BILINGUAL EDUCATION
A child’s brain is highly flexible, meaning children are gifted with the ability to learn new languages faster than adults. Children can reach near-native fluency in a new language within 1-2 years, while adults may need 5-7 years to reach similar proficiency.
However, the window for rapid language acquisition is short. Beyond age 12, as neural pathways in our brains begin to form less rapidly, learning new languages becomes more difficult. Every day counts!
Summit Day’s teachers speak to students in both English and Spanish. By the time Ms. Leslie’s Kindergarten Prep students graduate, they can count to 30, name fruits and vegetables, recite the alphabet, list the months of the year, introduce themselves and exchange pleasantries…all in Spanish.
Beyond simply enjoying the ability to communicate in a second language, bilingual preschool offers a wealth of cognitive benefits:
One study¹ randomly placed ~10% of Oregon public school students into dual language classrooms. Jennifer Steele at American University found that these dual-language students were a full year ahead in English reading (vs. their peers) by the end of middle school.
Bilingual children must follow social cues to decide which language to use in various settings and depending on whom they are speaking to. Antonella Sorace at the University of Edinburgh² found that bilingual children as young as age 3 begin to score higher on tests of theory of mind and perspective-taking, which measure emotional intelligence and social skills.
Ellen Bialystok³, a cognitive neuroscientist, studied the medical records of 400 Alzheimer’s patients. She found that, on average, bilingual patients showed Alzheimer’s symptoms 5-6 years later than their single language peers.
THE CREATIVE CURRICULUM
We believe that children learn best when we fuel their natural curiosity through hands-on investigations.
Our teachers will guide students through units exploring the world around us (e.g. ocean life, grocery stores, pets) that will last a few days or a few weeks, depending on how students respond.
Our preschool and Kindergarten Prep teachers dedicate daily time to worksheets developing early literacy and math skills, but our students will also enjoy plenty of time to play! After all, Einstein remarked, “play is the highest form of research.” The unfettered imagination and experimentation associated with play in a well-structured classroom allows children’s creativity to blossom.
It’s important to us at Summit Day that our students have fun! When they enter Kindergarten with a love for learning and genuine excitement towards attending school, they are all-the-more likely to excel in the classroom, from elementary school through college.
¹ Jang, H.-J., & Cho, J.-A. (2017). The effect of childcare teachers’ perception of teaching competencies on the quality of childcare service. Journal of Education & Culture, 23(5), 181–198.
2 University of Edinburgh, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. (n.d.). Bilingualism matters.
3 Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. Cambridge University Press.