7 ms·

I am a mild pariah among my parent friends for suggesting that 'spanish immersion daycare' was a way of recruiting lower-cost childcare workers (in the USA). T

I am a mild pariah among my parent friends for suggesting that 'spanish immersion daycare' was a way of recruiting lower-cost childcare workers (in the USA). They're everywhere, and it seems they are the most common type of daycare, actually. (upper midwest, usa)

Spooky23 4y ago
It also makes it easier to get daycare subsidies for working parents.
version_five 4y ago
Sort of related: in english Canada, french immersion often ends up being a way to send your kids to a better public school, and for whatever reason the english / french kids (as in enrolled in those programs) tend to split along socioeconomic lines.
- hydrok9 4y ago
  and they often get away with a low level of fluency by the end of it.
- mpsprd 4y ago
  I'm curious about how french immersion works in English speaking Canada. It's something seen as "higher class"? I live the mirror situation: french speaking young parent intending to make my child bilingual at a young age. Here english is obviously seen as an edge and is studied a lot.
  - cfraenkel 4y ago
    It's seen as a step up in quality, but almost entirely because you're self selecting into the pool of parents who are more invested into improved education. There's also a sense that the "problem" kids are going to be concentrated in the English track. So win win.
  - ckz 4y ago
    I'd be curious to learn/chat more about how you're approaching it as a French-speaking parent. :) I'm a native English speaker/~B1 French speaker trying to very intentionally create a bilingual household environment. It's not pure immersion, but I can (and do) narrate what I'm doing for most daily activities in French, read aloud in French, consume French audio, etc. All much to the bemusement of my own French mentor, who's validated that I'm not instilling a terrible accent, but is also getting peppered with questions in my search for French children's literature.
    - mpsprd 4y ago
      My kid is barely 2yrs, so my plans for English immersion are still vague, but here goes: - consuming all media in the original language instead of dubs - kindergarten already does some bilingual exploration, she's a native English speaker - Later on I intend to do an "English day" each week at home where we would only converse in English. From my personal experience, the best path to fluency is having no choice but to speak in a given language. I also want to create boundaries to prevent mixing the two languages. About french children's book, I could send you a mail about it. Depending on the age of your kids "la courte échelle" has great stuff.
eru 4y ago
You say it like it's a bad thing. This is an awesome way to provide both an extra language when kids don't have much else to do and fit it easy to pick them up, _and_ it saves on costs? What could be better?
- tshaddox 4y ago
  Yeah, kinda weird to point it out as if there is some conflict of incentives between costs and benefits. It's a pretty darn good language to pick even if you just wanted your child to learn another language regardless of costs.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- jvanderbot 4y ago
  I'm only saying that the primary motivation for Spanish immersion, good or bad, is probably cheaper child care costs, for the center, not the parent. Our kids are in one. Or were, until we moved.
  - semireg 4y ago
    As a parent of a 5 year old entering K this coming fall, we were set on the Spanish immersion program at our public school. Less expensive childcare costs never factored into the decision, and learning of cost savings is a bit of a shock to me. I never considered that aspect to private programs.
- hackernewds 4y ago
  better could be having a work life balance system or remote work setting where the child can grow up with the love and attention a caring mother could provide
  - pwthornton 4y ago
    You know kids like hanging out with other kids. It’s fantastic for socialization. They generally enjoy getting to hang out and learn with other kids all day. Back in the day when people had huge families and lived with their cousins, kids got this built in, but I think the idea of having a few kids that don’t get to see other kids every day with a stay at home mother is actually fairly unnatural.
psychlops 4y ago
You could make a similar argument about public education. However, your pariah status will no longer rank as mild.

Spooky23 4y ago

It also makes it easier to get daycare subsidies for working parents.

version_five 4y ago

Sort of related: in english Canada, french immersion often ends up being a way to send your kids to a better public school, and for whatever reason the english / french kids (as in enrolled in those programs) tend to split along socioeconomic lines.

hydrok9 4y ago
and they often get away with a low level of fluency by the end of it.
mpsprd 4y ago
I'm curious about how french immersion works in English speaking Canada. It's something seen as "higher class"? I live the mirror situation: french speaking young parent intending to make my child bilingual at a young age. Here english is obviously seen as an edge and is studied a lot.
- cfraenkel 4y ago
  It's seen as a step up in quality, but almost entirely because you're self selecting into the pool of parents who are more invested into improved education. There's also a sense that the "problem" kids are going to be concentrated in the English track. So win win.
- ckz 4y ago
  I'd be curious to learn/chat more about how you're approaching it as a French-speaking parent. :) I'm a native English speaker/~B1 French speaker trying to very intentionally create a bilingual household environment. It's not pure immersion, but I can (and do) narrate what I'm doing for most daily activities in French, read aloud in French, consume French audio, etc. All much to the bemusement of my own French mentor, who's validated that I'm not instilling a terrible accent, but is also getting peppered with questions in my search for French children's literature.
  - mpsprd 4y ago
    My kid is barely 2yrs, so my plans for English immersion are still vague, but here goes: - consuming all media in the original language instead of dubs - kindergarten already does some bilingual exploration, she's a native English speaker - Later on I intend to do an "English day" each week at home where we would only converse in English. From my personal experience, the best path to fluency is having no choice but to speak in a given language. I also want to create boundaries to prevent mixing the two languages. About french children's book, I could send you a mail about it. Depending on the age of your kids "la courte échelle" has great stuff.

eru 4y ago

You say it like it's a bad thing. This is an awesome way to provide both an extra language when kids don't have much else to do and fit it easy to pick them up, _and_ it saves on costs? What could be better?

tshaddox 4y ago
Yeah, kinda weird to point it out as if there is some conflict of incentives between costs and benefits. It's a pretty darn good language to pick even if you just wanted your child to learn another language regardless of costs.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jvanderbot 4y ago
I'm only saying that the primary motivation for Spanish immersion, good or bad, is probably cheaper child care costs, for the center, not the parent. Our kids are in one. Or were, until we moved.
- semireg 4y ago
  As a parent of a 5 year old entering K this coming fall, we were set on the Spanish immersion program at our public school. Less expensive childcare costs never factored into the decision, and learning of cost savings is a bit of a shock to me. I never considered that aspect to private programs.
hackernewds 4y ago
better could be having a work life balance system or remote work setting where the child can grow up with the love and attention a caring mother could provide
- pwthornton 4y ago
  You know kids like hanging out with other kids. It’s fantastic for socialization. They generally enjoy getting to hang out and learn with other kids all day. Back in the day when people had huge families and lived with their cousins, kids got this built in, but I think the idea of having a few kids that don’t get to see other kids every day with a stay at home mother is actually fairly unnatural.

psychlops 4y ago

You could make a similar argument about public education. However, your pariah status will no longer rank as mild.