Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

recent posts

about

  • New Chinese immersion school opening in San Jose, Calif.

    There is a new private Mandarin/Spanish immersion school opening this July in San Jose, Calif. It is called Silicon Valley International School. The website is www.SVInternationalSchool.org.

    It is a subsidiary of Premier International Language Academy in San Jose, established in 2008.

    There is an Open House on Friday, May 31st from 10am-12pm. RSVPs are requested.

    Info on their Mandarin immersion track:

    School Services

    • Elementary Grades: Jr. Kindergarten – Gr. 4
    • STEM Middle School Program: Grades 5-8th
    • Year-round Schedule: August – June                                           (The lst day of school is July 29, 2013)
    • Before and After School Extended Learning Program
    • On-site Reggio Emilia Preschool
    • School Hours for Grades Jr. K – 8th : 8:30am-3:00pm

    Mandarin Immersion Track

    The Mandarin language curriculum, taught by highly-qualified, native speaking teachers, emphasizes oral speaking skills and full literacy instruction through the content areas. Our Mandarin Language Arts program emphasizes:

    • Traditional Characters
    • Stroke Names, Stroke Order
    • Radicals
    • Content Area Studies (math, science, geography, history).
    • History/Geography of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong
    • Cultural Studies
    • Pin Yin and Simplified Characters taught in the middle school program
    • Zhu Yin taught to Heritage Language Speakers and in the middle school program

  • What homework looks like in Mandarin immersion

    I’ve posted some homework examples and translations on a page on the blog here. If you’ve got other examples please feel free to send them and I’ll post them as well. I’m making my 6th and 4th graders translate them, so it’s good practice….

    mao

  • Looking for families to host Taiwanese students in the San Fernando Valley in July

    Give your kids a culturally enriching summer– Be a Short-Term Summer Host Family (and get compensated too!)
     
    Are you looking for an exciting and culturally enriching experience for your kids this summer? One that also offers the opportunity to make a lifelong friend and possibly learn some Mandarin? Then please consider being a summer host family to one of a few exceptional kids from Taipei, Taiwan. These kids ages 8-12 all attend a high-performing bilingual English/Mandarin immersion private school in Taiwan and would love to stay with a warm and inviting family, preferably a family who has a child close to their same age. These visiting kids will all be attending a summer camp at a private school in Chatsworth, CA for three weeks. The kids would need to stay with the host family from July 12 to August 3. The only requirements are to provide a warm and caring environment, hopefully where they will treated as part of the family, all meals when not in school, daily transportation on the weekdays (plus some weekends for pre-planned activities) to and from the Chatsworth summer camp location for their summer program with drop-off at 9 AM and pick-up at 4 PM, and possibly transportation to and from LAX at the time arrival and departure.  You will receive compensation of $600 for hosting this child for this approximate 3-week period of time. If interested please email Lillian ASAP at lillianyuen@aol.com or call (818) 835-6908 with your name, location of residence, age and gender of kid(s), school of attendance, contact information (email and phone number) and a brief statement stating why you would like to host a child and why you think your family would be a good host family.

  • Waddell Academy in N.C. adds ‘calligraphy immersion.’

    Calligraphy aids language learning

    Updated: 2013-05-17 11:40

    By Caroline Berg in New York (China Daily)

     Calligraphy aids language learning

    A second grader at Waddell Language Academy in North Carolina draws the character for “sheep” in the seal and bronze calligraphy scripts. Yan Weihong / China Daily

    Two years ago, the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina initiated a trial calligraphy immersion course in a K-8 language school to accelerate their learning of the Chinese language.

    “Our mission is to teach Chinese language and to promote the culture,” said Yan Weihong, director of the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer. “Language and culture cannot be separated; so, we’re trying to find out how we can use the culture aspect of calligraphy to support the language learning.”

    Please read more here.

  • D.C. close to approving one-of-a-kind immersion high school

    Local: Education

    Language immersion high school nears approval

    May 16, 2013 | 9:00 pm | Modified: May 16, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    The proposed District of Columbia International School, or DCI, is the creation of five public charter elementary schools with language immersion programs in Spanish, French and Chinese.

    Students who finish elementary school fluent in French, Spanish or Chinese could soon have the chance to sharpen their language skills at an International Baccalaureate middle and high school.

    The proposed District of Columbia International School, or DCI, is the creation of five public charter elementary schools with language immersion programs in Spanish, French and Chinese. The new charter school would offer grades six through 12, eventually serving up to 1,600 students in the former Delano Hall of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Ward 4.

    Please read more here.

  • What it will look like when they’re done with school

    Here’s a wonderful video from the 2013 Asia Society Chinese Language conference in Boston April 7 – 9. This is one of Chinese teachers being introduced by their students and it will make you see exactly how far students can go with Chinese at very young ages. It’s really inspiring.

    Students Speak from Asia Society Partnership for Glo on Vimeo.

    As a part of the Celebration of Teaching and Learning, four Chinese language students introduce their teachers and talk about learning Chinese.

  • Houston Mandarin immersion school gets sister-school, new principal

    Deal matches schools in Bellaire, China

    By Flori Meeks | May 14, 2013

    Pupils at the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School already are called upon to practice their developing language skills through the day with teachers and peers.

    This fall, they’ll be using their Mandarin Chinese to communicate with elementary pupils in Beijing, too.

    Principal Bryan Bordelon expects to see the magnet school’s pupils sharing letters, e-mails and Skype conversations next school year with the students of a Chinese campus named Elementary School Affiliated to Renmin University.

    The two schools formed a relationship in April. As their relationship continues, they will share expertise, resources and learning experiences.

    “This is a phenomenal opportunity for our students to put their new language skills to use and make real-world connections,” Bordelon said. “It really does put a human face on what we’re learning now.”

    Please read more here.