Patch Blog: ESL vs. Immersion

Much has been made of our current Title I status at Mayflower. With our "No Child Left Behind" and ESL students not making the necessary improvements, we are between a rock and a hard place.

The more I understand "No Child Left Behind" the more amazed I am that it ever became a law. As a mother I want nothing more than each of my three children to reach their true potential, as an intelligent human being... well, there are so many ways this law can get in the way of learning! Which brings me to the ESL vs. the Immersion program.

If we believe that each child should reach their true potential, why must non-native English speakers be in ESL? Currently, we have several Korean and Philipino families in Monrovia. The children of these families do not speak English nor Spanish, which makes it a challenge to teach them. 

The typical ESL program is geared toward Spanish speakers. Monroe school has a wonderful immersion program where native-English speaking children are learning Spanish at the same time as they are learning English. What a novel idea! These children are capable of learning two languages at the same time!

Wouldn't it be better for our community to have all of our children be learning together, instead of splitting them into English and ESL? After all, the best time to learn a new language is when we are young.  

Let me know what you think.