Story time in two languages

Maestra Nuñez, our lead teacher, is reading a picture book to a group of children gathered close around her. Some are leaning in to see the page, some are waiting for the next one, and the whole group is quiet in the way a room is only quiet when the story is good.

Spanish is not a subject at SWREA that happens on Wednesdays. It is part of how the room talks, in greetings, songs, the calendar and story time, alongside English. A child from an English-only home hears Spanish every day from the first week, and a child from a Spanish-speaking home hears their own language from a teacher who shares it.

A reading circle also teaches things that are not reading. Sitting close without crowding, waiting for the page to turn, listening while someone else answers the question. Montessori calls this grace and courtesy, and it is taught as deliberately as phonics.