Hi, first a bit of background: I'm an American father, and my wife is Chinese. We live in the US and speak Chinese 100% of the time. We have a daughter who is 4.5 years old, and a little over a year younger. We all speak Chinese at home, while I sometimes teach English words/phrases alongside our conversations. Her English is still very limited, but she's definitely surprised me with how fast she's absorbing English. We also regularly play English movies (Disney/etc) along with some Chinese media.
My dilemma now is that we are having to select between her entering a Pre-K program at a Chinese/English bilingual Pre-K, and transferring to an English only Pre-K. Both are good schools and she currently goes here and enjoys the program, it's mostly Chinese and they also learn Chinese characters/etc. We want her to have a strong Chinese base and have previously held the thought that since she's in the US, she will have no issues with English, and that I'll invariably end up also switching to English with her as her English progresses, and thus the Chinese Pre-K is a good option. However, I have also been trying to be mindful of ensuring she has a smooth transition to Kindergarten, of which a stronger English base may help. I also worry though that if we pull her from the Chinese Pre-K, that she'll lose out on a very rare/unique opportunity as she likely won't have as many bilingual school opportunities after this.
I feel the instinct to keep her in the current Chinese Pre-K program given scarcity of such a program, and my daughter's current enjoyment with the program where she is also performing well, and have confidence she'll adapt quickly in an English dominate Kindergarten. My wife is opposite opinion, and it's became a bit of a point of contention, and I am honestly not sure the best path forward. Thanks in advance!
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