Spanish Immersion Parents Association of Palo Alto

People learn languages in different ways and for different reasons. In order to help you understand how your child is learning Spanish and what methods are appropriate, we are going to draw a parallel with English. (more…)

Our next SIPAPA meeting is Tuesday, May 27, 7:00 in the Escondido Library. The agenda items are included below. Everyone is welcome - please come with a friend to join the discussion, share news, and plan events!
Best regards,
Laura Coleman for SIPAPA Communications ————-
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Aprenda testing is coming up this May and many of us wonder exactly what Aprenda is.

Aprenda® is designed to guide teaching and learning to help ensure that Spanish-speaking students in grades K-12 meet the same challenging academic standards that all students are expected to meet. Teachers can gain valuable information about the progress students are making in their classrooms. Parents will learn what their children know and can do and how they can help.  learn more about Aprenda testing

Dear parents,

In the mid-80s, I was a student in one of the first Spanish Immersion programs in the country, in Davis, CA. My interest in bilingual education is long-standing and deep, and now I’m a PhD candidate in developmental psychology at Stanford, studying how adults and children learn a second language. My collaborators and I are now beginning a research project to compare the benefits of children’s experience in a language immersion program with other language-learning contexts — for example, a typical language class in school, or interactions with family in the first years of life. For help with this research, we are turning to families with native English-speaking children who are enrolled in grades 1-6 of Spanish Immersion. 6th-grade Spanish Immersion teacher Catherine Enos has been very kind in helping to get this project started. We would be very grateful for your participation! (more…)

Maya Spector, our Palo Alto City Librarian extraordinaire just informed us that the public library has ordered a total of 190 new Spanish language children’s books!

You can see the new titles under Staff Picks - Kids - Spanish Books Added in 2008

If you do a subject search for “Spanish Language – Juvenile Literature” in the online catalog, http://webcat.cityofpaloalto.org/, you’ll find the entire collection. Here is the result.

This from Margarita Quihuis, SIPAPA Co-President:

Hi everyone,

Part of my day job is working with communities to find points of collaboration. One of my colleagues at Ricoh Innovations is head of the Community Network Services group and is interested in working with me on this crazy idea of forming some sort of cross-school alliance of SI programs so we can share resources, best practices, technology, etc. (more…)

From SIPAPA Co-President Sandra Tucher:

At the beginning of 2008, the Spanish Immersion program reached an important milestone. In January, representatives from the elementary and secondary schools and the PAUSD Administration began working together to create a unified K-12 program for Spanish Immersion.

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Yippee! The Palo Alto public library has acquired 109 MORE Spanish language titles for kids! Lots of series books including Geronimo Stilton, Phil Pullman (His Dark Materials series), Jane Yolen’s ‘How Do Dinosaurs…’ series, Rachel Veil’s Friendship Ring books, SpiderWick Chronicles, Artemis Fowl, the 4 1/2 Friends Mysteries, and more.

So, go and check them out! (literally!)

Browse the latest books

We’re pleased to announce that SIPAPA’s collaboration with the Palo Alto Public Library is beginning to bear fruit.  The library recently ordered 50 Spanish language children’s titles to its collection.

The titles are heavy in chapter books and our SI teachers made a special request for series books - such as Mary Pope Osborne’s Treehouse (Casa de Arbol), Geronimo Stilton, Judy Moody, Jack Stewart Secret Agent, and many others — the types of books kids devour for the pure pleasure of reading them.

We will be updating our www.spanishbooksforkids.com site to include references to library availability as new titles are acquired.

In the meantime, subscribe to www.wowbrary.org to get free email alerts of the latest additions to the library:

“Wowbrary regularly informs you by email and web site about your chosen public library’s newest books, movies and music. We make it easy for you to browse through the latest additions and place a hold on a new title. This is a free user service supported by grants, donations, sponsorships, book sale commissions and volunteers.”

You can browse the newest Spanish language book acquisitions here - http://www.wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?p=1-70-NEN

The San Jose Mercury News recently reported on yet another elementary school starting an SI program - San Jose’s Willow Glen Elementary.   According the San Jose Mercury News, there are 201 immersion programs in California.  Other new SI programs include Burlingame’s McKinley Elementary School which launched this school year, and Menlo Park which is launching its SI program at Encinal School in fall 2008.

This quote from the Willow Glen Extra:

“Willow Glen Elementary is exploring the opportunity of offering their entering kinder students the gift of bilingualism and biliteracy to incoming kinder students. If there is interest in this opportunity among the incoming kinder families, a two way immersion strand may begin at Willow Glen Elementary. “

 Read the rest of the story here