Spanish Dual Language @ MMA!
Our Spanish Dual Language Program offers a track for students in the Primary Children’s House and the Lower Elementary Community. In the Primary Children’s House, children are guided by native Spanish-speaking Montessori-trained guides and assistants. Children in ECE3 participate in a 90/10 model, with 90% of instruction in Spanish and 10% in English. ECE4 students follow a 65/35 model, transitioning gradually to bilingual instruction. Kindergarten through 3rd Grade students in the Lower Elementary Community follow a 50/50 model, with one native Spanish-speaking guide and one native English-speaking guide facilitating instruction. Currently, students in 4th Grade through 6th Grade attend our “English Track” Upper Elementary Community as they prepare for the transition to Middle School.
Potential Benefits of Bilingualism:
- Bilingual people can be more creative and better at solving complex problems
- Stronger working memory – the ability to learn and retain information
- Better executive functioning skills – ability to consciously direct one’s activities
- Full bilingualism may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms
- Stronger ability in meta-language skills, such as understanding grammar rules
- Achieve higher scores in standardized tests than monolingual people
- Easily meet high school language requirements
- College admissions look favorably on bilingual students
- Job opportunities
Why Multilingual Instruction as Part of Montessori?
Clear, Intentional Language
Our highly-trained Montessori guides are careful speakers, every day, all the time. In our Spanish Immersion community, every teacher is fluent in Spanish, giving the children the opportunity to hear authentic, quality dialogue between adults. It’s amazing how quickly children absorb language simply by observing and repeating phrases they hear their teachers use. They naturally want to repeat after their guide when she speaks in Spanish, fostering stronger language skills.
Real Life Interactive Instruction
We provide opportunities to experience language in a real-life context, rather than out of textbook pages. In the Montessori environment, teachers are responsive to children’s activities and will speak to them in Spanish throughout the day. As time progresses, children learn to follow basic instructions in Spanish, sing songs in Spanish, and even respond to the teachers in Spanish. This is Spanish the way it should be learned: through interactive experience.
Cultural Competency
Language is inevitably tied to culture. Practical life activities can incorporate Spanish customs, from foods we prepare together, to the type of fabrics we use in our materials. Songs and stories from Spanish-speaking areas of the world bring Spanish culture to life in the classroom. Naturally, the strong Montessori geography curriculum enables our students to locate the cultural regions where Spanish is spoken on the world map!
Extensive Vocabulary Building
Montessori environments are filled with vocabulary of objects and ideas — from animal figurines, to real tools, Grace and Courtesy lessons, and math concepts — all words they don’t have to memorize from a textbook, but rather get to use and hear everyday in the classroom! This unique time in a child’s life allows them to leverage their sensitive period for language known as the “Absorbent Mind.”
Spanish Dual Language Over the Years
The first two years of our Primary Children’s House, which consist of grades ECE3 and ECE4, we use a 90/10 model, where 90% of the morning is spoken in Spanish. We leave the 10% buffer to account for translations that the teachers make on the spot to help children assimilate to their new language environment, specifically when safety is involved. An example of this would be, “No corras en la calle, por favor! — Please don’t run into the street!” Naturally as the school year progresses, children will need less and less of this translation, and will be fully immersed in Spanish throughout their morning Work Cycle, recess time, and lunch.
In the afternoon, our ECE3 students nap or rest, while our ECE4 students participate in English-based instruction in Math and Literacy, in addition to English-based enrichment classes like art, yoga, or dance.
In IK, the children participate in the morning Work Cycle in their Spanish Dual Language classroom, and transition to IK in English for the afternoons. We call this a 50/50 model, because 50% of their day is still in Spanish, while the other 50% is in English. During the afternoon work cycle, the focus will be English language and grammar, in keeping with State Standards, as well as translating math concepts to the English language.
Continuing to build on the multilingual learning children achieve in our Primary Children’s House, our Lower Elementary Classroom continues to have an equal focus in English and Spanish, which continues to offer a 50/50 Dual-Language model. The morning Work Cycle is held fully in Spanish, while the afternoon Work Cycle is held fully in English. This model ensures that rising 4th grade students are well prepared for their transition to our non-immersion in the Upper Elementary Community.
By the time students reach Upper Elementary, they join together as one cohesive community, blending the rich language skills and cultural awareness gained through our Spanish Dual Language Program with the experiences of those who have participated in our English-only program. Together, they thrive in a dynamic, fully English-speaking classroom, where their diverse educational journeys enrich collaborative learning and prepare them for success in Middle School and beyond.
