Snapshot 3.7. Learning Two Languages in an Alternative Dual Language
Program in Kindergarten (cont.)and family members, educators) is expected to embrace the guiding principles represented by
the school’s “Mandala” Commitments:
New Horizons Academy Mandala Commitments
Mandala means circle in Sanskrit and represents wholeness in Hindu and Buddhist
traditions. It is a model for the organizational structure of life, reminding us of our relation to
the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.
Community: We are able and willing to express our ideas, beliefs and feelings; to hear and
respect the ideas, feelings, and beliefs of others. We take responsibility for the life of our
community.
Empowerment: We claim our power to define ourselves and to struggle for liberty.
Well-Being: We nurture our minds, bodies, and spirits by practicing healthy habits.
Creativity: We express our uniqueness, imagine new possibilities, shape ourselves, and
impact the world.
Love: We care deeply about ourselves and others and express caring through our actions.
Inquiry: We constantly seek understanding by asking questions of ourselves and of the
world around us.
Scholars: We are critical thinkers engaged in a lifelong pursuit of knowledge.
Activists: We envision a just and humane world, strive to make it real, and inspire others to
do the same.
Courage: We have the strength to recognize and challenge our fears.
(Adapted from Los Angeles Leadership Academy)In kindergarten, the children’s bilingual and biliteracy development involves a variety of
rich learning experiences, including opportunities to express their creativity at the dramatic
play area in each classroom, which has a puppet theater, a dress-up chest, and a playhouse
for acting out scenes from storybooks or everyday life experiences. The writing and art area
provides a variety of materials, including different kinds of paper, crayons, markers, pencils,
and other things useful for writing and illustrating stories as well as other text types. The
listening center provides recordings of stories, poetry, and informational texts in both Spanish
and English. These areas allow the children to develop new understandings, learn from one
another, and express themselves in meaningful and relevant ways in Spanish, English, and
sometimes both.
Daily activities include much singing, conversing, and reading in both languages. While
their teachers read sophisticated storybooks in both languages to all students and engage in
other types of learning where they use either Spanish or English, designated ELD offers an
opportunity for teachers to focus intensively on supporting their young English learners to
develop both conversational and academic English. By listening to and discussing sophisticated
stories during designated ELD, the teachers are able to guide their EL students to engage in
meaningful oral discourse in English, learn about vocabulary and grammatical structures in
written English, and develop phonological awareness and concepts of print in their additional
language; these elements of oral language development are closely linked to learning to
read and write. Most of the EL children in kindergarten are at the Emerging level of English
language proficiency. Having the opportunity during a protected time each day to delve deeply
into rich storybooks in English and into learning about how English works allows the teachers
to intensively focus on meeting their EL students’ particular English learning needs.224 | Chapter 3 Kindergarten