An Overview of Spanish Immersion Childcare

Choosing childcare is no easy task!

Leaving my babies in the care of someone else has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. As a full-time working mom, I knew my kids would spend a bulk of their days at daycare. At first it was really hard (I definitely cried those first few days), but as time went on & I saw how much they learned, how much fun they had, and how much they were loved at “school”, made it so much easier! Now that my babies are older, we look forward to school as part of our weekly routine.

Choosing childcare isn’t easy, which is why I’m honored to be partnering with Casa Early Learning to help other families feel good about sending their kids to daycare/school!

Casa’s Core Values is what immediately hooked me to their program.

Many of their values align with what I support in early childhood development, including bilingualism, interculturality and having a healthy and holistic impact on the environment.

Spanish immersion has supported research on cognitive flexibility. Casa de Corazón® has strong values with  commitment to community, diversity & sustainability (they even cloth diaper during they day!). As a dietitian, I’m also very particular about the menu, so you can imagine my excitement when I learned they serve local, organic foods to the children when possible! Many of these values are unique to Casa de Corazón® and you can learn more about them here.
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Weighing the pros & cons of a childcare center vs. in-home care.

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make when choosing child care is whether you’ll choose an in-home location or a larger center.  We explored both options, and ultimately decided a center was the right fit for us.

The positives of an in-home include:

  • Smaller group setting
  • Intimate environment
  • Less expensive
  • Less staff turnover

The downsides to an in-home include:

  • Less kids in the same age group
  • Less resources/access to school-based curriculum
  • Need to be flexible with staff sick days and time off
  • Less transparency into what happens in the home

The positives of a center include:

  • Consistent open times, schedules, and time off
  • Structured curriculum, meals times, and staffing
  • Transparency into child’s day and safety
  • High standards of safety, protocols and curriculum
  • Variety in menu, projects, access to playgrounds and gym.

The downsides to a center include:

  • More expensive
  • More staff turnover

Language development

Language develop occurs early on in babies.  It’s important we speak to our babies, make eye contact, use hand gestures, read books and play music starting at birth!  All these different types of language expression help baby understand the world around them.

Bilingualism is the ability to fluently speak two languages.   It’s best to begin exposure to the second language as early as possible to help achieve full fluencies, since the human brain is wired to learn language during this critical period.  Immersion to a second language, whether through childcare settings, or a bilingual family member is by far the most effective method of language teaching.

The research on a 2nd language

The following is directly from Casaearlylearning.com:

“More than half the world’s population is bilingual, which is why we believe early childhood bilingual education is so important. At a time when the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, learning another language is a step towards joining a global community. A second language is a window into other ways of viewing the world. More than that, bilingualism carries concrete advantages for children who grow up speaking a second language. Bilingualism aligns perfectly with our program’s philosophy of intercultural community building.”

Bilingualism increases mental flexibility for children. Bilinguals will have two or three more words for a single object or idea.

o   Bilingual children are more willing and able to learn a third language, and show an increased analytical orientation to language.

o   Children who study a second language score higher on verbal standardized tests conducted in English. By providing bilingual child care to Minneapolis children and other kids around the country, our school prepares students to perform better in math and logic skills compared to children who are fluent in just one language.

o   This helps children prepare for Kindergarten, whether they will attend a language immersion program or an English-only elementary school.

o   Learning a second language helps children build self-esteem, creativity, problem-solving skills, and math ability

Read more at Casaearlylearning.com.

If you know me, you know I don’t just trust a statement from a website, so I did my own research and found some supporting information!

First, the research on bilingualism is still emerging. As immersion education is gaining popularity, we’re beginning to learn more about the short and long-term effects.

A research opinion article out of the University Of Minnesota dives deeper to summarizing the research on bilingual education and immersion (read it here).

In short, language immersion education has shown benefits such as academic achievement and cognitive skills, and that bilingual children develop the ability to problem solve at an earlier age.

On the other hand, it can be challenging to keep young kids immersed in the second language as they advance through grade school. It an also be challenging to find adequate teacher and enough programs for continued immersion education. There is some research that suggests  English-speaking immersion students’ language may be delayed upon entry to grade school, but catch up by 2nd grade.

About Casa de Corazón®

Casa De Corazon is an intercultural Spanish-immersion learning center whose mission is to provide socially responsible education to our children in a healthy, compassionate, intercultural environment.

The Casa Creative Curriculum is NAEYC approved, research-based Teaching Strategies Creative Curriculum® infused with Casa’s unique teaching objectives of Spanish immersion, cultural learning, and social responsibility.

Casa De Corazon has locations in the Minnesota and Wisconsin area – you can check out there website at Casaearlylearning.com.!

In addition to the robust Spanish-immersion curriculum, nutrition is another differentiating aspect of Casa de Corazon. They serve natural, balanced, organic meals from fresh ingredients each and every day. They have commercial kitchens certified by local health departments to ensure that everything is up to code and properly served.

Feeding our babies nutritious food is a huge job! Even as a dietitian I sometimes struggle coming up with meal ideas, minimizing sugar & ensuring my kids consume fruits & veggies – somedays are harder than others.
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I work hard to offer my kids nutritious well-balanced meals, which is why I was also shocked & disappointed when I first sent my kids to daycare & they were served junk!! It was hard to accept & resulted in some tough conversations.
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Casa de Corazon serves organic, locally sourced food when possible. Each meal is well-balanced, nutritious & “RD-approved” :). I love their variety of foods, including the unique the cultural textures & flavors that most kids would not otherwise be exposed to.

I encourage you to take a look behind the curtains at your kids daycare/schools to see what foods are being served.
You may need to encourage your center to provide more nutritious meals (or pack your own meals). A little awareness & education can go a long way!

*I am a brand ambassador for Casa De Corazon

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