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Making amigos with Spanish

Foreing language is a learning edge for kids

The fact that second-grader Rebecca Ger loves singing the popular children’s song, Itzy Bitzy Spider with her classmates is not unusual.

The fact that she sings it en español, however, is a bit of a twist.

“I really like speaking Spanish. It’s neat,” says Rebecca, 7, a student at Horizon Honors Primary School in Ahwatukee Foothills, who is of Asian decent and also speaks Mandarin at home.

Regular, formal Spanish classes are part of the curriculum for native English speakers at the public charter school. The lessons start as early as pre-K and continue through high school.

In a time when the mention of bilingual education and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s advocacy that every child should grow up speaking more than one language sparks heated debate, Valley educators and parents understand the value of being introduced to Spanish at an age when children are still learning the technicalities of their native tongue.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only one in five Americans older than the age of five can speak more than one language. And while some critics frown on introducing a foreign language to child at a young age, several schools take the opposite approach by offering Spanish to the youngest students on their campus.

Horizon Spanish teacher Joy Hankins makes classes fun by playing bingo in Spanish and teaching students the Spanish version of popular children’s tunes. She covers her walls with colorful labels that flaunt the Spanish words for different colors, objects and days of the week.

“They’re doing more homework and parents are impressed they are speaking it more at home,” she says. “If you catch them early, they’re enthusiastic and they remember everything.”

Parent Marsha Rafalski is a high school teacher and says by the time students get to her, they struggle with learning a foreign language. Her son is in Hankins’ class and she is very pleased with him getting formal instruction in a language that is so vital to living in Arizona.

“It’s wonderful. It puts them that much more further ahead,” she says. “You need to get them while they’re huge sponges and they can soak everything up.”

At Phoenix Country Day School, offering formal Spanish classes is a draw for many families, says Spanish teacher Cecilia Sheppard-Downey, who teaches to students in Pre-K through grade four.


“Parents say all the time, ‘I wish I had Spanish when I was younger. I really regret I didn’t have the chance by son or daughter has now,” says Sheppard-Downey, who has been a Spanish and ELL (English language learners) teacher for all grade levels for 25 years. “Considering where we live, Spanish makes sense. It’s a big draw.”

The younger a child is when he learns a foreign language, the less likely he is to view it as a difficult task or have inhibitions about how he sounds, so pronunciation is “excellent.” Sheppard-Downey notices a big difference when teaching a child who has spoken Spanish since the age of 4, and a child who picked it up a few grades later in life.

She disagrees with critics who claim the early introduction impedes children’s English skills, saying at that young age, they are open to all kids of learning experiences. Sheppard-Downey says many of her Latino students are Heritage Learners, students who are getting the opportunity to learn their culture’s native language.

“We have many Latinos who learn Spanish who may not speak it at home,” says Sheppard-Downey. “It does give them a lot of pride that they can speak Spanish, and that it is valued and their culture is valued.”