Is There a Spanish Speaking Preschool

I don't know your neighborhood, but it looks like (from googling spanish immersion preschool chicago) there are some possibilities. If you can commute in this direction, there are at least a half-dozen here in Oak Park, mostly montessori schools, but also an inexpensive park district program. My son went to Intercultural Montessori but you could also look at Oak Park Montessori, Children's Garden Montessori, Morningside Academy.

After 18 months at Intercultural, my now 7-year-old was speaking fluently in sentences and understood everything the teacher said. But then we had to switch him to public school and didn't keep up the Spanish (except for a half-hour once a week) and he has to start over from scratch :-(. So just be aware that although immersion is absolutely the way to learn, if you don't keep it up after preschool it will be forgotten (hopefully it will help him to learn later on, though - and his accent is good). [oh, wait - editing this because I see on re-reading your letter that you speak Spanish, so that won't be a problem for you!]

My younger son isn't going to an immersion preschool, but we are keeping him in his primarily Spanish-speaking daycare for half-days, so it will be interesting to see if he reaches the same level of proficiency his brother did. I wish we could offer immersion in all grade schools - it's really depressing to see how artificial and boring it is to learn Spanish in a traditional "lesson" as my older son does now, compared to how natural is is in an immersion environment.

Good luck finding a great program!

Inter-American Magnet School is a free public school that has preschool for children who will be four years old by the Sept. 1 of the year they start.

Entry is by lottery. You can contact the school for more information ###-###-####.

Lottery deadline for the 2008 school year is over, but you can visit the school during their annual cultural and fundraising event FIESTA CULTURAL on Saturday March 29 from 4 to 8PM. The school is located at 851 W. Waveland (near Wrigley Field).

Busing is available for children in K-8. There is onsite afterschool for prek students for working parents.

For more information visit:
January 2007 – Cubs Care-a-van at Inter-American
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc4XF9UGPOI

Inter-Amerian (IAMS) Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Magnet_School

April 2007 – Artículo: "Educación sin fronteras" (Education without borders)
http://laraza.com/news.php?nid=43385

May 2007 – Entire book published about the school
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1853599433

Inter-American Magnet School
851 W. Waveland Chicago IL 60613 ###-###-####

My son was enrolled in Jolly Fun House Playschools on Addison & Oriole for two years and they tought basic Spanish there. I was really happy with their overall program and many kids continue K-6 at JFH Academy or go on to gifted schools. He was also attended Language Stars in Lincoln Park for a year. Good Luck with your search!

I don't know about official preschools but my kids attended a play class through Focus on the Family. It's a Catholic church organization adn was free. I believe it was in Cicero. They don't have a website but you can get in touch with the parent organization and ask. The class was once a week and all in spanish. The parents took parenting seminars in one room and the kids were all in rooms according to age. The kids did crafts, played games and played with toys. They learned songs and did traditional dances. My son did a dance for a Father's Day preformance nad it was really really cute!!!!! IT was a free class so it would be worth checking into! They may have some direction to go with the spanish classes closer to you if you call them.

Hi V.,
When I was searching, I toured a lot of home daycares. There was one home daycare that was set up just like a pre-school and the dominant language there was Spanish. Several of the children were non-hispanics who had learned fluent Spanish by being there. Her name is Maria Angeles Galindo and she's at 6333 N. Campbell. Her tel# is ###-###-####. Another home daycare that I liked was a woman named Erly Guardo at 2914 W. Farragut, ###-###-#### She speaks Spanish with the children, and kids from all ethnic backgrounds learn Spanish. There were others, but those were my two favorites. I got their names from Action for Children - www.actforchildren.org, ###-###-####.
Best of Luck,
N.

V.,

The setting at Language Stars may be useful as a supplemental tool to your regular daycare. It's an immersion spanish environment. I loved it for the short time my son attended.

Hopefully you have one near your area.

F.

I have happily sent my daughter to Puerta Abierta preschool in Evanston, IL for the past year and a half.

www.puertaabiertapreschool.org

The teachers speak in Spanish, which is their native language, and the school tries to keep a balance between children whose native languages are Spanish and English. My daughter is a native English speaker, but her Spanish is coming rapidly, especially since she started going 5 days a week. It is a small, non-profit preschool with a great feeling of connectedness and caring. They offer half day programs in the morning or afternoon. They use the Illinois Early Learning Standards.