Adiós Pre-K , Bonjour French Immersion Kindergarten!
In a few days, my sweet baby girl will be graduating Pre-K and enjoying her first summer off from school. Then she will be joining Kindergarten in The French Immersion Program. We had originally planned for her to be in Spanish Immersion; however, the district we live in only offers French, and being that French and Spanish have some similarities we are comfortable to go this route. It will allow our daughter to be tri-lingual since I speak fluent English with a bit of Spanish and her father speaks fluent Spanish with a bit of English. She will now speak English, Spanish, and French which actually is pretty cool!
French Immersion In Louisiana
“When CODOFIL was launched in 1968, French was no longer taught in Louisiana’s elementary schools and rarely in high schools. In 1969, the State Department of Education authorized the teaching of French as a second language in elementary and secondary public schools. Since 1983, this program has been protected by a mandate from the State’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. At first, CODOFIL hired teaching professionals from France, Belgium, and Canada to fill the need for qualified teachers of French in Louisiana. Today, 30 years later, most of our teachers of French are Louisiana natives, thanks largely to the efforts of CODOFIL and the state’s educational system. Today, almost 100,000 students across Louisiana study French, and there are 26 French immersion schools in eight parishes.” (Louisiana Cultural Development)
Over this past school year, I have volunteered several times and have become familiar with the staff and what the program offers, as well as the opportunities it will present to our daughter throughout her schooling and beyond. I am very comfortable with the French teachers, their care and dedication to the students and I feel as though it’s like getting a private school education within the public school setting.
“Enrolling your child in French immersion teaches them to communicate their thoughts and express themselves better than those who only speak a single language.” (Oxford Learning)
What’s even more awesome is my daughter is very excited about learning French.
When I pick her up from school some days, she will enter the car and say to me “Bonjour Mama” and it is the cutest thing to hear and see. I encourage any parent no matter what their economic status is, no matter what their heritage, to encourage their child to do something different and learn an additional language to broaden their horizons. To be able to see as many different cultures, languages, foods, etc. so that one day they can and will look back and be able to say I was from somewhere but I didn’t stay just there. I experienced things that only others can dream about. Give them a voice and give them a voice in different languages. Let those languages speak back to you and say “Thank you, Mommy and Daddy! Gracias Mamá y Papá…Merci Maman et Papa!”
