The following blog, written twice a month, documents LCC Kelly as she attends Language Stars in Naperville with her children; Sofia, 6 and Andres, 2. In addition to having an au pair in her home, Language Stars has been her family’s resource for learning a second language at an early age.
This week at a mutual friend’s birthday party I had the chance to speak to another friend about Language Stars. They had been to a free trial class and were debating trying other programs around Naperville or not.
“Our daughter loved it!” The mom said. “She had a great time!”
“Great!” I returned. My daughter, Sofia, loved Language Stars and the only time period during her time there where she did not, was when she was ready early to move from the Parent’s and Tot’s class to the Kid’s Only class. Language Stars took a look at our situation and my daughter’s language progress and agreed to move us up a few months early. Sofia was just ready to be independent.
The dad said, “and afterward I expected a hard sell…but there wasn’t!”
“No, I said. I’ve known the staff there for years. They are very nice and easy going. They don’t need a hard sales technique because research supports their business. Children learn multiple languages much easier early on, it does not affect their 1st language learning, and it benefits them greatly later on!”
In fact, I was surprised last year to find Language Stars staff, later on one evening, at the local school district’s dual-language Kindergarten info session. Language Stars in not just a business. They have become very involved in language learning in Naperville. When you attend Language Stars, it’s like a family. I can tell you that 3 (yes, that’s 3) staff members in Naperville just welcomed new babies. Although I have stopped drinking the water there, we are all very proud of the new additions! The current center director has been involved in Naperville Language Stars for at least the last 4 years.
So what was the family’s hesitation? Well, when their daughter emerged from the class and they asked her to say a word she learned- she couldn’t think of one. Not even one.
I had to laugh out loud at that one. Not at their observation. It’s a common observation. I laughed because I thought of my daughter, enjoying class, week in and week out, refusing to say much of ANYTHING. And definitely refusing to repeat it outside of class. This is my same daughter who did poorly on an ENGLISH language test in Kindergarten (which all kids who report a second language in the home must take) because she REFUSED TO SPEAK. Yeah, same daughter who reads years above her grade level.
Children for sure do not walk out of Language Stars the first time speaking a foreign language. Certainly not on the first day and maybe not the first few months! If no one else speaks that language in your home, you may hardly ever hear it! But it’s up there. It’s up there because, except for very few cases with medical issues, the brain cannot stop from learning it. It’s a sponge. Four years later, my daughter now reads, writes and speaks in Spanish and is about 70% through the scale of fluency according to her school reports…as long as we aren’t listening.
One of the great things Language Stars does is keep the parents updated on the child’s progress. At least once a term you will receive a detailed report on your child’s progress. They are helpful because you can see your money is being well spent and they are useful for the future should you need the reports for your child’s future schooling or events.
Do children have a good time at Language Stars? Yes. Does it appear they are just having fun? Definitely. It’s a trick they play on the kids and it works. Who wants to LEARN in their free time?? Learn more about the FunImmersion method here.
And hey, just for fun, check out this video of a teenager who has taught himself 23 LANGUAGES.
Language Stars
Naperville Center
116 West Gartner Road
Naperville, IL 60540
630-357-3700
