Surprising WAYS language IMMERSION SUPERCHARGES BRAINS OF VERY YOUNG LEARNERS
100% Spanish immersion (plus interactive Mandarin Chinese)
Research here shows bilingual children have higher math, reading, emotional, and analytical skills
Most students only speak English before INIC, but easily learn Spanish (and Chinese) and quickly become bilingual
So Much More Than a Second Language!
Elementary teachers often tell us how INIC Preschool (International Immersion Center) graduates exceed and lead their classrooms.
Learning a second language profoundly stimulates multiple regions of a young child’s brain, starting in infancy.
INIC Preschool’s evidence-based curriculum fully immerses young learners in the Spanish language and exposes them to a variety of world cultures, as well as science, math, reading, writing, and the arts.
Cultural immersion goes beyond language learning, offering its own unique advantages. Discover how INIC teacher culture and why it matters by clicking here.
we’re different than bilingual preschools & daycares
INIC Preschool is truly authentic Spanish immersion.
Every class and activity is in Spanish, every day, 100%.
All teachers are native Spanish speakers or 100% fluent.
Interactive Mandarin Chinese classes with a native speaker take place twice weekly.
Full educational curriculum for every child, from infants all the way up to our kinder prep scholars.
Click Here: Book a Tour Online
“Do you know what a foreign accent is? A sign of bravery.”
- Amy Chua
The Evidence
U.S. Department of Education:
young bilingual learners enjoy these advantages over monolingual kids
Understanding math concepts and solving word problems
Developing strong thinking skills
Using logic, focusing, remembering, and making decisions
DOE also cites the following benefits for kids who are bilnigual
Babies raised in bilingual households show better self-control, a key indicator of school success
Being bilingual supports children in maintaining strong ties with their family, culture, and community
U.T. Austin & Cornell University Research
New 2022 research by Maria Arredondo, Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin shows very young children in a language immersion environment are better learners than kids in monolingual environments. The UT Austin study examined infants ages six to ten months old, showing babies in bilingual environments have better attention spans and are better learners.
Blinguals are better at “code switching,” are able to block distractions, and have longer attention spans
Research by Dr. Barbara Lust at Cornell University’s Language Acquisition Lab shows “bilingual children enjoy cognitive and social advantages.“
Cognitive advantages follow from becoming bilingual. These cognitive advantages can contribute to your child’s future academic success.
Social advantages follow from becoming bilingual. By fostering bilingualism (or multilingualism) in your children, you make it possible for them to access other cultures and other worlds in ways monolinguals cannot.
Michigan State University:
between the ages of 0-3, brains of young children are uniquely suited to learn a second language, unlocking significant benefits
Infants excelled in detecting a switch in language as early as 6 months old
They can learn a second language as easy as they learned to walk
Learning a second language does not negatively impact the child’s native language
Myth busted:
BILINGUALISM does not cause language delays or confusion
Excerpt from The Daily Texan article: Arredondo said some parents think teaching kids multiple languages will impede their development, but she hopes increased awareness will change that.
“There are no delays in hitting those marks like when they produce the first language, when they produce the first word.”
— Maria M Arredondo has a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology. At the University of Texas at Austin, she is assistant professor with the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Department of Psychology
“The idea that two languages causes language delays in children has been a long-standing myth in the United States. However, research has dispelled this myth. Children are able to learn two languages at the same pace as other children who are learning only one language.”
— Meagan Horn, MA, CCC-SLP, bilingual speech language pathologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital - read more here
“Although some parents and educators may have concerns about the potential for confusion, bilingual children do not suffer language confusion, language delay, or cognitive deficit.”
— Dr. Barbara Lust at Cornell University’s Language Acquisition Lab & Dr. Sujin Yang, former Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab - read more here
How to Raise a Bilingual Child
According to Dr. Lust, the key to raising bilingual children is immersing them early and often in another language:
Surround your child with as much rich language and language exchange as possible, beginning at birth.
Promote reading and storytelling in multiple languages.
You do not need to maintain a one person/one language situation; your child will sort out the languages by themselves.
Surround your child with more than one language through conversations and social groups using different languages; the earlier the better.
Children learn not only from language you address to them, but from language they overhear around them (Au et al., 2002).
