At
FLES, we strongly believe that a child whose curiosity about another language
and culture is awakened will be better prepared to participate and interact
in our increasingly global community.
The Foreign Language
in Elementary Schools (FLES) Program provides quality language instruction in French,
Spanish, and more recently Mandarin Chinese to children Kindergraten - 5th grade in elementary schools, and Sppanish and French in grade 6 in
middle schools. FLES was established in 1975 when, due to budgetary reasons,
foreign language instruction was eliminated from the Montgomery County Public
Schools’ elementary curriculum. The Montgomery County Council of Parent
Teacher Associations formed Educational Programs, Incorporated (MCCPTA-EPI),
a nonprofit corporation, to provide foreign language instruction—as
well as other special programs—on an extra-curricular basis for elementary
school aged children throughout the county. Nearly 75,000 children have participated
in the FLES Program since its inception. Approximately 5,000 students in almost
all of the county’s 123 elementary schools enroll annually in the FLES
program.
The Board of Directors
of MCCPTA-EPI is responsible for the operation of Foreign Language in Elementary Schools Program, or FLES. Any parent of
a Montgomery County Public Elementary or Middle School student interested
in sponsoring one of these programs may do so by contacting the individual
program offices. Their phone numbers can be obtained by calling the MCCPTA
office at (301- 946-0532). A non-paid, seven-member Board of Directors governs
MCCPTA-EPI. The board members are all child advocates and community leaders
who have previously served as volunteers for the Montgomery County Council
of Parent Teacher Associations.
MCCPTA-EPI
Officers :
President Vicki Rafel (301) 657-2425 or norvic@erols.com
Vice President Mary Ann Bowen
For there to be
a FLES Program at a school, there must be a parent to serve as the PTA-FLES
Program Coordinator. The PTA-FLES Coordinator is the link between the school
community and the FLES Program office. Ususally, but not always, the Coordinator
has a child in the FLES Program. FLES staff recognizes and appreciates that
PTA-FLES Coordinators are volunteers. Nevertheless, we hold a mandatory meeting
at the beginning of each school year to review the responsibilities of the
PTA-FLES Coordinator, as well as review the policies and procedures of the
Interagency Coordinating Board--the organization that oversees the Community
Use of Public Facilities (CUPF). To keep coordinators informed of the "goings
on" of the program, they receive a copy of the FLES FLYER, a monthly
newsletter from the FLES office for teachers and coordinators.
The curriculum
of the FLES Regular Program (Levels I, II & III) is arranged in order
of relevance to and interests of the children. Except for the very first few
days of classes, all FLES classes are conducted entirely in the foreign language.
This creates an atmosphere of immersion—the most effective way to teach
a new language—and optimizes the small amount of time the FLES teacher
has in contact with the students. Conducting classes entirely in the language
of instruction, allows children to attune their ears to the sounds of the
language and become more used to hearing it spoken. FLES teachers give the
students authenitic names to enhance the atmosphere of immersion. The
FLES philosophy is that students will learn and retain the language much better
by the incentive by their curiosity to “figure out” the words
and ideas that are presented
The FLES Program
now also offers an introductory program for children in Kindergarten and Grade 1. This
program was developed in response to the strong interest expressed by so many
parents in the community for foreign language instruction for younger children.
The FLES Introductory Program was designed to introduce and expose younger
children to a new language through fairy tales, using songs, games, body
movements and art activities.
The two year Introductory
Program consists of four modules. The stories we teach in the
modular program are:
The
Little Red Riding Hood,
The Three Little Pigs,
The City Mouse and the County Mouse, and
The Little Red Hen
The curricula for the Introductory and Regular Programs are independent of
each other. That is, the Introductory Program is not a pre-requisite for the
FLES Level I offered beginning in 2nd grade. Likewise, taking any or all of
the modular programs does not exclude the child from needing to take taking
Level I.
We based the curriculum
of the Introductory FLES Program on carefully selected fairy tales, taking
into account the age and interests of the children, in order to facilitate
their comprehension of the story in the other language. Furthermore, the vocabulary
and its structured application derive from the theme of each fairy tale. For
example, in The Little Red Riding Hood, we teach some colors, some clothing
and food items, and onomatopoeic sounds.
Finally, children
who enter Middle School having participated in at least two consecutive years
of FLES are eligible to take our Middle School Program. In Level IV we prepare
students for what they will cover in the MCPS 7th grade French or Spanish
classes, while we recap all they have learned in their previous years with
FLES. It is important to note that children who successfully complete all
the sequential years of study offered through FLES may qualify for advance
placement in 7th grade foreign language.
The extracurricular
nature of our program creates a tremendous barrier in recruiting and retaining
qualified, bi-lingual foreign language teachers. Therefore, we are continually
recruiting, hiring and training teachers for the FLES Program. FLES teachers
are not only native or near-native French and Spanish speakers, but they are
also proficient in English. Most FLES teachers have experience working with
children, although they may or may not have qualifications equivalent to ours
in the U.S., or the State of Maryland, for teaching. Hence, we require that
all teachers attend a training workshop. Through our workshop, FLES
teachers become well-versed in our curriculum and confident implementing our
methodology. FLES teachers workshops take place usually in the spring. In addition to the preparation
teachers receive through the workshop, FLES teachers can count on the guidance
of support of the FLES administrative and supervisory staff, as well as of
the PTA-FLES Coordinators at the schools to which they are assigned.
FLES expects all
teachers to maintain relaxed, yet disciplined classes. A set of FLES rules
is provided for the teacher to review with his or her students on the first
day of class. The teacher posts these rules in the classroom and refers to
them when necessary.
The
FLES Rules
Be
on time Put your belongings
in the designated area Sit in your assigned chair
Food, drinks and chewing gum are not allowed
in class Pay attention: look at and listen closely
to the FLES teacher Raise
your hand to speak Speak in
a loud and clear voice when it is your
turn Don’t speak in English during class
(This rule does not apply to the Introductory Program) You
may ask your teacher questions in English
before or after class)
Bring a note from home
whenever you are absent
Get a drink of water and
go to the bathroom before or
after class
HAVE FUN!
Parents must sign
a copy of these rules to indicate that they have reviewed them with their
child(ren)
Every FLES teacher
is supervised at least two times per year, both to ensure the quality of the
program and to provide teachers with ideas and suggestions to enhance their
classes.
Since the year 2000,
FLES has introduced Mandarin Chinese into the program. It is offered at a few
elementary schools and will be expanding to additional sites in the future. Currently,
we offer Chinese FLES classes at Sligo Creek, Wayside and Ritchie Park elementary
schools. Also, we are exploring the possibility of offering other languages
as well, and at other times besides before and after school. We have developed
a survey for parents to express their interests and preferences for other
language classes. It can be found in this web-site on the "Bulletin"
tab.
We are honored
to have been recognized by the Interagency Coordinating Board of the Montgomery
County Executive Office with the Ronald R. Spivak award of excellence in extra-curricular
programming in Montgomery County Public Schools.
The FLES Program
has always subsisted entirely on the fees paid by program participants' parents.
That is, we have never received any funding from an outside organization--until
just recently. This summer FLES received its first-ever grant: $25,000 generously
awarded by the Philip L. Graham Foundation for the purchase of a copy machine.
(This copy machine will enable us to produce our student workbooks and other
educational as well as administrative material in-house).
One of the goals
of the FLES Program this year is to raise funds to further enhance its educational
materials, such as: producing music cd's to compliment our curriculum; enhancing
our student workbooks to include more cultural material; provide games and
additional aids for each classroom. Also, we want to establish a scholarship
fund so that the program can be accessible to every Montgomery County Public
School student. Additionally, we need office equipment, such as a laminator
and another computer. Finally, and perhaps of greatest significance, we are
seeking funds to develop a program to teach Spanish to children who already
speak the language but don't read and write in it.
If you value the
FLES Program's mission, goals, and work, please consider contributing to our
cause in any way that you can. Financial contributions are tax-deductible.
