Ypsilanti Community School District is expanding its Spanish Dual Language Immersion program. Adding a fresh spin on how kids learn, this amazing program offers so much for the little ones. Created to improve language skills, Spanish Immersion started in 2021 with two local schools that started this program as a way for students to develop more literacy and speech skills.
“A lot of states are doing programs like this — Michigan started slow, but we have gained a lot of traction…” said Celeste Green, immersion specialist and CEO at Spanish for Kids, LLC. Growing from 36 to now over 250 students, the program is offered to Pre-K thru 3rd grade at schools Estabrook and Ford Early Learning Center. Each year, they add a year so more students can be enrolled.
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In this program, students are taught both Spanish and English. To be just a 4- or 5-year-old, this may not be easy. Or so we think. “Here’s a fun fact — did you know that it’s actually easier to read in Spanish?” Maryanne Jaeger, instructional coach for YCS said. “It’s the letter sounds and phonics of the words that make it easy.”
The early opportunity to formally be taught how to read, write and speak in Spanish is widely sought after. “Students come from all over, to be a part of this program. Ann Arbor, Belleville, Canton…,” Green said.
Some of the main goals of the Spanish Dual Language program is to: achieve academic excellence, strengthen biliteracy, foster positive cross-cultural relationships and promote student leadership.
Through this program, most of the beginning classrooms are taught in Spanish and increase as students’ progress to higher grades. With this program, the students will have an increased knowledge of what it takes to be bi-lingual and bi-literate in this world we live in today.
Discussing the popular demand, Green gives more insight on just why this program is important. “Having both native English speaking and native Spanish speaking students being taught in the same class is just a bonus.. they’re learning from each other,” Green said.
Both Jaeger and Green have been with the program since it started and they both say what a joy it is to see and watch the kids learn languages at the same time.
In the world we live in today, this program serves as a remainder to us all just how advanced our children will be once they get older. It is definitely helping to cultivate a strong relationship between cultures as they learn this new, but familiar language. Innovation at its best!
While they don’t have a lot of social media traction, Green encourages people who want to learn more information and sign up, visit their website at ycsschools.com and search Dual Spanish Immersion to learn more about this local program.
