school

I volunteer in my boys’ classrooms when I can, and we make a point of going to school events. One of my favorite things to do when it comes to school, though, is just hang out. They’re still young enough to get excited when I have a day off and can come have lunch with them in the cafeteria, and when I pick them up at aftercare on the early side, I like sitting with them and the other kids at the table whileRead More ...

Autumn is here, and that means it’s time to look at some of the issues facing parents of school-age bilingual children. Our kids are in school, and every day we ask the usual question: “How was school today?” Their unchanging reply: “Good.” Keeping the Bilingual Focus Like most parents raising their children bilingually, we always want them to talk more in the minority language. Unless your children attend a bilingual or immersion school, their minority language probably isn’t used duringRead More ...

Editor’s note: We normally don’t publish anonymous posts, but considering the sensitivity of the issue discussed in the one below, we decided it was the best route to take.  My son started kindergarten at our local school this September. When registering him for his classes, it was necessary to lie about our home language use. Being a teacher, I am well aware of what happens to children who are identified as English Language Learners (ELL). Students are often pulled outRead More ...

You are probably wondering what happens inside a dual-language classroom and how similar or different it is from an all-English classroom. In every school that I have had the pleasure of working at, the first few days go in a predictable manner: excited and nervous students walking through the doors of new classrooms, parents worried about what the new school year may bring, and teachers wondering what his/her new class will be like. Teachers prepare for weeks by brainstorming waysRead More ...

When should academic centered schooling begin? This has been the question I have been grappling with for weeks. My daughter is not quite 3 and was accepted to a private dual language school for this coming fall where academics and inquiry-based learning is at the heart of what they do. This past January is also when we switched her to an “English school” where a play curriculum is at the heart of how children’s curiosity is nurtured. She is emotionallyRead More ...