Thank you to Centner Academy for sponsoring this post.
In recent years, language immersion schools have become quite popular in the United States. Language immersion schools offer children advanced language and literacy skills. As a result, many parents have welcomed this way of learning and for good reason.
What is a Language Immersion School?
A language immersion school is an institute that offers an educational program taught in (at least) two languages, a minority language and a majority language. A minority language is one that the majority of people in a particular country or region do not speak. The majority language is the language the majority of people in the area speak.
The core characteristics of a language immersion school are as follows:
- Subject area instruction through the minority language occurs for at least 50% of the school day during the elementary school years
- Teachers are fully proficient in the language(s) they use for instruction
- Support for the majority language is strong and present in the school community at large
- Clear and sustained separation of languages occur during instructional time
These characteristics ensure additive bilingualism or multilingualism is achieved. Students can both speak and understand two or more languages.
Why Should Parents Enroll Their Child in a Language Immersion School?
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Benefits Brain Development
Researchers shows that the brain of bilingual individuals have better executive function. This allows for a stronger focus on problem solving, more easily moving between tasks, and better recall of words and information.
Also, studies show that other cognitive functions like mental flexibility and increased cultural sensitivity to others strongly develop in children who attend language immersion schools.
Bilingual and multilingual children are also able to analyze their knowledge of language. They can focus more on meaning and take into account relevant facts when there is distractive information present. This enables them to perform better on tasks requiring mental manipulation.
Additionally, with increased sensitivity to others, bilingual and multilingual individuals are better able to understand the needs of others and respond appropriately. They also tend to be more respectful of differences between people and cultures.
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Perform Better in Math and Science
A concern for many parents is that math and science are subjects that may be difficult to learn in a minority language. These worries can be alleviated by looking at a study from CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition). This study shows language immersion students did as well as students learning in a majority language. They often excelled in these subjects.
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Provides Access to Numerous Jobs
As many businesses transition to operating on an international level, they seek employees who are able to speak multiple languages and who exhibit cultural sensitivity. Because of this children who fulfill their educational career through an immersion school will have access to a wider range of national and international jobs compared to those who were enrolled in English-only programs.
At Centner Academy, we strive to nurture children through the appropriate social – emotional, intellectual, and physical growth that occurs from ages 2 ½ to 6. We want to ensure that your child reaches their full potential by taking complete advantage of our language immersion program.
Learn more about Centner Academy today www.centneracademy.com or call us at 786-460-1488, you can also apply here https://www.privateschoolmiami.com/.
