Schools for my daughter in Calgary? Some help / advice. - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

smithtofuhr86 · 11-17-2009, 12:42 PM

Just wanted to get some advice and tips regarding school’s in the city my daughter is going to be getting into Kindergarten next September 2010 we live in New Brighton and we had her on a wait list at a chartered school but we she is probably not going to get in, we are not Catholic so we’re out of the running there and the public schools nearby such as Mackenzie Towne and Mackenzie Lake are not in our boundaries so that leaves us with Acadia Elementary (public) and Sam Livingstone (French Immersion – Public). I was wondering if anyone has put there kids in French Immersion right from the start and how has it gone? We’re a little worried that they do not do much English the first few years and speak and do just French. Any stories and tips are much appreciated. Thanks.

Table 5 · 11-17-2009, 12:45 PM

If had a kid and had that choice to make, I'd probably put them in French immersion. I'm not sure you have to worry about your kid not being able to learn English properly....kids adapt very well, and a second language skill comes in very and hand later on in life. My cousin's kid in Holland is not only learning Dutch, but also French, English and German....at the same time!

Besides, your kid will have plenty of time learning English from every other element in her life.

yads · 11-17-2009, 12:48 PM

Don't worry, your kid will learn English even if they're in Immersion. Learning a second language is a great thing for kids.

Sample00 · 11-17-2009, 12:50 PM

My kids have been in french immersion since Kindergarden.
My oldest just went into the high school and has switched over to english as the high school program here in french isnt that strong. Having said that, we want her to attend post secondary and wanted her to have a strong english background when she does that as most post secondary schools are in English.
my son is in grade 7 this year also french immersion. He will be making the switch to english next year as he isnt in tune with the french as his older sister is. He also has to work harder at the grades he gets, so we are trying to make it easier on him.
Neither my wife nor I speak french.
Pros - typically smaller class sizes, less behaviour problems, strong academics in the classroom, obvious benefit of speaking both official languages.
Cons - adjustment can be difficult if the household isnt a french speaking household. Not so bad in the beginning, more difficult in the higher grades.

Kids are like sponges and can absorb a lot of things when they are young. If I had to do it over again, i would again put them into the french immersion program. Both my kids are now at a stage that they will keep their french. we have many french speaking friends that always speak to our kids in french.

as far as my kids english is concerned, they both score high in their english classes. the only issue that has cropped us is the spelling and just getting mixed up between the two languages. My daugher is now into her 3rd month of straight english and her Language Arts progress reports are amongst the highest in the class. The switch over for her has been seamless.

sclitheroe · 11-17-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sample00

Kids are like sponges and can absorb a lot of things when they are young. If I had to do it over again, i would again put them into the french immersion program. Both my kids are now at a stage that they will keep their french. we have many french speaking friends that always speak to our kids in french.

And conversely, if kids don't continue to actively use their french outside of the immersion program, they will most assuredly lose 80-90% of their fluency. I speak from experience. If they aren't going to continue to use the French actively in social circles, spare them the stress of the immersion program and work on developing them into top-flight English speakers and writers.

Bend it like Bourgeois · 11-17-2009, 12:55 PM

We had a similar scenario and decided not to go with french immersion simply because if we had to move schools we weren't sure how easy that transition would be. We went with the traditional learning centre, which is actually part of the public system.

http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Programs/Choices/prog-tlc.aspv

We also heard good things about foundations for the future, though that's a charter school and tough to get in to.

Table 5 · 11-17-2009, 12:56 PM

The rest of the world grows up speaking multiple languages, so can we. It can only do good things for your kids future in the world.....the only problem is it's French, and not Spanish or hell, Cantonese.

Bertuzzied · 11-17-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

The rest of the world grows up speaking multiple languages, so can we. It can only do good things for your kids future in the world.....the only problem is it's French, and not Spanish or hell, Cantonese.

Cantonese? you mean Mandarin right? only 5% of China speaks Cantonese. Which is also one of the hardest languages in the world to speak. 8 tones.

Table 5 · 11-17-2009, 01:12 PM

Yes by Cantonese I meant Mandarin. Who doesn't love oranges?

81flames · 11-17-2009, 01:14 PM

I was in French Immersion and I'm glad my parents put me into the program. Half the classes are taught in english and the other half is french. If you have the option to put her into this program, I would highly recommend it. I have been out of school for more than 10 years, but I can still communicate in French.
Dont' worry about her not learning English as it will not be an issue. As I said, half her lessons are in English.
As was stated above, kids absorb alot. My friend's kid (7 years old) is currently learning English/French and Spanish...and speaks greek to her at home. She (the kid) doesn't have any problem switching between the languages.

smithtofuhr86 · 11-17-2009, 02:01 PM

Thanks so much everyone, again it amazes me the wonderful insight and info one can get from Calgary Puck when asking a simple question.

Acid Rush · 11-17-2009, 02:18 PM

My son has been in French Immersion since kindergarten and so far it's been ok. The only problem is English spelling. I usually correct my son's spelling for English. They do speak French inside the classroom but outside with friends, they speak English so it's not going to be a problem. We also speak a different language at home and so far my son has adapted very well. I often ask him if he's having difficulty and he has never complained. As for the assigned school for your area, have you ever tried talking to the principal whose school is closer to your home? My son was supposed to be assigned to another school which is far from our home but we talked with the principal (both principals) and they said that if it was ok with the other principal then it was fine. We never had problems ever since.
Hope this helps.

Suave · 11-17-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

The rest of the world grows up speaking multiple languages, so can we. It can only do good things for your kids future in the world.....the only problem is it's French, and not Spanish or hell, Cantonese.

There is a Mandarin Bilingual program offered in Calgary (k-6 at King George and 7-9 at Langevin)

http://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/languages/chinese.asp

Same thing for Spanish:
http://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/languages/spanish.asp

Jedi Ninja · 11-17-2009, 04:01 PM

Weird that Acadia School is not on the Fraser Institute web site. Sam Livingston seems to be pretty good, though:

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/reportcards/schoolperformance/schooldisplay.aspx?id=ABE9354

Rank:
66 / 715
56 / 604 Overall rating out of 10 8.1 —

troutman · 11-17-2009, 04:16 PM

My children go to a German bilngual program through CBE (Bowcroft):

http://www.germaneducationcalgary.ca/

This site used to have info about the benefits of bilingual education. IIRC, generally, these students tend to achieve better than students in general programs.

http://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/languages/german.asp

May 27, 2008 BENEFITS OF LEARNING GERMAN [or any 2nd language]

Expands the intellect
Teaches responsible citizenship
Develops enhanced feelings of self-esteem and pride in having acquired an additional language
Strengthens English literacy skills
Encourages the joy of lifelong learning
Promotes exploration, understanding and appreciation of the cultures of the German-speaking world and contributes to multilingualism and multiculturalism
Allows students to compete internationally
Provides students with access to more choices for advanced education and career options
Broadens students' cultural life through access to literature, art, music and theatre in another language

Leeman4Gilmour · 11-17-2009, 04:52 PM

First, I have nothing against immersion programs and would never argure against them, but wanted to share a different experience:

My ex's son (my ex step son?) was enrolled in French Immersion Kindergarten and really struggled. So much so, when he was removed from the immersion and placed in a public school, his parents tried to convince the school to hold him back a year. Didn't happen. I bet it took him 10 years before he caught up.

The underlying reason for his issue - he was a young kindergarten (didn't turn 5 until January) and wasn't exactly excelling at English when he went into French Immersion. His language abilities in general were below average. Some people have the ability to learn multiple languages more than others.

Like I said, just another point to consider.

Sample00 · 11-17-2009, 04:57 PM

^^^ great post and I can very much appreciate it.
I am surprised that they didnt hold him back a year. the year in maturity alone would have made things so much better for him.
at times, I wish we would have done that with our son as he is born later in the year too, but it was I, not my teacher wife that pushed to get our son into school. Not that he is doing poorly or anything but the maturity factor has definately played into it for him.

Antithesis · 11-17-2009, 05:00 PM

Don't write off the Catholic schools, unless you truly do not want them to attend a Catholic school.

Just because you are not a Catholic does not mean you are unable to send your child there. They, however, will have to attend the religious education classes that are offered at the school. My understanding is the school is very full - but it can't hurt to call them and ask.

looooob · 11-17-2009, 05:14 PM

another proponent of French Immersion assuming the child is otherwise school ready. don't fret if the English isn't there right away, it will come and the experience of learning a 2nd language and being around other kids who are motivated to do the same is great. don't be afraid to give it a try

wpgflamesfan · 11-17-2009, 05:27 PM

As a current university student who was in french immersion most of my life i have nothing negative to say about immersion. It's a great learning experience and can open up some pretty amazing doors for you. In my case i may get to work in France this summer as well as attended classes there in the fall. The one common concern from both kids and parents in the later years is that kids will have a difficult time adapting to an all english university. This couldn't be further from the truth. While I did switch to a private school which was strictly anglophone, I did so due to the quality of the education and not because it was english. As well many of my friends who did stay in immersion found the transition to english rather easy.