I just posted this idea on another thread, and thought I'd give it it's own topic.

My two eldest kids (5 & 7) go to a French immersion school. The school is private but I know that language immersion schools exist in public school districts (Miami or nearby, New Orleans and Palo Alto, for example; possibly LA). My kids spend 60-70% of their time in a French-speaking classroom. They didn't know any French when they started school and the new language means that 60-70% of classroom time was/is a big challenge for them at first. Plus they're learning a second language.

Also, the French system doesn't emphasize the "high stakes" stuff that so many US schools emphasize, and so they devote most of kindergarten to developing fine motor skills. This has been a big plus for my kids (actually, for all the kids in the kindergarten, I think).

We face the same difficulties with the English program that so many people discuss here, but at least the problem only exists for 90 minutes a day instead of all day. My Little Dude (age 5) came home from day 2 of kindergarten and said "Voila!" after he put his dinner plate on the counter.

I'm not saying the school is perfect, but this option seems to work well for our kids for now.

Has anyone else tried this option? Would anyone like me to post my list of URLs for immersion schools?

Regards,

Val