Page 3 of 3 <

Espanol, English Mingling in Md. Classroom

At Kemp Mill Elementary in Silver Spring, Mya Moore, center, and Johnny Baur, right, conduct experiments during science class. Tonya Moreno, who at times teaches in Spanish, watches. The school is one several in the area to embrace bilingual education. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Discussion Policy

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

"No way," he replied, his eyes wide.

"He did," the first boy said, his face quite serious.

But another classmate jumped in to make a slight correction.

"He did not," she said, giving the first boy a look. "He said to 'Be quiet.' "

Karen Sporgitas's two children, Elizabeth, 7, and Alexander, 5, are in Kemp Mill's dual-language program. Initially, she worried that Elizabeth's English might suffer because she was spending less time studying it. Instead, she has found that her daughter's English is just fine and that her Spanish is better than that of her older brother, who began studying it last year as a seventh-grader.

"It's amazing how fast kids learn another language," she said.

The benefits of dual-language immersion, Sporgitas said, are obvious.

"To learn Spanish at such a young age," she said, "will benefit [them] in the future no matter what [they] do."

< 3

Espanol, English Mingling in Md. Classroom

More in the Education Section

Map Local Schools

X=Why?

Best Local Schools