User:Rayitodesol

Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion and Language Academy
WEBSITE LINK: Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion and Language Academy

Philosophy

Rayito de Sol, Spanish Immersion and Language Academy, is Minnesota's premier language learning program for children with locations in Minneapolis and Plymouth, MN. The preschool fosters self-esteem, self-confidence, and academic competence while building self-help and language abilities necessary for effective social interaction.

The process of learning and discovery is essential to achieving results. We encourage each child to integrate and use all of their senses, creating neural activity that further develops and strengthens the brain.

So much more than just Spanish classes. While literacy and language recognition are core components of children's learning experiences at the school, they grow and develop through rich art, culture, dance, music, literature, stories, interactions and of course, immersion. We believe in supporting parents to foster the growth of their children emotionally, physically, socially and intellectually.

We believe in the unlimited potential of every child and know that children in our program have an academic jump-start for life.

What is Spanish Immersion?
Spanish Immersion means that your child is immersed, or surrounded by, the Spanish language during his or her preschool day. Your child will experience all of the joys of regular preschool - just in Spanish!

Our unique Spanish language program strives for academic excellence in education while giving children invaluable skills of comprehension and use of the Spanish language.

The Rayito de Sol program is designed for children who do not speak the Spanish language and provides an opportunity for children to learn Spanish through many educational experiences.

Benefits of Attending Rayito de Sol and Learning a Second Language

Recent studies have shown that there are "windows of opportunity" for learning certain skills. There is strong evidence that the ability to learn and speak a foreign language is easiest before the age of ten.

Young children learn languages more easily and with greater fluency than older children or even adults.

•Enhances academic and linguistic performance in both languages

•Cognitive advantages -- physically enhances brain development

•Increases career and social opportunities

•Expands world view

•Scores statistically higher on SAT college entrance exams

•Increases attendance at colleges and universities

•Improves English language skills

•Enhances learning capacity for life When very young children are "immersed" in a language, their brains actually form new neural connections. This strengthens their intellectual "foundation" as well as future academic success.

Numerous studies have shown that in addition to greater appreciation for other cultures, learning a second language also results in academic and developmental advantages. Consider the following findings of cognitive benefits:


 * Benefits of a second language include…improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills (Bamford & Mizokawa, 1991)


 * Students who had studied a foreign language for 4 or more years outscored other students on the verbal and math portions of the SAT (The College Board SAT, 2003)


 * Students who were in “rigorous” programs in high school, which included 3 years of foreign language study, were likely to earn better grades in college and less likely to drop out(Horn & Kojaku, 2001)


 * Learning another language can enhance knowledge of English structure and vocabulary (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2004)


 * Students of foreign languages may have better career opportunities (Carreira & Armengol, 2001)

“Learning other languages altered grey matter – the area of the brain that processes information – in the same way that exercise builds muscles. People who learned a second language at a younger age were also more likely to have advanced grey matter than those who learned later”

Read more about it in this related article: Being Bilingual Boosts Brain Power. BBC News, October 2004

A key linguistic benefit of early language learning is a more native-like speaking ability:

"Early exposure is the best way for a human child to achieve full and equal native fluency in two languages with no accent or grammatical error" (Start Early to Help Your Child Become Bilingual, Pediatrics for Parents, Vol. 20, Iss.10, 2003)

Learning a second language also leads to:


 * Enhanced level of English language skills and of metalinguistic awareness, a skill that positively impacts learning to read in any language because it facilitates decoding abilities


 * Greater facility in learning additional languages