Preschool dilemma re bilingual/trilingual (long)

LouiseB2001

Background: In Sweden most preschools are centrally allocated, even the private ones. Their system is great in some respect, you get high quality daycare, large percentage of well-educated preschool teachers and since is state subsidised I pay something like $250/month for full time daycare (yep, I thought it was wrong at first too). Unfortunately this introduces a lot of bureaucracy and because we stayed in a different part of town temporarily we got allocated daycare there.  

The preschool we have now is great. It is English speaking, the teachers are really sweet and Zoe is adjusting fine. It was 2 metro stations from our previous place, now it is 2 times 3 metro stations plus walking, which means 30-40 minutes each way. I'm willing to do this commute for a while but DH is adamant about DD getting a nearby preschool asap. We are guaranteed a local spot sometime in March. I called the central preschool center today to make sure everything was okay. It turns out I have been knocked off the list to my first choice preschool, a local English preschool, in December when I reported our move. They were able to add me again but with a new queue date of today. I was furious but they said there was nothing they could do, the computer wouldn't let them. I had been on the list for this since April.

So now I am facing the dilemma of either move DD twice (to a Swedish speaking when that becomes available in March) and then to the English one when we reach the top of the queue, or keep her here until the English one is available, which could be anything from March to August. I am actually not that keen on her getting into a Swedish one right now. She is already bilingual and understand everything, but still doesn't say many real words. I'm not worried about that, she is a great communicator but I don't want her self-confidence hurt by suddenly being in a place where she doesn't understand anything. Not on top of moving preschool. I really don't have the heart to do that right now. What should I do?

3003girl

If you are the one making the trip with her and don't mind, I would wait for the english speaking preschool to open up. I think your concerns and considerations are valid. Especially if Zoe likes the place she is now, it would be hard to go to a new place with a new language for anyone, let alone a kiddo. 

anna7602

You're dealing with a lot more factors than I can process right now. Nonetheless, my gut tells me you need to do what's most practical on a daily basis and worry about the language/adjustment issues later. I understand not wanting to switch schools a bunch of times, but a long commute can be really stressful for a small child, not to mention you as the parent.

urbanflowerpot

Wow - that's a lot. I'd wait for the English school personally. I used to be a daycare teacher and we had a trilingual girl in my class. She was just about two and a half if I remember right (she's probably in her mid to late teens now ) - mom was from France, dad from Italy. She had a very rough transition into our English class...she understood English but did not speak it. It was very cool, though, over the months my coteacher and I became very close to both the little girl and her parents. She started to mimic us at home - and then when she was speaking more English she'd make a game of teaching us all words in three languages - Mama calls it this, Papa calls it that, and you say ___!

Either way children are pretty easy going at this age - keeping close with her teacher is always key.

I don't know if I was much help at all or if you really just needed to air your frustrations. Your blog is super darling!!! I'd like to add it to my reading list so I'll remember to check in on her ;D

Athena0809

That's really a lot! I understand your concerns and I'd break my heart to see my LO not adjusting well, however, I used to be a preschool teacher's assistant in the 3 year olds class, we ha a little girl that had just moved from Guatemala and spoke no word of English and was having some speech problems in Spanish. She was very shy at first, can you blame her? But luckily I speak Spanish, kids would say something to her she'd turn her head quickly toward me and I would interpret, she would not leave my side...long story short, within 3 month she was speaking enough to communicate with them after 6 months she was a total different little girl, outgoing and bilingual! My point is kids adjust incredibly fast to a new environment and they do great with language too. I think the commute might be too much, my only concern here would be is there anyone that speak any of her two languages at the Swedish one that would be available in march? If so I'd switch her, then to the English one once her spot opens up. GL!

TeaForMe

I'm also a preschool teacher and have worked especially with bi- and multi-lingual children (those learning English, specifically) in the past. Also, a large portion of my work for my masters in early childhood was related to second (and third and fourth...) language acquisition in early childhood so I could talk all day on the topic But I'll try to keep it short... Kids' brains are wired for learning languages. They are far less concerned with feeling "uncomfortable" around a new language and, despite the thinking in earlier days, will NOT become confused by adding a new language to their repertoire. Personally, I think giving children the gift of  bi- or multi-lingualism is a great gift and would personally jump at the opportunity to have my child learn a new language, especially in an immersion setting such as this.

All that being said, if you are planning on switching her to the English-speaking preschool eventually anyway, I would, if possible, just wait and switch schools just once. In my eyes, the transition to a new school, new teachers and new friends is what would concern me more than what language was spoken. Kids are pretty resilient, but switching twice within  a year, is a lot for a little one and you may (but not necessarily) see some regression in her interest and comfort in school. If you do end up switching twice, don't sweat it! Kids adapt and deal and life goes on. Just my thoughts

LouiseB2001

Thanks for all the insightful answers. I am glad to have acknowledged that this is a big deal, changing preschool several times and learning new languages. I used to be more open to just exposing children to all kinds of languages and I see myself as fairly educated about the 'one parent, one language' way of doing it. However, I don't have any of the practical experiences that several of you have, thank you for chiming in with those experiences! I think that eventually Zoe will learn Swedish, we are probably here for 4-10 years (DH's job is on a 4 year contract but it looks like I am getting a permanent position which leans towards longer time). So she will likely start school here. I was worried about introducing it right now, when she hardly says a real word and although she tries eagerly, she can't imitate words very well. It might be an old-fashioned viewpoint and a bit overprotective of me though. I think I will see what we get offered first and then evaluate it on the teachers. They will likely speak English so they could, like PP did in Spanish, help her a bit on the way. Thanks again for all the responses and experiences.

TeaForMe

If you'd like a great resource on learning 2nd and subsequent languages in early childhood, check out One Child, Two Languages by Patton Tabors. It might be a bit "teachery" but is one of my favorite resource books for working with my 2nd language learners.

Brooke81

LouiseB2001:

Thanks for all the insightful answers. I am glad to have acknowledged that this is a big deal, changing preschool several times and learning new languages. I used to be more open to just exposing children to all kinds of languages and I see myself as fairly educated about the 'one parent, one language' way of doing it. However, I don't have any of the practical experiences that several of you have, thank you for chiming in with those experiences! I think that eventually Zoe will learn Swedish, we are probably here for 4-10 years (DH's job is on a 4 year contract but it looks like I am getting a permanent position which leans towards longer time). So she will likely start school here. I was worried about introducing it right now, when she hardly says a real word and although she tries eagerly, she can't imitate words very well. It might be an old-fashioned viewpoint and a bit overprotective of me though. I think I will see what we get offered first and then evaluate it on the teachers. They will likely speak English so they could, like PP did in Spanish, help her a bit on the way. Thanks again for all the responses and experiences.

My DS is about a year older than your DD and imitating words (like I say to him can you say... and he does) is a really new thing for him. Maybe the last 4 months and is now rapidly increasing. He is learning 3 languages. English, Dutch and Fries (a local language here). I think it probably does cause him to be delayed but he really understands everyone.

Personally if I was you and I was planning to stay in Sweden for 4 - 10 years and she will be going to a swedish elementry school I would put her in the swedish preschool asap. I really feel that kids (for sure under 2 years) Understand tons regardless of the language. I don't think the same applies to 5 year olds. So I would want her to start learning swedish now rather than when she goes to elementry school. Good luck with your decision.