HAMBURG, Pa. - It's been just a few months, but Alyssa Dougherty can already count to 10 and has acquired a sizable vocabulary of words and conversational phrases in Spanish.

For many adults, learning a second language might seem difficult, but like many of her other classmates in the first grade at Tilden Elementary School in the Hamburg School District, Alyssa finds it an enjoyable part of her school day.

"At home, I even teach my family some of the words I learned in Spanish," said the 7-year-old Hamburg girl.

At the beginning of the current school year, Hamburg School District joined the growing ranks of school districts throughout the state that are incorporating a foreign language instruction program in their elementary schools, for children as young as kindergarten age.

Hamburg's world cultures and world language pilot program was originally initiated in kindergarten and first grade, but this month, second-grade students will also be included.

The program is coordinated by instructor Holly Smith, a Shenandoah native who travels among the district's five elementary school buildings to provide instruction.

Because of the age and developmental level of her students, Smith knows she must do more than just expect them to memorize and repeat words in Spanish if she wants them to eventually become proficient in the language.

So she immerses her students in an exploration of people and places where Spanish is spoken, a curriculum that combines comprehensive cultural education with a message of tolerance and appreciation for other cultures.

The Tilden school principal, Shawn Fitzpatrick, said Smith's teaching style has made the program a success.

"We have had nothing but positive responses to this program, from our students as well as our parents," Fitzpatrick said. "Holly designed the curriculum and the kids have responded well to it. She understands that children learn in different ways."

A typical class might incorporate a multitude of senses - movement, auditory, visual and tactile - through dance, music, singing, and games incorporating pictures, words and objects.

"It's all about helping young people understand and enjoy other cultures and people," Smith said. "By middle school, children already have preconceived notions about other cultures and languages, but when they're younger they're very open-minded and more open to learning. Studies have actually proven that children do better at learning a language when they're introduced to it at an earlier age."

According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, brain and linguistics researchers recently identified a "window of opportunity" during which learning a language is easiest.

Studies by neurobiologists have determined that a newborn's brain is like a new computer waiting to be programmed.

Some of the brain's basic functions, such as breathing and heartbeat, are fixed in place while a baby is still in the womb. But trillions of other connections in the brain are just waiting to be made, or programmed in, during the first years of life, according to the council.

Some of these early connections govern such skills as the ability to see and distinguish faces and objects, to master basic motor skills and to learn languages. Early childhood experiences also represent the skills most likely to stick with us for life. As a result, researchers say, an immature brain offers certain advantages for acquiring a second or third language.

After a certain period, however, which most researchers say is about age 9 or 10, some basic connections can no longer be made in the brain and this "window of opportunity," to easily acquire multiple languages, gradually shuts.

While it is possible to learn a second language as a teen or adult through motivation or necessity, the likelihood of mastering a new language with as much ease is much less, researchers have concluded.

According to the ACTFL, more than 24 states report teaching foreign languages in public elementary schools with enrollment in these programs up 18 percent in the last decade.

Studies have proven that studying a second language actually improves a child's proficiency in his or her first language, according to the state Department of Education.

Students participating in a world language program in elementary school have shown marked improvement in pronunciation in their first and second languages, higher scores on standardized tests, improved listening reading, writing, speaking and comprehension skills plus increased cognitive development and greater multicultural understanding, according to the state data.