Little Fawn Nursery

Since 2010, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Education Department started the Secwépemc Language Immersion Program at Little Fawn Nursery – this means the children and staff spend the morning learning and using the Secwépemc Language. The nursery staff is guided by fluent speakers, language teachers and cultural experts to plan, organize, and teach the Secwépemc language.

The Little Fawn Nursery will be a full day immersion program in the near future. We want our children to have the chance to hear and learn the language – to raise fluent speakers.

All nursery staff members use a variety of teaching strategies for children ages 3 to 5 years old. Through experiential activities, the children are given an opportunity to hear and learn the language as much as possible. The immersion program is based on child-centred curriculum with a wide variety of themes and topics. Some areas of the immersion program include:

• Daily Routines (greetings, eating, cleaning up, bathroom, going outside, etc.)
• Morning Circle (calendar, weather, counting, monthly land/water themes)
• Language Lessons/Total Physical Response
• Daily Story Time (traditional and modern)
• Outdoor Play; Nature Walks; Structured Play/Activities
• Action Songs and Games
• Secwépemc Song & Dance

Why Does Immersion Work? Language immersion works well for two reasons. First, it creates a meaningful environment where language is used purposefully. It is much more useful to be able to say in the language, “I am thirsty; can I have some water?” rather than, “one, two, three” or “red, blue, green”. No English is used at all!