Do you remember the Peanuts cartoons where the teacher goes wuh wuh WAH wuh Wa at Charlie Brown. Yup, that’s what it would be like, if you were a four year old in a classroom with a teacher who didn’t speak any of your language, only you wouldn’t be able to understand when to say “Yes mam, he’s my dog. No mam, he doesn’t have a teaching degree yet.”

I love when common sense prevails, especially in early childhood education. For a four year old, it is important to have a teacher speak at least a little bit of your language. Brilliant!! The original context from where I found the off the mark cartoon is about this very subject. Now that is wild.

I read this on the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

Native speech key for preschoolers, study finds Date: Mar 22, 2007Source: The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC By: Staff Reports
A new study finds that Spanish-speaking preschoolers are better adjusted in class when their teachers speak at least some Spanish, compared to children whose teachers speak only English. The key finding of the study, by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC Chapel Hill, tends of refute conventional wisdom that English-only pre-kindergarten programs help close achievement gaps among children from different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

Click here for the full story. Read this complete story at The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC