Week 5

For the discussion on Friday, I decided to compare the Philippines to the United States. I found out that the Filipino school year runs from June to March starting at first grade which begins at age 6-7 years old. They run a 6+4+4 school system in their formal education, private schools can run things differently, though. So at age 6-7, each student starts elementary education for six years; each year, as long as the student can meet criteria, they can move up to the next grade. After those six years, the students begin high school education for 4 years and then a bachelors degree is usually achieved in the next 4 years.

I also found out that math and sciences are taught in English and humanities and social sciences are taught in Filipino. In part two of the discussion, I compared this to bilingual curriculum in America. In the school district that I grew up in, we had what was called Spanish Immersion. This meant that, beginning in first grade, children were taught all subjects in Spanish. This was an option for parents to place their children in the program, but my parents chose to decline. I am friends with some people who did continue the Spanish Immersion program through middle school and they are totally fluent in the language.

To follow up on the benefits of this program, I researched the benefits of bilingual studies for children. An article I read said that children who learn in two languages are cognitively more developed and are positively correlated with higher test scores.

If I had the option, I would have loved to be placed in the program, as I feel it would have greatly benefited me in my future career field.