Bilingual, dual language, and immersion schools and camps are proliferating as parents understand the benefits of bilingualism and the importance of preparing kids for our expansive world. But the choices abound. What factors should you consider when choosing an immersion preschool?
- Prioritize an exploratory approach to curriculum. Many schools exist just for the sake of language immersion. Find a preschool that is in tune with the latest child development research and whose approach allows for open-ended exploration and activities. One such Brooklyn preschool, Explorer Studio, offers a rich curriculum and exploratory approach in an immersive language environment. Peeking in on a typical day, you can see children at a science observation station as well as actively engaged in hands-on activities set up in the form of open-ended ateliers, lively with discussion.
- Choose a preschool that integrates language learning with vivid content. A science-rich curriculum is ideal for very young children, as their curiosity about nature, how things work, and how things are made or built (and broken!) is at the forefront of their developing mind. At Explorer Studio, when you listen to the active discussions taking place during the ateliers, you hear children learning content as well as the integration of content with language development.
- Look for nurturing teachers as well as nurturing content. Does the school practice active equity and inclusion? How do they help children navigate conflict? How many adults are present? Hearing adults use language and interact is an important way that children develop their ear for the art of back and forth, cadence and meaning in conversation, and vocabulary development, as well as develop social skills and empathy. For the majority of the day, teachers at Explorer Studio are working with small groups of children, which maximizes children’s interaction with adults and with each other.
- Find out if the school has a brain-based approach to math. Are they playing games that develop early number sense, or are they teaching children to count by rote? Ask questions about how they teach math. Are they able to answer the “what” as well as the “why”? Counting to 20 or 100 at a very young age is about memorization, not number sense. The engaging materials and games we see at Explorer Studio help children understand for themselves how numbers work.
- Ask how language is taught, and listen for words like “supported,” “immersive,” and “scaffolded.” Do the teachers know how to differentiate when speaking to beginners versus children who are already fluent in the target language? A scaffolded immersion model – a natural and yet structured and differentiated full immersion model – is in evidence at Explorer Studio, which produces high fluency results as well as engages children’s curiosity about language itself.
- Look at the art on the walls. Is it messy and full of wonder? Does each child’s artwork look different from the next? Is it original to each child (and not a row of cut-outs or drawings that a teacher provided)? Is there artwork that multiple children created together? These are hallmarks of an exploratory art program, one that prioritizes the creative process over the finished product. At a recent Open House, the artwork on the Explorer Studio walls was stunning in its liveliness and creativity, each piece as unique as the child who created it. A question about collective art brought about a discussion of how children learn to work together, exploring the materials and getting invested in the process of creating rather than the result.
You can visit the Explorer Studio French and Mandarin immersion preschool in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, at an upcoming open house. Open houses take place every week. Sign up on their website or contact the Admissions Team at [email protected] for more information.
