Any Don'ts About Spanish Immersion?

My oldest started kindergarten this fall at the Richfield Dual Language School and we've had a great experience so far! Overall things have gone very well and she's picking up a lot of vocabulary with each unit. RDLS is a little different than many immersion programs in that half of the students are native Spanish speakers and half are native English speakers, and their model is that things start out 90% in Spanish and 10% in English and will gradually transition to 50/50 by 5th grade. The idea is that the kids will help each other out and learn from each other along the way, and in our experience this does happen and it enriches the learning process for our daughter.
It's definitely a choice to commit to, though! I wouldn't say we've had any "negatives" per se but there are some different things that come up in an immersion program that might not in regular school. Our daughter was totally exhausted for the first couple of weeks, and she was a little frustrated that she couldn't understand what her teacher was saying most of the time. Her teacher is very demonstrative, though, and so of course she did understand when it was time to go to lunch, for example. We talked with her about how it was new for a lot of the kids and that it was okay that she was still learning, and that she would start to understand more and more of what her teacher was saying. She started to realize that she was picking up a lot of the meaning behind his words even if she couldn't exactly follow everything. 4 months into the year now, she doesn't complain about that anymore and just focuses on trying to pick up a few new words at a time. Most of her homework comes home with instructions in both English and Spanish, but a couple of times the instructions were only in Spanish and we just had to do our best to figure it out. Our daughter still is at a point where she understands much more than she can express in Spanish, so sometimes homework is challenging if she needs to, say, write a sentence about what she saw on a field trip. Again, though, I don't know that these things are "negatives" so much as they're added challenges to overcome now in exchange for added benefits later, if that makes sense.
I hope this helps, and feel free to e-mail me separately if you'd like to "chat" more about it!
Sara

Our daughter is mid-way through kindergarten in a Spanish immersion program and it is even better than we thought. The first week was hard but mainly because she is in full day K and was used to half day preschool. She loves it and is learning SO much. We were a little nervous about it at first -- I teach kindergarten (non Spanish immersion) and I know kindergarten can be overwhelming but a month into the school year, she was coming home singing and speaking in little phrases and she even has an authentic sounding accent...much better than mine!

C.,
Our son is in first grade at St. Louis Park Spanish Immersion and we all really love it. Imagine the opportunities these children will have that we do not! Our son already talks with the Spanish speakers we have around the area. A valuable tool in todays world.

Which immersion program are you talking about? I've heard St. Louis Park is great. I've heard St. Paul is ok (I'm in St. Paul).

I wouldn't worry too much about your oldest. But I would make sure he has an activity or something that is special just for HIM - whatever he wants (karate, music, or even an after school language program). Make sure he understands why you are sending his sibling to a different school. I think talking to kids about things at their level goes a long way.

My son is in Kindergarten in a Spanish Immersion. He really likes it. It's 100% in Spanish and he says he understands what the teacher is saying. The negative is that he is a little behind his peers who are in an English only program, but that is to be expected. It should equal out around 3rd grade. The other negative is that it requires a lot of work on the parent side. I sit down with my son and work on activities in English so he doesn't fall behind and I work with him in Spanish. While my son knows all his letters, sounds, numbers, and shapes in English, he does get confused in Spanish. I believe that it works best if there is a parent who can help the child in Spanish. There are adult classes if you or your husband don't know any. I have many friends that take these so that they can better help their children with the school work and they really like the classes.
I also think that as long as you don't make a big deal about your 2nd going to Spanish Immersion then your first won't care. Just keep it simple and say you're going to different schools. Eventually all siblings(except twins) will be at a different school sometime in their lives.