An invitation from Katie McCluskey, District 41 ELL and Bilingual Director
PLEASE COME!
Learn about the Dual Language option for your incoming kindergartener!
We are holding two parent information sessions for parents of incoming Churchill kindergarteners - please come to the one that is most convenient for you
Thursday, March 21
1 p.m.
Central Services Office, 793 N. Main
Thursday, April 4
6 p.m.
Churchill School Library Media Center
Dear Parent/Guardian of an incoming Churchill kindergarten student,
I'm writing to let you know about an exciting new program that your kindergartner may be eligible for, and to invite you to an information meeting to learn more about it.
New at Churchill School this year is Dual Language, a type of foreign language immersion program that is highly successful in helping children become truly fluent in a foreign language. This program will start in the 2013-2014 school year in kindergarten (in addition to regular kindergarten), and will "roll up" with these students as they progress through school. This program is only offered at Churchill and is different than our regular foreign language instruction. In a nutshell, here's what happens in a Dual Language kindergarten:
- The class will be half children who have grown up speaking English, and half children who have grown up speaking Spanish.
- Children will spend half their time learning in English, half their time each day learning in Spanish.
- Children will be learning the regular curriculum and will be very well prepared to succeed on all the typical measures of student progress.
- Children will benefit especially in their language development in both English and Spanish.
- Parents are strongly encouraged to commit to Dual Language for their child's whole elementary experience. By the time they are ready for Hadley, these children will be well on the way to being able to speak, read, write and understand two languages. Research shows that Dual Language is more effective than traditional foreign language instructional approaches.
There is a lot more to know about this program. To start with, you may want to review the Dual Language FAQs. Next, please come to one of the parent information sessions. By attending, you will be fully informing yourself of all your options for kindergarten; attending the meeting is not a commitment to enroll your child. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Katie McCluskey
ELL and Bilingual Director (630) 534-7206
kmccluskey@d41.org
