¿Qué Hay Dentro? The Joy of Reading!

Montessori kids read in English and in Spanish!

From Orcas Montessori School

Each week at Orcas Montessori School, the children head home holding large, brightly colored envelopes. Inside each envelope there awaits hours of enjoyment, a shared experience between parents and their children, and the beginning of a love of languages. What could be inside? ¿Qué hay dentro? The surprise is two new bilingual books that go home weekly, and are exchanged for new ones the following week.

For the past two years, a generous gift from a local donor has allowed the children of Orcas Montessori School to take home bilingual books from the school’s “lending library.” We are now happy to announce a new gift to the school, making it possible to replace some well-worn (and well-loved!) volumes and purchase many new ones—doubling the size of our lending library!

The children look forward to these brightly colored packets of books that appear in their cubbies to take home for the week. This library helps provide our families with the opportunity to share the experience of reading together while supporting their child’s learning by building vocabulary, reading and conversation skills. By offering books with basic vocabulary in both languages and a variety of stories from both cultures, it is our hope to help foster deeper cultural appreciation and understanding

This generous grant will also make it possible for the school to purchase additional materials, and give scholarships for both the school year and the summer dual language program. The summer dual language program is supported by local donors and United Way. The program supports developing literacy skills of English language learners ages 41/2 – 8 years old, and offers basic Spanish instruction for English speakers along with Spanish songs, art and cooking projects.