It was as members of the Mt. Lebanon Moms Network that Many Ly, Franciele Hummel and Rachel McElroy met for the first time.

When Mrs. McElroy suggested that a fun and engaging language program was needed for their children, the three women tapped into their own language experiences to establish the new Children’s Language Immersion Program, sometimes called CLIP.

“We are doing for other children what we know is important for our children,’’ Mrs. Ly said.

To expose preschool and elementary children to a second language and its inherent benefits, the three women developed a Spanish language immersion enrichment program for the coming 2019-2020 school year to provide Spanish immersion programming for children from birth through fifth grade.

Classes will be held at the Bower Hill Community Church in Mt. Lebanon, beginning Aug. 26. The schedule will follow the Mt. Lebanon School District calendar.

“It is the language students are most likely to come in contact with,” Ms. Hummel noted.

According to the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington D.C., proficiency in more than one language is a valuable skill to be cultivated in schools and communities.

“Bilingual and dual language programs promote bilingualism and biliteracy, grade-level academic achievement and cross-cultural competence in all students … students develop pride in their own culture while developing an understanding of others,”  according to the center’s website www.cal.org.

Another benefit is more career opportunities in a global workforce, said the women.

For newborns to those 1½ years old, classes will meet from 9 to 9:45 a.m. For those up to age 3, classes meet 10 to 10:45 a.m.; for ages 3 through 5, classes meet 11 to 11:45 a.m.

All may attend one to three days per week and must be accompanied by caregivers. Costs range from $80 to $220 for 8 to 24 classes per quarter.

Instruction will mostly consist of stories read aloud in Spanish.

“We start at birth because while the babies can’t interact, we can expose them to hearing the language,” Mrs. Hummel said.

For children kindergarten through grade 5, after-school classes will be held from 4 to 6 p.m., with all language spoken in Spanish. Children may attend two, three or five days per week. Caregivers are welcome to attend. The cost ranges from $80 to $150 per week.

The curriculum for the older children is for learning in a hands-on and exploratory manner. The certified teachers will employ formal lessons, games, songs and other methods to best facilitate the process.

“Allowing students to soak it up is the best way to learn a second language,” Mrs. Ly said of immersion learning.

The women’s hope is to eventually expand CLIP into other areas of Pittsburgh.

Mrs. Ly, 42, of Mt. Lebanon, was born in Cambodia and speaks its official language, Khmer.  She and her husband, Danith Ly, who also was born in Cambodia, speak both English and Khmer to their 15-month-old daughter, Nora, who will now attend CLIP.

“We want her to also learn Spanish to see a bigger world than we live in now, and to be exposed to other cultures for diversity,” Ms. Ly said.

Ms. Hummel, 30, of Scott, reconnected with her birth family in Brazil just before her wedding six years ago but could not communicate as they spoke Portuguese.

After marrying, she and husband Justin Hummel moved to Brazil, so they could both learn the language and she could reconnect while he learned her culture. They returned to the U.S. in 2018.

Ms. Hummel said the experience taught her the importance of learning languages, which she wants for the couple’s daughter Brooklyn, 14 months.

Ms. McElroy’s husband, Alex McElroy, grew up in an American household but one in which German was spoken by his immigrant mother. He then lived in Germany as an adult for four years.

“Growing up, Alex had the advantage of being immersed in another language. When he and I first moved here we looked for a language immersion program as we want our three children to be bilingual and have that global worldview,” said Ms. McElroy, 31.

Ms. Ly said the goal at CLIP is to provide a safe and positive environment for children to engage in language-learning skills.

“We want them to leave us happy. When they are happy, their parents are happy,” she said.

Details: www.clippgh.com, or email contact@clippgh.com.

Margaret Smykla, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First Published: July 25, 2019, 5:47 p.m.