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Bilingual Education Can Start Preschoolers on Path to Success
More parents turning to language immersion programs to provide toddlers with academic head-start or preserve native tongue
By Lisa Intrabartola - January 17, 2012
“Hola! Como esta?” shouts 4-year-old Jackson Morton as he bounds through the front door of Yellow Brick Road preschool in Highland Park on a recent Saturday morning.
It’s graduation day for Morton and his seven classmates.
Six weeks ago few of them could speak or understand Spanish. Today, the preschoolers – ages 1 to 5 – can follow and participate in a lesson featuring a puppet show version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears performed entirely in Spanish. They also know their numbers, colors, fruits and vegetables and how to follow basic classroom directions – after only six hours of instruction.
It’s graduation day for Morton and his seven classmates.
Six weeks ago few of them could speak or understand Spanish. Today, the preschoolers – ages 1 to 5 – can follow and participate in a lesson featuring a puppet show version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears performed entirely in Spanish. They also know their numbers, colors, fruits and vegetables and how to follow basic classroom directions – after only six hours of instruction.