Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Silicon Valley parents pushing for Mandarin immersion

    Parents push for Mandarin immersion program
    Menlo Park City School District already offers popular Spanish immersion classes
    by Renee Batti
    Almanac Staff

    With China on a path to becoming the largest economy in the world, the interest in teaching children in the United States the Mandarin language is also growing apace. And given the climate of business innovation that keeps Silicon Valley a key player in the global economy, why shouldn’t local schools offer Mandarin immersion programs to prepare kids for the global marketplace many of them will be competing in?

    That’s a question local parent Carol Cunningham is raising in the Menlo Park City School District, where she has been leading an effort to add such a program to the district’s offerings. The effort, she told the school board at a recent meeting, is supported by more than 50 families, with about 80 children among them, and that support “is steadily growing.”

     

    Please read more here.

    http://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=13730

  • Monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st century!

    “Monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st century!”

    This is my new favorite quote. It’s from Gregg Roberts, World Languages and Dual Immersion Specialist, Utah State Office of Education. He was speaking at this year’s Asia Society Chinese Language Conference in Boston in April. The panel was on “Equity and Access in Chinese Language Education.” You can listen to it here, as well as all the other plenary sessions that were filmed.

    I think Gregg’s quote belongs on the back of every single t-shirt that immersion programs create.

    [Here’s a little Photoshop magic created by an Oregon immersion parent….}

    Billboard

  • Immersion in the second generation, a fascinating report from Canada

    WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - September 25, 2013 - Jim and Andrea Kavanagh work with their children Eric, 5, Charlotte,10, and Carolyn, 12, on French homework in their Winnipeg home recently. Friday, January 25, 2013. Andrea Kavanagh went to French Immersion and eventually became a French elementary teacher. There is a rise in French Immersion enrolment and its potential link to the first kids of French Immersion having their own kids in school now. (John Woods for the Globe and Mail) (JOHN WOODS/GLOBE AND MAIL)

    French immersion enrolment skyrockets as a new linguistic category emerges

    JOE FRIESEN

    DEMOGRAPHICS REPORTER — The Globe and Mail

    Published Monday, Jan. 28 2013, 9:05 PM EST

    Last updated Monday, Feb. 25 2013, 12:42 PM EST

    Andrea Kavanagh is a child of French immersion’s first wave.

    Born in the heart of English-speaking Winnipeg in 1971, she was just 10 years old when she rode two buses 30 minutes across town every day to attend the city’s first immersion school. She went on to a French-language college and eventually a career as a French teacher.

    Bilingualism transformed her life. It opened the door to opportunities that would have otherwise passed her by. Now she wants to pass on those same opportunities to her three children, all of whom attend the local French immersion school. They represent a little-studied but growing segment of Canada: French immersion’s second generation.

    Over the last five years enrolment in French immersion has skyrocketed across the country. It’s up 12 per cent since 2006, according to new figures from Statistics Canada. And the timing of this jump coincides with the period in which the children of the first cohort to attend French immersion started to arrive at elementary schools.

    Please read more here.

  • New Jersey/New York school hosts delegation from Shanghai

    Bilingual Buds Immersion School in Summit hosts Chinese delegation of school leaders

    Independent PressBy Independent Press 
    on May 24, 2013 at 10:30 AM, updated May 24, 2013 at 10:33 AM
    Bilingual Buds Chinese DelegationTwenty-one elementary school principals and university professors from Shanghai, China, visit Bilingual Buds Immersion School in Summit recently.
    Jasmine Volmar

    SUMMIT — “I could not have imagined a more exciting day in our eight-year history,” said Bilingual Buds founder Sharon Huang to 21 elementary school principals and university professors from Shanghai, China.

    The delegation of educators came to the United States to gain insight about current trends in American independent schools, including best practices and innovative teaching models. The group’s two-week visit, hosted by the Asia Society, was led by Professor Zhang Junhua, deputy director of the National Center for Principal Training and Development of the Ministry of Education at East China Normal University.

    Please read more here.

  • Greenville, Michigan Mandarin immersion program

    Chinese teachers excited to get started in Greenville

    By Kelli Ameling • Last Updated 9:47 am on Wednesday, August 29, 2012

    Two teachers from China have arrived in Greenville to prepare for the new school year. From left are Chinese teacher Zu Shule, Spanish teacher and mentor Amber Guerreiro, kindergarten teacher Kristin Mier and Chinese teacher Li Xin. — Daily News/Kelli Ameling

    GREENVILLE — Two teachers from China have arrived in Greenville and are preparing their lesson plans for the start of the school year Tuesday.

    Zu Shule, 32, of the province of Shanxi in the city of Shuozhou, arrived in Greenville on Aug. 3. She will be teaching Mandarin Chinese to middle and high school students.

    “It’s been wonderful,” she said of her experience in Greenville.

    Li Xin, 31, of the province Yunnan in the city of Kunming, arrived Aug. 12. She will be teaching math in Chinese to kindergardeners at Walnut Hills Elementary School for half of each day.

    “It’s so exciting and wonderful,” she said about arriving in Greenville.

    Both Zu and Li came to Greenville through the Chinese Immersion Program, which will allow two classes to be taught at the high school, three at the middle school and split classes at the elementary school.

    Greenville Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Diane Brissette said the program is enrollment driven, so the more students who sign up, the more classes will be offered.

    Please read more here.

    They’ve also got some nice videos up here.

  • 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