

Ruth — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:25:56 +0000

Hi,
I am the only Spanish speaking person in my house and both my kids are fully bilingual even though their schools programs are in English. My 7 year old can read and write in Spanish too. My 4 year old is learning her letters, but is fully bilingual when she talks. How did I do this? Pretty simple. It was my mission to have bilingual kids, so I did it myself. First, I only speak Spanish to them and do not allow them to speak English to me. That way, the only way they can communicate with me is in my language. I only read in Spanish, I play the audio in movies in Spanish whenever it is available (my poor husband has to have subtitles in English). I take them to Mexico for 5 weeks in the summer where only Spanish is spoken and I sit down and work with them in regards to pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. It’s amazing how people think that because one parent speaks Spanish the kids will simply do it….no. It is work, not giving up and be there for them to teach them in a natural way.
I will be happy to share books or ideas….
Saludos!

By: Reina

Reina — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:55:53 +0000

Elsie, I agree with you. I think that for the development of a kid as person, it is much more important that a school system fits him than that it is a bilingual system. Of course it would be ideal if you could find a school that would fit the personality of your kids and your personal ideas and it will be also bilingual, but if I had to choose, I will also choose for a school fitting the kids in our language.

I think the title is absolutely not true and can cause many misunderstanding in many parents. If bilingual schools were the only way for a kid to became bilingual, the ones of us who have not that possibility close to our home, will never be able to have bilingual kids, and that is not true I can speak out of experience. What it is true is that Elsie will have now to work hard at home to feed the spanish at the same speed the english is growing at school. But that is not impossible…many of us do it everyday Animo Elsie, tu puedes

By: Cordelia Newlin de Rojas

Cordelia Newlin de Rojas — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:34:05 +0000

Elsie,
I feel your pain. We are raising our kids tri-lingual. One of our languages is French which has notoriously difficult grammar. Spanish is the other language and I am having to leave that to fate and the hopes of being able to afford tickets from South East Asia to Mexico someday soon. French is my mother’s language. I am relatively fluent but I didn’t really speak it much (and left the French schooling system) from 13 to 34 when I got pregnant with my first.

I suffered through the French education system as a child; it’s incredibly rigid and really only suits certain personality types. I know they are trying to make some changes but it won’t be anything substantial during my kids’ educational years. The funny thing is that if we had been in the states, sending them to the French Lycee wouldn’t even be an option as it is prohibitively expensive but we are in Asia and the irony is that the French school is the only private school we can afford. We could probably just about manage the Singaporean one but they are even more rigid!

On a daily basis, I struggle sending my kids there, thinking I could pull them out and homeschool them but then I doubt my ability to manage that. For the time being they seem happy (note to self do not project your own horrible experiences) and all the French people around me advise to stick to it until they are 10 years old when their grammar foundations will be strong enough to pull them out and use a tutor instead.

Here’s to finding a way to get work in Canada! Then we could do French/English schooling and we would be a lot closer to relatives in Mexico! Good luck with your choice. Only you can know what is right for your family.

By: Elsie

Elsie — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:53:37 +0000

Xavier and Erika: Yes, you have it right. We chose the school that was better for our children. It was not appropriate for us to choose a bilingual school on principle, when, after repeated visits to the schools, it was clear that the school we chose was a much better fit for our girls. Our area has some issues that may not be true of your school districts. For example, sending our kids to the bilingual school we were accepted to would have meant class sizes OVER 40 after kindergarten, whereas the school we chose has class sizes that max out at 24. Our school district is in the midst of some very big problems. The picture is a lot more complicated than I could lay out in a post for a national audience, due to local issues.

Not all bilingual programs are equal, and not every child is the same. We made the decision that is best for our family.

And no, we are not giving up on all the other things we do and plan to do to expose our girls to Spanish, so the title is a bit misleading, but I didn’t choose the title. Editorial staff determine titles.

Hopefully other parents in similar situations can find some comfort in the fact that they are not alone, and we are all doing our best to balance out what we want with what is available.

By: Erika

Erika — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:54:14 +0000

I agree with Xavier! I respect your decision and I’m sorry to hear that you don’t have access to a good bilingual school, but I feel that parents who are commited to raise their kids bilingual, should support and have more involment in bilingual schools. If we don’t support them , then, we are never going to see a change. For me, it is not only about the language, it is also part of our identify as a family. My daughter is currently attending a bilingual school and I’m thrilled that she is learning both languages. She is learning about other cultures and developing that cultural aspect that goes hand in hand with language development. If I would have continued being the only Spanish resource for her, she would have lost her Spanish fluency by now. We need the support of the school system and commited parents to make a difference.

By: Lili

Lili — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:31:27 +0000

Not sure what area you of Los Angeles you live in, but there is a new great option in the mid-city area. City school West Adams is a constructivist, dual immersion school. You should check it out.