What is Immersion
Immersion sparks the curiosity and fluency of children through play-based learning in a vibrant, multicultural environment.
How it Works
Our immersive approach nurtures language and cultural development, using fun activities to foster well-rounded growth.
Why Immersion
Immersion enriches your child’s mind, creating global citizens with strong linguistic and cultural foundations for life.
What to expect from immersion program at Caminito
Expect your child to thrive in a diverse, engaging, and language-rich environment at our immersion program.
What is Immersion
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- Immersion is defined as a method of foreign language instruction in which the regular preschool curriculum is taught through the medium of the second language, Spanish in our case.
Caminito is a full immersion language school, meaning educators speak in Spanish 100% of the day, every day – with the understanding that we nurture and support children, if needed, in their native language (English).
How Immersion Works
- In their early years children naturally process language without the inhibitions and fears that most adults have learning a second language.
- The exposure to spontaneous language, words and phrases that are repeated throughout the day allows for a gradual, natural comprehension.
- Songs, books, words in print around the room, and daily routines all incorporate the immersive approach as we naturally blend Spanish into everyday routines.
- As the children become progressively more familiar and comfortable hearing and understanding the second language, their response in Spanish becomes a natural part of their thought process and the second language emerges.
- Teachers gently encourage the children to speak in Spanish during the day. While we do not want to create stress for children by forcing them to respond in Spanish, we do want to encourage them, a campaign to fill a pom-pom jar to earn a pizza party for more Spanish responses.
Why Immersion
The U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
(ACTFL) have both recently published research on the benefits of learning a second language and immersion as a superior method of teaching.
CARLA explains “In traditional second language instruction, the target language is the subject of instruction. Immersion programs use the target language for instruction and as a means of communication. This authentic communication allows students to learn a second language in a similar manner to the way that they have learned their first.”
Few benefit The ACTFL highlights of learning a second language
- Development of students’ reading abilities.
- Increased cognitive development and abilities.
- Higher intelligence.
- Better problem solving ability.
- Improved verbal and spatial abilities.
- Improved development of print awareness.
In short, young children in immersion programs have the best advantage in developing the pronunciation, structure and intonation of the new language easily and successfully. This is a time in our lives when acquiring a second language comes very naturally.
Children who learn a second language from an early age consistently show superior mathematical conceptualization, problem solving skills, verbal acumen, and creativity,
- → Between the ages of 0-3, the brains of young children are uniquely suited to learn a second language as the brain is in its most flexible stage. In fact. bilingually exposed infants excelled in detecting a switch in language as early as 6 months old. They can learn a second language as easy as they learned to walk and learn their primary language.
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→ According to the
University of Washington News
, the U.S. census shows that 27 percent of children under the age of 6 are now learning a language other than English. - → Spanish is one of the top 5 most spoken languages in the world. In this increasingly global environment, the study of other languages and cultures is one of the most important skills you can promote in children.
→ A 2004 study by psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee found that bilingual youth were more successful at dividing objects by shape and color versus their monolingual peers who struggled when the second characteristic (sorting by shape) was added.
Combining Montessori Education and Spanish Immersion for Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Development
Language Acquisition Expectation at Caminito
- Generally speaking, for children who begin at Caminito as toddlers when, developmentally speaking, language skills are emerging, the introduction of a second language is seamless and allows for a much higher rate of acquisition and fluency.
- In their first six months of immersion, children have limited comprehension and low verbalization.
- Within six months to a year children are increasing comprehension, growing a vocabulary base and producing one- to two-word phrases using present tense verbs.
- As they move into their second year at caminito, children have excellent comprehension, produce simple sentences and feel very comfortable navigating within the full immersion environment.
- In years two and three, children have excellent comprehension, respond frequently in Spanish to the teachers and often use Spanish in their natural and spontaneous play and interactions with each other.
Common myths-immersion programs
→ Myth 1- Spanish Immersion education is for non-English native speakers.
But the reality is that English, Spanish, German, French…we have a variety of main languages spoken at the homes of our children. At Caminito Spanish Immersion, most of our families (about 70%) are primarily English speakers at home. We find that most families want their children to be exposed to a second language in the most natural and comfortable way, and that’s why they choose an immersion language preschool.
→ Myth 2- Children won’t develop the English-speaking skills they need.
Think about how much time they spend outside of the classroom! If this were true, children raised in bilingual households would all have delayed speech, which is certainly not the case whatsoever. Children will develop English skills from their peers (in and outside of the classroom), in their environment, from the media, at home, and in every other aspect of their lives. They are constantly exposed to English and living in an English-speaking environment is enough for the children to pick up bot.
→ Myth 3-My Child Won’t Understand What’s Going on In the Classroom:
Our top concern is the child. We would NEVER let children feel lost because of a language barrier! The words and phrases that are repeated throughout the day allows for a gradual and natural comprehension. Songs, books, words in print around the room, and daily routines all incorporate the immersive approach. As the children become progressively more familiar and comfortable hearing and understanding the second language, their response in Spanish becomes a natural part of their thought process and the second language emerges.
→ Myth 4- Spanish isn’t what we are teaching –
each child’s individuality so that every child develops a true passion for learning and an ability to engage in any environment and community. We provide structure for learning through play and meaningful experiences and activities. Our children have well balanced development that does not about reading and math scores. Our children to walk into elementary school happy, confident and well-prepared.
→ Myth 5: My Child Will Fall Behind Academically-
At Caminito Spanish Immersion YOU choose the approach that best fits your child’s individual personality. All Children develop at different paces, and they have different strengths and interests. Though the goal of both Montessori and traditional preschool is the same: to provide learning experiences for the child. While in a traditional education every child in the class must follow one path set out by the teacher, a Montessori education follows the individual child’s interests using observation. Choose what is best for your child.
Whatever you choose, it’s always a great idea to introduce new languages to children at a young age! Want to learn more about Spanish Immersion education? Check out our website Caminitospanishschool.com or contact us at 817-627-8727 about what it could mean for your child to attend Caminito Spanish Immersion.