A Mom’s Guide to Spanish Immersion School Preparation

We’re getting ready for our little boy’s first day of bilingual kindergarten and he’s a bundle of nerves. Starting kindergarten is scary enough, but Spanish immersion school takes it up a level. And although his older sister has been down this road already, my son differs in that he isn’t so keen on sitting still, reading, or listening in general!

I know in my heart he’s going to flourish, but the stress of starting a new school – and a new language – has taken its toll. I can’t believe my son’s first day of bilingual Kindergarten is quickly approaching!

Being the Type A Mom that I am, we started preparing for Back to School season a few weeks ago by doing all the regular prep, but preparing to return to their dual immersion elementary school is also about working those language skills that may have laid dormant during the summer months.

Supporting Our Kids In Spanish Immersion School

5 Ways to Prepare for Bilingual School

Kindergarten is such a joyous experience! It’s when the love of learning is founded and preparing for this exciting time is something moms love. Entering a bilingual Kindergarten is very much the same, except the introduction of a foreign language and culture creates a unique experience to prepare for. Dual language immersion schools are wonderful communities and helping our kids prepare for their new school year will help them tap into

Here are 5 ways in which I – a busy mom of two – prepare for back to Spanish immersion school and bilingual Kindergarten.

Spanish Introduction: There are children at our dual immersion school who are raised by native speakers, but many are being introduced to the language for the first time. Though Sebastian has been around Spanish his entire life in one way or another, he doesn’t truly have any fluency. Because of this, we’ve been hard at work all summer long. Quite honestly, I would ensure my child was entering Kindergarten with this educational foundation regardless of if they went to a traditional or dual immersion school.

These are the goals I set out for us:

• Introduction of the Spanish Alphabet. Recognize at least 75% of letters.
• Can spell his first and last name in Spanish
• Spanish recognition and simple manipulation of numbers 0-20

Use media tools: At our house, Friday movie nights have gone Spanish! The kids also get daily screen time (after all their other stuff is done) and I do my best to make this immersive. There are so many ways to access language development tools through media. If they can watch or play it in English, most likely they can also watch it in Spanish.

Stock up on supplies: Bilingual education programs need all the regular school supplies! I get organized for BTS season as early as possible, stocking up on supplies as the sales hit the stores and keeping them in designated boxes according to child/grade in the garage.

Another supply to stock up on is Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes during the summer for when I volunteer to clean the kids’ desks throughout the school year. These wipes are amazing and help kill germs that can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours and cleaning desks is a small chore our teachers love help with!

Culturally immersive summer fun: I love that my kids are learning Spanish at school, but in addition to the language is the cultural immersion they receive. Their cultural competency is so much higher than mine at their age and I love to reinforce that curiosity with culturally immersive summer fun. We visit museums, study Native American culture before we go camping, eat at authentic restaurants and do unit studies on famous Latino American figures.

If you’re in Los Angeles, don’t miss the historic area of Olvera Street for the beauty of Latino culture in Southern California.

Keep things fun and upbeat: When it comes to sending my little one to bilingual Kindergarten, we keep things fun and upbeat. No stringent goals or to-do lists this summer! That reminder rings true for every Kindergartener really; this is a big step in our baby’s education! I try to embrace the healthy dose of failure my child will likely face as he learns a new language. It’s amazing what their 5-year-old minds will absorb!

Having done it once before, I can tell you that sending my kids to a dual immersion school has been the best decision we’ve ever made (check out our Dual Language School Kindergarten classroom here!). Kinder is such a tender experience and I look forward to watching my boy blossom… in two languages!