When my son (daughter graduates from the immersion program, will he (she) have fluency in Spanish language? |
| An academically serious and structured program does not promise the acquisition of the fluency of the language in months. This is a fallacy. Developing oral and written skills in classes of total immersion takes at least 3 to 4 years. Typically children are familiarized with the language in the two first years of the program and their comprehension exceeds their ability to express in oral language. In the first part they use the phonetic knowledge acquired to begin to read in Spanish. |
Do parents need to speak Spanish? |
| No. |
What is the typical experience for a boy/girl into the program of Immersion when he/she is not a Spanish speaker? |
| There is a period of initial adjustment for children who recently enter the Program (“Why the teacher is speaking me in a language I don’t understand?”). This is fostered through amusing activities, songs, dances, and a tutorial program Also emphasized is the theme of, “We are all brothers and sisters,” helping to build a linguistic bridge. Children then feel comfortable and competent within the second, third or fourth month. It’s a process that children assimilate in a natural and faster way than the adults. Parents can help by being patient, having an enthusiastic attitude about this opportunity. |
How can parents be involved in the program? |
Parents can help in many levels:
- supporting their children in the process of learning,
- enriching the environment of the house,
- contributing with tools to develop the language,
- working in the classroom with groups of children,
- helping the teachers to prepare materials,
- participating in the events organized by the students (festivals in the classroom, fair of the old toy, cultural familiar evenings relatives and other).
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Are opportunities of enrichment like art, music, physical education and library included in the immersion program? |
| All these opportunities of enrichment are part of the ChiCeLaCu! curriculum and all of them are distributed by specialized teachers. In addition to the instruction of music, our program contemplates the formation of musical groups and Latin American folkloric dances. |
How will my son and/or daughter benefit from this program? |
- students learn two languages
- they gain new respect and understanding of other cultures
- families are helped to preserve and respect their ethnic and cultural heritage, as well as their language
- critical thinking is developed and used in problem solving from an early age, using communication skills for improving communication and conflict resolution
- students will be more competitive in the global economy
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What can I do to get my child’s school to use the Program of Immersion? |
You can register electronically through our Web site, giving the data of the school and the amount of students who wish to participate. If you wish to personally register you can ask for a tour on Saturday by phone or by e-mail to visit the center located in Vienna, Virginia. Also you can establish - with an appointment- a direct registration in our central offices. There should be a participation of a minimum of 10 students and up to 100. The support of the PTA or the Direction of the school is necessary for the program. The school must agree in offering the physical space necessary for the implementation of the program in the schedule of before or after school.
During the months of September, October and November personnel of our Center visit some schools to offer the service and make the registration on site. You can ask for a direct visit to your school so that our staff explains the program to the parents or the direction of the center that you request, with no charge or any additional commitment. After the registration, either electronically or face-to-face you can make a direct deposit or send a check to our central offices. Remember that your registration will become official until we receive the established quota. |
How can I register my child? |
- By telephone. 703-470-2600
- By email: www. Childrencenterlanguage.com
- By mail. Please send the form registration: Children’s Center Language (ChiCeLaCu!) 1727 Pebble Beach Dr. Vienna, VA, 22182.
Registration is limited. So the earlier you register, the more likely your child will have a place in the program. |
What are the benefits of the program for children speaking English?
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With our program of immersion, ChiCeLaCu! offers children who only speak English, the opportunity to learn a second language, with highly qualified personnel and with an efficient educational strategy. Our objective is that graduates of this program be able to speak, read and write in two languages, taking advantage of the fact that the children who learn a new language before adolescence.
Pedagogical investigation has shown that advantages of learning a second language represent more than simply the ability to speak an additional tongue. According to these studies, studying a second language enlarges the intellectual potential, the academic achievements, and improves the abilities in the native language. Given the growing economic integration between US and Latin America, an efficient and fluent management of Spanish better prepares children for their professional future. Participating in the Children' s Center Language program is not an expense, it’s an investment in the future of your children.
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My child speaks Spanish; how he would be benefited with this program? |
Children who become bilingual with our program, acquire a sense of respect and appreciation toward their own culture, as well as others, which prepares young people to contribute to a more competitive, complex, diverse, and democratic society.
This program also permits that children improve their levels of respect and tolerance, having a sense of identity and pride toward their cultural inheritance. Numerous studies document benefit of learning a second language at early age; academic investigations have shown that bilingual students perform better than monolingual students in jobs of divergent thought, in the recognition of diverse patrons and in the troubleshooting of mathematical logic.
Our program represents also a personal academic challenge, helping improve the self-esteem of students. Our premise is that there will be many great benefits, social and otherwise with the developing greater linguistic skills.
See for instance “The Impact of Second Language Education” in www.education.gov.ab.ca/languages/benefits.asp |
Program Types.
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The Center provides two different modalities:
Modality A (Spanish-speaking children)
Modality B (Children with little or no Spanish language skills)
The ChiCeLaCu! is specialized only in teaching Spanish language for children from 5 to 12 years old. Classes are given in two ways, directly at the schools in the modality before or after school, with an additional immersion on Saturdays, or on Saturdays of 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or of 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for those parents having schedule problems to pick up their children.
Classes are given for an excellent and dynamic group of bilingual professors, who are graduated in Educational Sciences, Psychology and/or Pedagogy, Special and Preschool Education, and Arts (music and/ or dances); many of them have master and doctorate degrees in their specialties. In this way, our educational staff includes American teachers with experience in Spanish teaching. We also have professionals whose native language is Spanish, who have had many years of educational practice in their countries of origin and teach in the public schools of the County of Fairfax, in Virginia. |
When do the courses begin?
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| Courses begin on September 15, 2007 and finish on June 28, 2008. That is, we offer the same academic calendar as the American public school system. |
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