Rayito de Sol, Minnesota's Premier Spanish Immersion Preschool

June 30, 2008 - PRLog -- Studies show that preschoolers who are taught a “secondary” language are much more likely to excel in school academically and socially. Rayito de Sol is currently accepting applications for their 2008-2009 school year. Register your preschoolers by going to www.rayitodesol.org or calling (612) 332-2770.

In an increasingly diversified and multilingual world, more and more young children find themselves in an environment where more than one language is used. Similarly, with job changes that involve moving to different parts of the world, parents can feel overwhelmed by the linguistic demands on them and their children. What can parents expect of their children? Do parents have anything to contribute to the process of early language development? Does it confuse children to learn two or more languages at once? Do children have to be especially intelligent to be able to cope with more than one language?

People everywhere have strong ideas about children growing up with a second or third language. These ideas influence how people interact with their children and how they look at other people's children. These ideas also influence how professionals such as teachers, doctors, and speech therapists advise parents of children growing up bilingually. Sadly, many ideas that people have about children growing up with a second or third language in childhood are not of any benefit to these children and may in fact have adverse effects. One of the purposes of this digest is to dispel some common myths about children growing up bilingually and to offer suggestions that can help children to become fluent users of two or more languages.

A bilingual environment is most often a necessity, not a choice.
Many discussions of the advantages or disadvantages of early bilingualism seem to be based on the idea that a bilingual environment is something that parents choose for their children. This, however, is usually not the case; young children growing up bilingually are for the most part doing so because there is no way that they can grow up monolingually.

For example, it may be the case that the child interacts regularly with monolingual individuals, some of whom speak one language (e.g., teachers and classmates who speak only Italian), others of whom speak another (e.g., parents who speak only French). Other children may grow up in a community where most people speak the same two languages on a day-to-day basis. The usage rules for these languages determine when a particular language is spoken. Imposing changes in these conventions so that all bilingual speakers in the child's social world would limit themselves to one and the same language in all circumstances is not only impossible but also ethically dubious, because it would infringe on individuals' linguistic rights.

Hearing two or more languages in childhood is not a cause of language disorder or language delay. All over the Western world, there are speech therapists and medical doctors who advise parents of young children growing up with more than one language to stop using one of those languages with their children. Typically, the language to be given up is the language that is not used in the overall environment. For example, speech therapists in the United States often suggest that parents stop using Spanish at home in favor of English, while speech therapists in Flanders may advise parents to stop speaking English in favor of Dutch.

Philosophy
Rayito de Sol, Spanish Immersion and Language Academy, is Minnesota's premier language learning program for children with locations in Minneapolis and Plymouth, with a new location opening soon in Burnsville, Minnesota. The preschool fosters self-esteem, self-confidence, and academic competence while building self-help and language abilities necessary for effective social interaction.

The process of learning and discovery is essential to achieving results. We encourage each child to integrate and use all of their senses, creating neural activity that further develops and strengthens the brain.

So much more than just Spanish classes While literacy and language recognition are core components of children's learning experiences at the school, they grow and develop through rich art, culture, dance, music, literature, stories, interactions and of course, immersion. We believe in supporting parents to foster the growth of their children emotionally, physically, socially and intellectually.

We believe in the unlimited potential of every child and know that children in our program have an academic jump-start for life!

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