The purpose of our English/Spanish dual language immersion preschool program is to provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children and support for their families. Diversity is valued and anti-bias attitudes are promoted.
Our program seeks to provide a carefully planned, nurturing environment that facilitates the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of the young child. The curriculum emphasizes play, social interaction, creativity, and curiosity.
At the heart of the preschool program is a dedication to provide every child with individual attention, support, and encouragement. This preschool program model has been designed to teach our core Preschool curriculum while exposing students to a second language. In these classes, students are taught the literacy and academic content of our preschool program in English and in Spanish.
Dual Immersion Details
- Both Spanish and English languages are used for 50% of instruction time.
- Students of both languages learn together.
- The curriculum and learning targets parallel the traditional preschool program classes.
- Teaching the preschool curriculum in English and Spanish allows all the children to learn their critical preschool skills in multiple languages. This is especially important for early literacy where building a rich vocabulary leads to higher reading skills in later years.
- Grouping the two languages together allows children to experience and respect both languages and cultures.
Children at this age have a great capacity for second language comprehension. Understanding the language precedes speaking the language. Dual immersion students will become familiar with hearing the second language. They will begin to understand key phrases and directions in the classroom and will be able to use key vocabulary words and phrases that are repeated in daily classroom activities.