We received some information from Colby's school regarding a new program they are trying to start next year with the first graders, Chinese Immersion Program. What it essentially means that if we decide, Colby will have a half day of English studies and learning and a half day of Chinese studies and learning. He will have this every day for his entire elementary education. They also hope to add programs so when he gets into secondary school he can continue the Chinese studies.
When I first heard about this I didn't really know what to think. I was worried about the small amount of learning he would be doing in English. I feel that if you don't get a strong foundation in the beginning and get behind you will never catch up. I voiced my concern to his teacher and she made me feel very much at ease by telling me that Colby is above grade level in most things and will have no trouble learning the fundamentals. She called him a "deep thinker". My other concern was how in the heck would we be able to help him with his homework. This is still a concern but I will ask that question at a parents meeting they have scheduled in a few weeks.
In taking to Colby about it, he definitely wants to do it. He has said numerous times that we are going to go to China and he is going to tell us what everyone is saying. I have to agree with him that it would be super cool to take him when he's a little older to Hong Kong Disneyland and let him be our interpreter. Sounds like a great vacation to me!
Here are a few tidbits from a paper they sent home to the parents:
The younger a child is the easier it is to acquire a second language. Mastering a second language makes learning a third language even easier. Many students who have participated in immersion programs go on to acquire a third language when they reach high school. There are many studies that show students in immersion programs outperform students in all-English schools on a variety of English languages tests-reading, writing, listening, etc.
So as I mentioned, we plan to attend the parent meeting to hear what else they have to say and to ask our looming questions. We need to decide by the end of March whether or not to sign him up for it. They have to get a minimum of 50 students sign up to be able to offer the program. If you have an opinion on this, I would love to hear your thoughts.
3 comments:
That sounds really interesting. Would they just be learning the Chinese language, or would they be learning concepts while speaking Chinese?? I think that might be a deal breaker for me. It would be cool to learn a language, but what if the kid can't understand a concept because he hasn't mastered a language? I'm sure they have an answer for that :)
I hadn't really thought about it like that but I believe they will be learning the language and concepts at the same time. It would be like they were in China learning for part of the day. I understand what you mean about not speaking the language and trying to learn concepts in that language. Very good question, I'll have to ask that in our meeting.
That is a good question Emily brought up. Otherwise I think it sounds really good. I don't know how they'd get all the studies in in English if half the day was just learning Chinese though, so I bet they learn some stuff in Chinese (other concepts I mean). As for the greater understanding and grasp of English, I believe learning a foreign language is very helpful because it requires you to explore language structure more thoroughly. An acquaintance of ours had their child go to a school that was in a different language--it reminds me of this. I can't remember what language it was. I don't think it was Spanish, maybe it was Chinese. I know they loved it. This family lives in our old neighborhood, but I'll see if I can find anything out about it.
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