¡Emergencia Educativa!
October 17, 2016 7:49 AM Subscribe
Good news: we found a house we love and we close in two weeks. Even better, the school is the one that hosts our second grader's Cub Scout Pack. He knows many of the kids there and is excited to attend. Problem: it's a dual language school and there is a Spanish proficiency test required to attend, and if he doesn't pass, he'll have to attend a different school, further away, where he knows no one. HALP.
It isn't news to us that they study Spanish at this school, and our son has been doing DuoLingo excercises for a few months in preparation. But there is no mention on their web site at all that there is a language test to attend and nothing we've seen either online or from the realtors, etc. gave any indication there was such a thing. That's all moot now, though.
He's going to be under the gun to ramp up his casual studies to the point where he can pass an assessment in such a short time span.
Let me be 100% clear: we'd be okay with it if he goes to the other school, but I think he will be crushed not to attend school with his friends a few blocks away, and a little intimidated to go somewhere he doesn't know anyone.
So if we're going to try to help him pass this thing, what do we do?
The things we have going for us: he's got a knack for languages (he already speaks pretty solid Hungarian). He's also jaw-droppingly intelligent, testing out in the 99th percentile in all subjects, and his current teachers and principal are frank about their opinion that he is not only the smartest kid in his class, but in his entire grade, and likely among the very brightest in the entire school, when taking his age into account. (I realize this sounds like bragging, but it is relevant here.) And his ability to zero in a subject and learn it rapidly is amazing.
The school doesn't really have anything helpful to offer about what the expectations are for the assessment. So we'd love to hear from folks whose kids are in similar programs about what level of Spanish proficiency their kids are expected to have.
(We do, as we said, know some kids in this school and are asking their parents for any papers/homework/books they can loan us to give us an idea.)
What books can/should he read/study? Know any online videos, etc.?
I've got an obsessive genius child who needs to go from vague familiarity with Spanish to workable first grade Spanish-as-a-second-language level in two weeks.
What do we do?
It isn't news to us that they study Spanish at this school, and our son has been doing DuoLingo excercises for a few months in preparation. But there is no mention on their web site at all that there is a language test to attend and nothing we've seen either online or from the realtors, etc. gave any indication there was such a thing. That's all moot now, though.
He's going to be under the gun to ramp up his casual studies to the point where he can pass an assessment in such a short time span.
Let me be 100% clear: we'd be okay with it if he goes to the other school, but I think he will be crushed not to attend school with his friends a few blocks away, and a little intimidated to go somewhere he doesn't know anyone.
So if we're going to try to help him pass this thing, what do we do?
The things we have going for us: he's got a knack for languages (he already speaks pretty solid Hungarian). He's also jaw-droppingly intelligent, testing out in the 99th percentile in all subjects, and his current teachers and principal are frank about their opinion that he is not only the smartest kid in his class, but in his entire grade, and likely among the very brightest in the entire school, when taking his age into account. (I realize this sounds like bragging, but it is relevant here.) And his ability to zero in a subject and learn it rapidly is amazing.
The school doesn't really have anything helpful to offer about what the expectations are for the assessment. So we'd love to hear from folks whose kids are in similar programs about what level of Spanish proficiency their kids are expected to have.
(We do, as we said, know some kids in this school and are asking their parents for any papers/homework/books they can loan us to give us an idea.)
What books can/should he read/study? Know any online videos, etc.?
I've got an obsessive genius child who needs to go from vague familiarity with Spanish to workable first grade Spanish-as-a-second-language level in two weeks.
What do we do?
This sounds borderline impossible. But have you found out what the assessment IS? Is it a written test? Do they have a conversation with him and informally assess his language skills? What? Remember that about half of passing a test is content knowledge and half* is test-taking skills/ability, so you need to know what kind of test-taking skills you're building up.
Second, if he needs to be proficient enough to work in the language, then I would focus less on homework and duo-lingo and workbooks and more on conversational knowledge. Get him on playdates in Spanish. Get him watching Spanish TV and listening to Spanish music. Read Spanish bedtime stories, etc.
*Ok, I made the proportions up, but the point is, test-taking skills count.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:16 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Second, if he needs to be proficient enough to work in the language, then I would focus less on homework and duo-lingo and workbooks and more on conversational knowledge. Get him on playdates in Spanish. Get him watching Spanish TV and listening to Spanish music. Read Spanish bedtime stories, etc.
*Ok, I made the proportions up, but the point is, test-taking skills count.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:16 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
When you say "the school doesn't really have anything helpful to offer about what the expectations are for the assessment" - how have you tried getting that information? Have you visited the school in person, talked to other parents whose kids are in the school, etc?
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:17 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:17 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
How is your Spanish? Hire a tutor? Nothing beats one on one time with an actual person.
posted by travertina at 8:17 AM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by travertina at 8:17 AM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ask the school how hard the requirement is and can he retest in six months of being there.
posted by tilde at 8:21 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tilde at 8:21 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Seconding getting a tutor, and asking if he can retest in six months.
I had to do something similar - my family moved from Bombay, where I'd just started learning Marathi, to Chennai, where to get into the school I wanted I had to have a MUCH higher level of Hindi. I wound up learning three years' worth of Hindi in six months, but it was in very large part due to the efforts of my amazing tutor.
posted by Tamanna at 8:51 AM on October 17, 2016
I had to do something similar - my family moved from Bombay, where I'd just started learning Marathi, to Chennai, where to get into the school I wanted I had to have a MUCH higher level of Hindi. I wound up learning three years' worth of Hindi in six months, but it was in very large part due to the efforts of my amazing tutor.
posted by Tamanna at 8:51 AM on October 17, 2016
Important also to discuss this with your second grader, prepare him for the various possibilities, and involve him if possible in the decision about where to place his effort. Trying to get in to this school sill require him to do a lot of work, and he still might not get in, and it will be good for him to be aware of that along the way.
posted by cubby at 9:09 AM on October 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by cubby at 9:09 AM on October 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I would look into one of the online 1:1 tutoring conversations: I went to language school at PLQ and they have great teaching that's also available over Skype (and it's very cheap, too!): http://plqe.org/plqcourses/#skype. Talking 1:1 with someone is the best way for him to really build his skills, but of course you'll want to do written work as well. Good luck!
posted by c'mon sea legs at 9:32 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by c'mon sea legs at 9:32 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's first grade right? This assessment will be verbal? The only way I can imagine this working is through Spanish immersion: hire a full-time tutor and speak Spanish all day every day, watch nothing but Spanish TV and videos, etc.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:09 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 10:09 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
My child is a first grader in a dual language program. (French, if it matters, and this is in New York City.) This program begins in kindergarten and enrolls half kids who already speak French at home, and half kids for whom the language is totally new.
At the first grade level, they are still almost totally working in oral exercises, very little written/reading. This week's vocabulary was "we, now, but, said, like." In reading, they are reading books that go something along the lines of "This is my face. This is my nose. These are my eyes." I hear from the parents of non-Francophone kids that the kids really aren't able to string a sentence together quite yet. So you will want to drill your son on learning as much as you can, but you may not have to go all-out quite yet. I agree that hiring a Spanish-speaking nanny or babysitter who can casually converse and teach by speaking and listening is your best bet.
The school *said* no kids would be able to join after kindergarten, but somehow magically there are at least two new non-francophone kids in the DLP this year. Ask some of the parents a couple years ahead of you whether they saw a similar variation in applying the rules. In our school, whether you got into a specific program depended heavily on whether you brought cookies to the school secretary, or so I've heard.
One other thing I want to add: if your son does get in, I imagine he might have a bit of a hard adjustment. He will go from being the best and the brightest to maybe not quite performing at the top level, and things won't come as easily to him, at least for a while. You might want to think about how you can prepare him for that adjustment.
posted by Liesl at 10:47 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
At the first grade level, they are still almost totally working in oral exercises, very little written/reading. This week's vocabulary was "we, now, but, said, like." In reading, they are reading books that go something along the lines of "This is my face. This is my nose. These are my eyes." I hear from the parents of non-Francophone kids that the kids really aren't able to string a sentence together quite yet. So you will want to drill your son on learning as much as you can, but you may not have to go all-out quite yet. I agree that hiring a Spanish-speaking nanny or babysitter who can casually converse and teach by speaking and listening is your best bet.
The school *said* no kids would be able to join after kindergarten, but somehow magically there are at least two new non-francophone kids in the DLP this year. Ask some of the parents a couple years ahead of you whether they saw a similar variation in applying the rules. In our school, whether you got into a specific program depended heavily on whether you brought cookies to the school secretary, or so I've heard.
One other thing I want to add: if your son does get in, I imagine he might have a bit of a hard adjustment. He will go from being the best and the brightest to maybe not quite performing at the top level, and things won't come as easily to him, at least for a while. You might want to think about how you can prepare him for that adjustment.
posted by Liesl at 10:47 AM on October 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Update: he'll be taking the Ballard-Tighe IPT Oral Spanish exam. I'm tempted to try and hunt down the materials in advance...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:03 PM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:03 PM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Caveat: I write this without having looked at the exam, and without knowing what performance the school would consider acceptable.)
First of all, does he have access to anyone who speaks Spanish, to practice with and guide him?
I'd focus on being able to use a small number of common verbs in the present tense and *possibly* the continuous/progressive; knowing when to use "ser" and when to use "estar"; being able to ask and answer questions, including with question words; knowing subject pronouns (I, you, she, this, etc.); knowing some common nouns and adjectives and being able to use them in the correct order and with gender/number agreement; knowing how to say "there is/are"; knowing the colors, and numbers up to ten or twenty; **possibly** how to use "que" ("that") to connect things; practicing understanding spoken input; knowing how to ask for clarification if the exam involves conversation (e.g. "what does [word] mean"?); practicing how to handle questions where you don't understand everything; and practicing how to answer a question in complete sentences (this tends to impress evaluators in any language). If he can do even part of that I'd think he's in pretty good shape.
So practically that would mean:
1. Sit down with him and have him make a list of the words he does know so far.
2. Sort those words by part of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, question words, etc.)
3. See how he does with noun/adjective stuff: e.g. if he knows how to say "boy", "girl", and "nice", can he say
- a boy/ a girl
- the girl/ the boy
- the boys / the girls
- a nice girl/boy
- the nice boy/girl
- the nice girls/boys
Can he answer these easily or does he have to think about it? If it's easy I'd be feeling pretty good about the test.
4. On to verbs:
- how would he say "I am a boy"/ "you are a ...", " this is a ...", etc? How would he say "I am happy"/"you are happy"/etc? (He should be using forms of "ser" in the first set and "estar" in the second, and should know at least several of the different forms of each...)
- how many forms of the verbs he's already learned does he know? What kinds of sentences can he make with them? Can he make negative sentences?
- does he know a bunch of the most common verbs (e.g. to like, have, want, go, do, see, know, eat, drink, need, feel)?
If not, try learning some (unfortunately, many of the most basic and useful verbs are irregular...)
In general, I think you'd want him to know at least ten or so of the most common verbs and adjectives you can think of, and maybe 20 common nouns.
5. How is he at asking questions? Does he know the basic question words (what, who, where, etc.)? Practice asking and answering questions, both yes/no and short answer. See if you can get him used to giving complete answers (e.g. "how many brothers do you have?"->"I have three brothers" (as opposed to just "three"))
6. Can he look at a picture of a scene and describe it a little? ("I see two brown chairs and a table. And there is a little boy with a big toy." (Impressive bonus: "The boy that has the toy is happy."))
7. Can he understand sentences spoken at a decent pace? When he hears sentences with words he doesn't know, does he shut down or can he parse the sentence enough to extract at least a little meaning and possibly be able to ask "what does [word] mean?"
8. Probably important: can he say "hello", "thank you ", and " my name is "?
Beyond all that (which may or may not be doable, depending on what he already knows and how much of a feel he has for how languages work in general), I agree with the comment above that suggested seeing how far the school is willing to be flexible here: could he have some extra time to study, could he be assessed with the understanding that he's achieved whatever level of Spanish he does have with extremely minimal instruction and less time; that he's already bilingual; that his English language skills and logical reasoning skills are very strong; that you would definitely provide him with supplementary private tutoring until he catches up (assuming that's the case); that he's very enthusiastic about Spanish and languages (if that's true); etc.?
It really depends on the school, but I personally would be less impressed by a student who knows lots of words but not really how to use them than by a student who has limited knowledge but knows how to apply it well and use it to express ideas. A student who can take a few new verbs and nouns and use them correctly and meaningfully would register for me as being able to integrate much more easily than one who sort of strings words together without understanding the structure of what they're saying. That said, I don't know if the test allows for that kind of customized evaluation.
Finally, try to make sure he isn't too stressed out about this or considers it all-important. In the worst case, he'll wind up with a bunch of friends from both schools. And it's very impressive and cool that he making the effort!
posted by trig at 1:38 PM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
First of all, does he have access to anyone who speaks Spanish, to practice with and guide him?
I'd focus on being able to use a small number of common verbs in the present tense and *possibly* the continuous/progressive; knowing when to use "ser" and when to use "estar"; being able to ask and answer questions, including with question words; knowing subject pronouns (I, you, she, this, etc.); knowing some common nouns and adjectives and being able to use them in the correct order and with gender/number agreement; knowing how to say "there is/are"; knowing the colors, and numbers up to ten or twenty; **possibly** how to use "que" ("that") to connect things; practicing understanding spoken input; knowing how to ask for clarification if the exam involves conversation (e.g. "what does [word] mean"?); practicing how to handle questions where you don't understand everything; and practicing how to answer a question in complete sentences (this tends to impress evaluators in any language). If he can do even part of that I'd think he's in pretty good shape.
So practically that would mean:
1. Sit down with him and have him make a list of the words he does know so far.
2. Sort those words by part of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, question words, etc.)
3. See how he does with noun/adjective stuff: e.g. if he knows how to say "boy", "girl", and "nice", can he say
- a boy/ a girl
- the girl/ the boy
- the boys / the girls
- a nice girl/boy
- the nice boy/girl
- the nice girls/boys
Can he answer these easily or does he have to think about it? If it's easy I'd be feeling pretty good about the test.
4. On to verbs:
- how would he say "I am a boy"/ "you are a ...", " this is a ...", etc? How would he say "I am happy"/"you are happy"/etc? (He should be using forms of "ser" in the first set and "estar" in the second, and should know at least several of the different forms of each...)
- how many forms of the verbs he's already learned does he know? What kinds of sentences can he make with them? Can he make negative sentences?
- does he know a bunch of the most common verbs (e.g. to like, have, want, go, do, see, know, eat, drink, need, feel)?
If not, try learning some (unfortunately, many of the most basic and useful verbs are irregular...)
In general, I think you'd want him to know at least ten or so of the most common verbs and adjectives you can think of, and maybe 20 common nouns.
5. How is he at asking questions? Does he know the basic question words (what, who, where, etc.)? Practice asking and answering questions, both yes/no and short answer. See if you can get him used to giving complete answers (e.g. "how many brothers do you have?"->"I have three brothers" (as opposed to just "three"))
6. Can he look at a picture of a scene and describe it a little? ("I see two brown chairs and a table. And there is a little boy with a big toy." (Impressive bonus: "The boy that has the toy is happy."))
7. Can he understand sentences spoken at a decent pace? When he hears sentences with words he doesn't know, does he shut down or can he parse the sentence enough to extract at least a little meaning and possibly be able to ask "what does [word] mean?"
8. Probably important: can he say "hello", "thank you ", and " my name is "?
Beyond all that (which may or may not be doable, depending on what he already knows and how much of a feel he has for how languages work in general), I agree with the comment above that suggested seeing how far the school is willing to be flexible here: could he have some extra time to study, could he be assessed with the understanding that he's achieved whatever level of Spanish he does have with extremely minimal instruction and less time; that he's already bilingual; that his English language skills and logical reasoning skills are very strong; that you would definitely provide him with supplementary private tutoring until he catches up (assuming that's the case); that he's very enthusiastic about Spanish and languages (if that's true); etc.?
It really depends on the school, but I personally would be less impressed by a student who knows lots of words but not really how to use them than by a student who has limited knowledge but knows how to apply it well and use it to express ideas. A student who can take a few new verbs and nouns and use them correctly and meaningfully would register for me as being able to integrate much more easily than one who sort of strings words together without understanding the structure of what they're saying. That said, I don't know if the test allows for that kind of customized evaluation.
Finally, try to make sure he isn't too stressed out about this or considers it all-important. In the worst case, he'll wind up with a bunch of friends from both schools. And it's very impressive and cool that he making the effort!
posted by trig at 1:38 PM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I studied Spanish in school for eight years. I still have a pretty developed vocabulary and nice pronunciation, though I have lost my handle on any tense except present. His mom speaks five languages fluently, and while Spanish isn't among them, three other Romance languages are, and she studied Latin. So between that, tourism, and the osmosis that comes from working in restaurants for fifteen years, she speaks some Spanish as well.
Our kid is so far only at the "knows a list of nouns" and tener/estar/ser level right now. There is some work to do.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:48 PM on October 17, 2016
Our kid is so far only at the "knows a list of nouns" and tener/estar/ser level right now. There is some work to do.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:48 PM on October 17, 2016
I forgot to say that if he's been learning from duolingo then he probably isn't very used to saying things out loud. It would definitely help him to practice talking out loud all the time for the next two weeks: to himself, to you (regardless of whether or not you understand him- if you don't you could learn how to ask him for clarification in Spanish), in rhyme, in song, etc. Don't worry about accent, but just get him used to making the sounds so that that's not a stumbling block at his evaluation.
posted by trig at 1:49 PM on October 17, 2016
posted by trig at 1:49 PM on October 17, 2016
Regarding your update: I'd practice using those three verbs alone for a week (and maybe "hay"), and only add 1-3 more next week. (Again I don't know how he'll be evaluated, but I think it's better for him to be confident in what he does know than to make a hash of things he hasn't really had time to learn well.)
Along those lines, it can also be important to practice doing as much as you can with the little you know: most students try to express what they're thinking directly and get stuck because they don't know the words, but there's usually another, possible indirect way to get at the idea using even their limited vocabulary. It's a hard habit to learn...)
posted by trig at 1:54 PM on October 17, 2016
Along those lines, it can also be important to practice doing as much as you can with the little you know: most students try to express what they're thinking directly and get stuck because they don't know the words, but there's usually another, possible indirect way to get at the idea using even their limited vocabulary. It's a hard habit to learn...)
posted by trig at 1:54 PM on October 17, 2016
$178 buys you 50 online tests and access to the examiners booklet (i.e information on how it's scored). If you're throwing money at this problem via tutors and such, this might not be a bad place to throw money -- I don't know if you want to anxiety-out your kid having them take 50 practice tests, but you and your wife can do a couple to get a sense of what they test for and also check out the instruction manual. Also there are some sample reports online, which tell you what the diagnostic dimensions are.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 3:03 PM on October 17, 2016
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 3:03 PM on October 17, 2016
Response by poster: I saw that, too. But I don't think that's 50 different tests. It's 50 kids whose participating teacher can present them a single test. What's more, you have to buy the picture cards that go with them for another $150-ish and I am not sure they would do any of that unless when you register, you can specify to which school district you belong, as they specify they only sell to educators.
If anyone who is an educator wants to set up a free account to score me a free sample of the IPT Oral Spanish assessment, that would be rock n' roll super duper awesome, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on October 18, 2016
If anyone who is an educator wants to set up a free account to score me a free sample of the IPT Oral Spanish assessment, that would be rock n' roll super duper awesome, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on October 18, 2016
This link goes to a PowerPoint presentation that appears to have some examples of test materials and a grading scheme showing what is covered in the basic levels.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:57 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:57 PM on October 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kmennie at 8:15 AM on October 17, 2016 [3 favorites]