How exciting for you and your son! I’m excited to hear about how much his Spanish grows with this opportunity. Your children are very lucky to have you. You take on this extra weight on your shoulders of their multilingual education on top of all the other things a mother teaches her children. ❤
Thank you so much, Mayra! I know that if none of this works out, they'll still be OK and will do great, but I am definitely relieved :). Hope you're doing well!
Hi Stefanie, congrats! That being said, now you have to definitely get your son prepared for the test! I live near you, as you probably recall, and so I have heard a lot about the test. If I remember correctly, they have you leave and then a bilingual adult or adults speak with your child. If the child responds only in Spanish they pass, but if they use English at any point, they fail. Is that what you've heard also?
I'm surprised they told you it "must be the child's first language." I expect that what they were trying to say was it "must be the child's dominant language."
Also, I'm not going to lie, when you said that you checked the box, I was disappointed, as it does seem dishonest. I realize you have no negative intentions, but I think it is pretty clear that the intention is that those spots are reserved for heritage language speakers and immigrant families.
Hi Mac! Thank you so much for your comment. I definitely never want to suggest that parents should be dishonest on these sort of things or cheat other eligible children out of a good opportunity. My understanding was that the program is for children who speak Spanish acquired in a naturalistic setting with the ultimate goal being to balance out Spanish speakers with English speakers for classroom interaction. This way, all kids can acquire both languages. I was completely honest when asking the principal at the info session: I explained our situation, the age he began, how we've had an au pair, etc. She told us that he would qualify as a Spanish speaker for the purpose of the lottery. I never would have selected that had I not gotten the OK from the administration and I certainly advise parents to ask their administrators for advice on this.
@@LiveYourLanguage When we think about dual immersion programs, the most important factor is not just to encourage the minority language, but also to limit the majority language. I am copying this from the "dual language programs" part of my school district's website: Who should identify as Spanish-Dominant? Spanish-dominant seats are intended for students for whom Spanish is their primary language. This means that the student understands AND speaks more Spanish than English. Some examples of ways a child could be considered Spanish-dominant are if they communicate with family and community members mostly in Spanish, if they primarily use Spanish when upset or asking for help and if their play language is primarily Spanish.
@@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh I love that your school district goes into this level of precision in guiding parents about their children's eligibility. I really like this criteria because it seems to be really clear while also putting the factors that will keep the program sustainable--minority language USE--at the heart in such a way that will give the most opportunity to the children that are at the highest risk and can benefit the most from the program (children with Hispanic heritage who do not speak English yet, especially recent arrivals). Given the chance, I'll advise my district to offer similar guidance somewhere because "Spanish speaker" and even "native Spanish speaker" (which would include my youngest who began learning in a home setting before he could speak and continues to this day) just are not precise enough. This also highlights how multifaceted language can be, including and maybe especially for children of foreign language parenting, which may not fit as nearly into some more common categories of "native speaker," "first language" and "heritage speaker." Thanks for sharing these points!
How exciting for you and your son! I’m excited to hear about how much his Spanish grows with this opportunity. Your children are very lucky to have you. You take on this extra weight on your shoulders of their multilingual education on top of all the other things a mother teaches her children. ❤
Thank you so much, Mayra! I know that if none of this works out, they'll still be OK and will do great, but I am definitely relieved :). Hope you're doing well!
Awesome! So excited to hear about this journey and how French continues to show up.
Hi Stefanie, congrats! That being said, now you have to definitely get your son prepared for the test! I live near you, as you probably recall, and so I have heard a lot about the test. If I remember correctly, they have you leave and then a bilingual adult or adults speak with your child. If the child responds only in Spanish they pass, but if they use English at any point, they fail. Is that what you've heard also?
I'm surprised they told you it "must be the child's first language." I expect that what they were trying to say was it "must be the child's dominant language."
Also, I'm not going to lie, when you said that you checked the box, I was disappointed, as it does seem dishonest. I realize you have no negative intentions, but I think it is pretty clear that the intention is that those spots are reserved for heritage language speakers and immigrant families.
Hi Mac! Thank you so much for your comment. I definitely never want to suggest that parents should be dishonest on these sort of things or cheat other eligible children out of a good opportunity. My understanding was that the program is for children who speak Spanish acquired in a naturalistic setting with the ultimate goal being to balance out Spanish speakers with English speakers for classroom interaction. This way, all kids can acquire both languages. I was completely honest when asking the principal at the info session: I explained our situation, the age he began, how we've had an au pair, etc. She told us that he would qualify as a Spanish speaker for the purpose of the lottery. I never would have selected that had I not gotten the OK from the administration and I certainly advise parents to ask their administrators for advice on this.
@@LiveYourLanguage When we think about dual immersion programs, the most important factor is not just to encourage the minority language, but also to limit the majority language. I am copying this from the "dual language programs" part of my school district's website:
Who should identify as Spanish-Dominant?
Spanish-dominant seats are intended for students for whom Spanish is their primary language. This means that the student understands AND speaks more Spanish than English. Some examples of ways a child could be considered Spanish-dominant are if they communicate with family and community members mostly in Spanish, if they primarily use Spanish when upset or asking for help and if their play language is primarily Spanish.
@@Mac_an_Mheiriceanaigh I love that your school district goes into this level of precision in guiding parents about their children's eligibility. I really like this criteria because it seems to be really clear while also putting the factors that will keep the program sustainable--minority language USE--at the heart in such a way that will give the most opportunity to the children that are at the highest risk and can benefit the most from the program (children with Hispanic heritage who do not speak English yet, especially recent arrivals). Given the chance, I'll advise my district to offer similar guidance somewhere because "Spanish speaker" and even "native Spanish speaker" (which would include my youngest who began learning in a home setting before he could speak and continues to this day) just are not precise enough.
This also highlights how multifaceted language can be, including and maybe especially for children of foreign language parenting, which may not fit as nearly into some more common categories of "native speaker," "first language" and "heritage speaker." Thanks for sharing these points!
@@LiveYourLanguage Thanks for your thoughtful replies, Stefanie.