Should your toddler be learning Spanish?

Last Wednesday night, beneath colorful Mexican cut-paper banners and decorative sombreros, toddlers clambered past one another to grab maracas as children's music performer Andres Salguero began a bilingual serenade, inviting his new amigos to sing along.

It was the grand opening of Mi Casita, the first full-day, Spanish-language-immersion preschool and day-care center in Philadelphia. For Ashley Herr-Perrin of Point Breeze, it was the answer to an epic school search.

"I actually called 19 different day cares around the city to see if there was a foreign-language component, and most said no," she said. "I think when it comes to learning a language, the earlier the better. I've been learning Spanish since seventh grade, and I'm still not completely fluent. I think if a child can be exposed early and learn it naturally, it can open up a lot of doors for them."

Her daughter, Scarlett, is just 13 months old, while Mi Casita, which is awaiting a final review from the state before it opens, accepts children only 18 months to 5 years. But Herr-Perrin already has her on the list for enrollment.

Foreign-language immersion in early childhood appears to be on the rise, said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Nationwide, the number of public-school immersion programs grew from three in 1971 to 448 by 2011, according to surveys by the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics.

And, proactive parents are seeking ways to start educating kids younger than ever, spurring a small but growing number of foreign-language programs in this region starting at the preschool level and even earlier, in day care.

That trend is continuing as students get older: Six public elementary schools in Philadelphia launched dual-language Spanish-English programs last fall, and a statewide program in Delaware aims to have 10,000 students statewide studying in Spanish or Mandarin by 2022.

Abbott likens "language moms" - parents who want kids to have the cognitive benefits that studies indicate early bilingual education can bring, and are willing to lobby for it - to soccer moms, in that they're organizing in growing numbers.

"Parents see knowing other languages as important for the future of their children," Abbott said. "They understand that the children are already living in a global environment and they want to make sure their child is prepared."

Roya Askarpour of Media sees language learning as a top priority for her two daughters.

They are both fluent in Spanish - she enrolled them four years ago in the Spanish Workshop, a series of weekly after-school sessions - and Farsi, which they speak at home.

For a valuable life skill, she figures the classes were a bargain - cheaper than swimming or tennis lessons.

In retrospect, though, she has one regret: "I think I started a little late," at the ripe ages of 6 and 10, she said. "It's very powerful when the kids are very young."

Marcela Summerville, who runs the Spanish Workshop, said parent demand has been driving the business since the start. She began teaching in 2000 after another parent saw her speaking to her daughter in Spanish on the playground and asked her to run a class.

"I got so much interest that I did a degree in early childhood education and I developed this curriculum," she said.

She now runs toddler, preschool and after-school programs serving 180 students at locations in Blue Bell, Bryn Mawr and Princeton. She added a Center City location last fall, after noticing that some parents were driving an hour or more to bring their children to class.

About half her students have a Spanish-speaking parent. Some are foster children who need to learn the language to communicate with their parents. The rest are like Askarpour - parents who just want to give their kids an early boost.

Melissa Page, the 32-year-old owner of Mi Casita, realized the importance of starting early while teaching French and Spanish at the Girard Academy Music Program, a city magnet school.

"It's very frustrating for children who haven't had any exposure to language to begin trying to pick that up as freshmen in high school," she said.

She already has 35 families enrolled, from around the city and suburbs. She expected to open with two classes, but due to demand, now plans to start with three.

"I've actually already had requests to develop a kindergarten," she said. "Every single family that comes to me says, 'How can we continue this after preschool?' "

It's not just Spanish-immersion programs that are popular.

For 15 years, Adath Jeshurun Preschool and Infant Center in Elkins Park has been running a Hebrew immersion classroom for students age 3, 4 and 5.

"It's an enticement for parents," said the center's director, Michelle Bernstein. The 15 spots fill up quickly, and some years the school runs a waiting list.

The classroom functions like the other preschool classrooms do - but with one difference. "They're completely immersed in the language," she said. "All the print on the walls are in Hebrew. The books are in Hebrew. Baking, arts and crafts, song, dances, and activities are all taught in Hebrew."

Lee Corley, co-owner of Petit Ecole Bilingue, has also been running a dual-language immersion program for more than a decade. The Logan Square preschool has 46 slots, which he said isn't enough to meet demand.

"We don't do a wait-list because, realistically, students don't leave. And if you let parents do it, they'll look when the child is born," he said.

Students leave fluent in French - and then parents start the hunt for elementary schools where children can continue learning the language.

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@samanthamelamed