Placing your child in the best school for their personality and academic needs is the single most important factor to making their inter-cultural experience a successful one. School is where they will spend their days away from you and where they will make their friends.
We’ve had our girls in the following types of schools: pubic Canadian, public all French, public all Spanish, homeschooling via virtual schooling, high end elite private, private Mennonite, start-
up bilingual private, private all Spanish, international bilingual private, international bilingual catholic private, private preschool, public preschool, private French preschool, public Spanish preschool, private Spanish preschool. Since we place the girls in schools according to their specific needs, the girls are almost always in three different school. But that’s fine with us.
There are pros and cons we’ve experienced. We have tried all three larger categories. No matter which you choose, you sacrifice something else. Our school choices have largely been determined by
these 3 factors:
1. the child’s personality (ability to handle adversity, adjust to new situations)
2. importance of learning the new language
3. how close they are to college applications
Find and Explore the Options What are education institutions are established where you are going? If you have limited choices, then, no need to deliberate. If there are multiple possibilities, do your research on each one. The most accurate way to do so is to talk to other parents from that school. Get some parent references from the school. Then implore them to really level with you about
the strengths and weaknesses of the school.
Our family will only move to locations that can offer the right schools for our kids. This means we research all the schools in different regions that we are considering, and move to where the schools are. That works for us, but I realize not everyone can do that since the locale may already be
determined for other reasons such as work.
Education Priorities
We determine the education priorities are for each girl. They vary greatly. Is it to learn a language, maintain a GPA and take certain courses for college? When we first went to Guatemala the girls only knew some Taco Bell Spanish, nothing more.
Temperament
Does your child want to experience a very different school experience than what they are used to, or do they need a setting that is relatively similar to what they left. Our youngest daughter could go to school on the moon and she would adjust. Our middle daughter does not welcome a lot of
unpredictable nonsense. She’s not the biggest fan of change or immersion schools. Do not underestimate how personality will affect how a child will or won’t adjust to an immersion school.
Immersion schools
If your priority is for them to learn an additional language, and your child is young enough or willing enough to tough out the first couple of days not understanding anything, plunk them in an immersion experience. Young children soak up the language effortlessly. This is ideal for preschool, elementary school, and middle school (if you can convince them to do so at that age). By far it’s the fastest way to learn a language.
With the immersion experience you will need understanding teachers. But, if the teacher is willing to accommodate that your child is starting from scratch language-wise and is sympathetic to the learning curve, this works well (been there). If the teacher is intolerant of your child’s lack of language and makes them feel stupid in front of the other kids, this avenue will suck (been there). We have had both amazing experiences in immersion and horrible ones, where we had to change schools entirely. Gauge your child’s tolerance. We have found that the teacher will make or
break this experience. If it’s just getting through a bumpy patch, you will be rewarded with fluency faster than any other path. If it is crushing your child’s spirit, nothing is worth that.
We have done total immersion with our youngest daughter since she was in preschool. In fact, she has never gone to a school in English. In Canada the school is 100% French and in Guatemala it is !
00% Spanish. What’s the trade-off? We supplement the English learning. Luckily this is the language I know, so that I can handle.
Bilingual schools
This method is a favorite of many because it continues the learning in two languages. In this setting there is usually more exposure to the second language than in an English school, but fluency in the
second language will take much longer. My opinion and it’s a touchy subject, but the difference between the fluency in the second language is significant between immersion and bilingual schools. But in the bilingual school, the child can maintain their studies in English. Bilingual schools will often lean more toward one language heavily, they are not all created equal.
English schools
These are schools which are following a similar curriculum as you will find in North America, and you will take the Second Language like you would at your home school. Pros of these schools is that if your child is in high school at a critical pre-college/university time, you don’t want them to have a grade dip that going into an immersion or bilingual school may bring.
We kept one of our daughter’s in an English school because she was more apprehensive about the experience and had already had less than stellar experience in one of our earlier immersion experiences. She was not open to further exploration at that time.
Mix and Match
For our youngest we put her into school when she was younger. In the mornings she went to a small private preschool next door to our house with five other kids in her class. In the afternoons she attended the public school with 45 other 4 year olds. We called that school the Wild Wild West, because it was. Each school provided her with different immersion experiences, and she enjoyed them both for different reasons. She did her academic learning in the mornings and in the afternoons she learned how to understand ten kids speaking Spanish rapidly at the same time. The Wild Wild West was where she became fluent in Spanish in about a month. Immersion is a wonderful thing for small kids. The bilingual school Cali attended in Costa Rica was really all Spanish with a few English lessons.
START-UP SCHOOLS
Some parents are afraid of putting their child in a school that is just starting. We won’t rule a school out for that reason only. We understand kinks will need to be worked out of the system. But we have also learned that the owners and administrators are often very willing to work with you to make you happy. We have been a part of the first year for a preschool and high school. Both were
successful experiences. Our high schooler enjoyed seeing herself as a school pioneer and took on many leadership roles and initiatives to insure the school’s success.
Summing up
IMMERSION
Pros
Second language learning, more likely to become fluent
Complete cultural immersion during school. They will be with and make friends with local kids.
Cons
First few weeks may more difficult to adjust
Tolerant teacher required.
May need to supplement English learning–I do reading and math.
BILINGUAL
Pros
Child can continue curriculum in English so you may not need to supplement curriculum
Will likely have a mix of friends, ex-pat, other foreign nationals, but also some kids
Cons
Fluency in second language is less likely, but more here than in an English-only setting
Exposure to the culture is much less than the immersion school
ENGLSH
Pros
For high school children, will make sure they stay on their ready college track
These schools usually help with SAT prep and applications to colleges
Cons
Will not likely become fluent in other language
Will be with other foreigners and expats, so the cultural exposure is minimal
Take the time to do the research and find the best fit for the child and her needs.
Good luck.