In first grade Spanish Immersion we focus all of our energy into teaching literacy in Spanish! If you are worried about your child learning to read in English, just remember that so much of learning to read in one language can be transferred to a second (or third!) language. Here are some of the skills students learn in kindergarten and first grade that will transfer down the road to English reading: 

• One to one correspondence: for every one written word they read, they should only say one spoken word
• Print knowledge: an understanding of how print is organized
• Phonological awareness skills: identifying the beginning sound of a word, segmenting a word into parts, and blending sounds into a word
• Word solving skills: using the initial sound, breaking a word into pieces, looking for smaller, familiar words inside a larger word
• Comprehension strategies such as making a prediction, asking questions, noticing a character’s feelings, retelling, and figuring out the main idea of a nonfiction text. 

Spanish and English also share a lot of cognates and letter sound similarities. The vast majority of letter sounds are the same in Spanish and English. In fact, the only differences are:

• The consonants: v, ll, h, j, r, rr, z, ñ, x
• The combinations: que, qui, güe, güi
• The 5 vowels in Spanish only make one sound while there are more than 14 different vowel sounds in English  

Source: www.colorincolorado.org

As much reading as we do in school, every child would benefit from some extra exposure to Spanish reading at home. I encourage you to help your child practice reading in Spanish by listening to them read, helping them practice high frequency words, labelling items around the house in Spanish, and listening to Spanish music and read alouds online. Reading aloud to them in English is critical as well. It will deepen their love of reading, expand their vocabulary, and help them make connections to books!