Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • NJ Mandarin charter asked to clarify academics

    Charter Schools Clarify Academics

    State asks key questions to proposed Mandarin-immersion schools; decision expected in Sept.

     Charter schools were asked to clarify their applications in several key areas over the summer as they await a decision by the state Department of Education.

    The state’s charter school office has before it 55 applications for new charters, including two Mandarin-immersion schools that would recruit students from Livingston and neighboring districts. The decision is expected later this month.

    The proposed local charter schools were required to resubmit their financial statements and expand how they will assess academic success, according to addendas to their application posted on the Livingston Public Schools website. (See charter school informationhere).

    The questions are in line with new directions coming from acting education commissioner Chris Cerf, who last week detailed steps that are intended to improve the oversight of new and existing schools. (NJ Spotlight has that story here). The rules spell out what’s expected for charter schools in the areas of student performance and state tests.

    “We are committed to supporting the expansion of high-quality charter schools that serve unmet needs across the state,” Cerf says in the letter to charter leaders. “In return, we will require charter schools to demonstrate continuous academic achievement and a commitment to equal access.”

    Questions aimed at doing just that were asked of Hanyu International Charter School and Hua Mai Charter School, the two applicants who propose to open schools locally next year.

    Among the questions, Hua Mai is asked to clarify how it will measure proficiency for Mandarin language, and to clarify student progression grade by grade. Hanyu is asked how it will meet state standards in combination with Chinese instructions and evaluate teachers.

    Please read more here.

  • South Carolina’s first public Mandarin immersion school

    Does Your Child Speak Chinese? Maybe They Should…

    3:54 PM, Sep 15, 2011  |   

    Cayce, SC (WLTX) –  The relationship betweenChina and the United States continues to grow.

    According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, in 2009 China bought about $869 million in goods from our state, making them one of the top five export markets for South Carolina.  The United States also competes with China for business. So what better way to work as friends or competitors than to know them?

    East Point Academy in Cayce is the first in South Carolina to offer a Chinese-language immersion program.

    Inside the school well-known songs, such as “It’s a Small World,” sound a little bit different because these kids are singing it in Mandarin.

    “We have students from all races, cultural backgrounds,” said director and founding principal Renee Mathews, “and it’s just a beautiful montage of children.”

    Mandarin is a form of Chinese and is spoken by more than 700 million people around the world.

    More of the story, and a video, here.

  • Tennessee may get Mandarin immersion school

    Williamson County schools set sights on developing bilingual kids

    School district considers K-12 language program

    1:17 AM, Sep. 12, 2011  |
    Maria Giordano | The Tennessean
    Kindergartners in Williamson County could soon be on their way to becoming fluent in a second language.

    It’s only a goal for now, but school officials in the district are working toward the idea and have narrowed down the language choice to Mandarin Chinese, German, Spanish or French. Ultimately, whatever is selected would be taught to students from kindergarten through 12th grade, much like students around the world are taught English as a second language.

    “We’re one of the only countries in the world where students don’t walk away from their school experience knowing a second language,” said Director of Schools Mike Looney. “We want to make sure our graduates are globally competitive.”

    The idea that high school graduates should be fluent in a second language was born out of several community meetings held last school year. Thousands of parents turned out for brainstorming sessions to create the district’s seven-year strategic plan.

    Time and time again, parents said they thought their children should be fluent in a second language, said Pat Anderson, school board chairwoman.

    But achieving the goal is turning out to be tricky. What language should they teach? How will it be implemented into the school day? What programs should they use? Anderson said there is a committee researching all the options, and Looney says it wouldn’t start until the 2013-14 school year.

    read more here.

  • Don’t stint PR – Oregon Mandarin program falters due to lack of applicants

    Bump in the road

    Signups falter for Mandarin Chinese immersion class

    BY REBECCA RANDALL

    The Lake Oswego Review, Sep 1, 2011, Updated Sep 1, 2011

    Starting last year with enthusiasm, the Mandarin Chinese immersion program has hit a bump — there are not enough children to fill its first kindergarten class.

    The program would have been at River Grove Elementary School, but the Lake Oswego School Board chose to cut the program for this year. The district will still maintain its preschool, which has six students, and its pre-K, which has eight students, at Bryant Elementary School.

    read more here.

  • Walnut Uses Grant To School Kindergarteners in Mandarin, English

    Students in the test dual immersion program for pre-kindergarteners became an official kindergarten cohort with the start of the school year on Monday.

    In January, the Walnut Valley Unified School District tested out plans for a dual language immersion program with around 40 pre-kindergarten students.

    On Monday, the program went from test mode to official with the class of kindergarteners slated to be studied as a group through fifth grade enjoying their first day of school.

    “That was to give them a taste of what dual immersion would be like,” said English Language Development Specialist Jenny Kwan-Hata of the pre-K class.  “This is the first official cohort.”

    The program, which the district has dubbed “Global Connections – Creating 21st Century Biliterate/Bicultural Children,” has been funded with a $1.2 million, five-year federal Foreign Language Acquisition Program grant.

    The goal is to get the 48 kindergartens literate in both Mandarin and English by the fifth grade.  The district was one of only eight to receive a grant for a Mandarin immersion program in the country.

    More here.

  • Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego parents – come out to support Mandarin immersion Sept. 26th

    If anyone is in the LA/Orange County/San Diego area on September 26th, we would love to have you come help support our effort in getting Orange County’s 1st Mandarin Immersion Program launched in the Capistrano Unified School District.

    On this date, the School Board will make a decision to approve or disapprove the launch of the Mandarin Immersion Program. We’re hoping for APPROVE status!

    Date: September 26th, 2011
    Time: 7pm
    Address: 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA

    Please wear red to show your support. My vision is for the Board to see a sea of parents and supporters in red!

    Please contact me at cicusd@hotmail.com with any questions you may have.

  • For Mandarin teachers in the San Francisco Bay area

    Dear Colleagues,
    As the summer comes to an end, and students return to schools, it is once again time to think about professional development.  On behalf of the Confucius Institute at SF State , this is our second announcement to invite you to join us for this series of workshops on Chinese teaching. I personally hope that you will be able to come for one or two workshops and meet with Dr. Maske in person. Should you have any questions, please let me know.
    Best regards,
    Jiaxin Xie
    Director
    Confucius Institute at SF State
    1600 Holloway Ave., Burk Hall 325
    San Francisco, CA 94132
    Tel: 415-405-2868 Fax: 415-405-2866
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    旧金山州立大学孔子学院与北加州广大中文教师

    热烈欢迎 修华静 教授应邀前来湾区主讲中文教学系列专题讲座

     

    主办单位：旧金山州大孔子学院

     

    主讲嘉宾：（Presenter）

     

    Dr. Huajing Xiu Maske

    Director, Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky

    Associate Professor, College of Education  

     

    She received her Ph.D. in Chinese Art History from Oxford University, England, her MA in International Cultural Exchange from Peking University, and her BA in English Literature from the University of International Relations, Beijing, China.

     

    Dr. Maske taught Asian Art History and Chinese Culture and Language at Simmons College, Boston. In addition, over a period of fifteen years, she developed and taught courses on teaching about China for K-12 teachers. In 2000, she founded and developed Massachusetts’ first public school Mandarin Chinese language program. In November 2005, her Chinese program was featured on the television news show ABC World News Tonight. It has also been covered in U.S. newspapers such as the Boston Globe.

     

    Dr. Maske’s research interest focuses on art education and the establishment of Chinese art institutions in China in early twentieth century. Other subjects of intense interest are developing new Chinese language pedagogy in K-12 classrooms, and methodological innovations such as utilizing Chinese art to facilitate the teaching of Chinese language, culture and history.

     

                修华静教授多次应中国国家汉办/孔子学院总部邀请，为志愿者中文教师开设培训课程、为中方院长及公派汉语教师举办出国前培训，受到参训人员的普遍欢迎。为了给湾区广大中文教师提供更多的学习交流的机会，特邀请修老师专程前来为北加州地区的中文教师及教学主管讲授两个专题。为了方便大家参与，我们将两场讲座分别安排在旧金山和圣荷西，希望大家踊跃报名参加。

     

    专题一 (Workshop One)

    Chinese Language Teaching

    Approaches and Methods That Work for American School Students

     

    Time: Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2011 10:00 AM -12: 00 PM

                    Place: Hum 115, SFSU, 1600 Holloway Ave San Francisco CA94132

     

     

    Teaching in American public schools can be challenging because the American students are used to various active class routines.  In order to sustain students’ focus and their interest in Chinese language, teachers must move away from traditional methods of language instruction and be creative. In this presentation, I will introduce a series of practical and useful methods that will engage students. These methods include classroom activities, Chinese language games that are adopted from American games that American students are familiar with and how to get supports from parents and the teachers in your Chinese language teaching. Participants will be able to use all of the methods immediately in their day-to-day classroom teaching.

     

    Easy–to-do Classroom Chinese Arts and Crafts

     

    One of the ways to grasp students’ attention and to sustain students’ interests in Chinese language is to integrate some of the Chinese language classes with attractive, easy–to-do Chinese arts and crafts. Students will be able to produce some of the works that they are proud of, and in the process of making the works, they understand certain aspects of Chinese culture. In this workshop, the presenter will demonstrate and will work with each participant on how to make several arts and crafts that are very popular among American students and Chinese teachers. Participants will have the hands-on opportunity to make these crafts in the workshop and will be able to reproduce them in their classrooms with their own students.

     

    专题二 （Workshop Two）

    如何把中文教学和中国文化融合到美国K-12的日常教学大纲中

     

    Time: Sunday, Oct. 2nd,, 2011 10:00 AM -12: 00 PM

    Place:  Board Room of Campbell Union High School District

    3235 Union Avenue. San Jose, CA  95124

     

                如何把中文教学和中国文化融合到美国K-12的日常教学大纲中这种做法比在上汉语课的同时教中国文化走得深入一些， 做到在美国K-12学校中既有正常的汉语课， 同时，在每一个年级的不同学科的教学大纲中选出能与中国文化，语言和历史相关的题目，在美国老师教美国课程的同时， 中文老师把相关的中国的文化，历史融合进去，学生在学美国历史，文化， 科学，数学的同时，也学到了中国的历史和文化。但是这种做法需要我们的汉语教师有很深的中国文化的功底而且了解美国的教学大纲。 我们将以一个学校的实例来证明这种做法的可行性, 如何挑选可以渗入美国教学课程的题目，和美国classroom teachers 对这种把汉语和中国文化穿插到美国教学大纲中的做法的肯定和欢迎。

                想把汉语和中国文化在美国学校中扎根， 关键在于把中国的文化，语言和历史贯通到美国教学大纲中，因为美国的学校现在也提倡各个不同学科贯穿教学，这样学生可以横向地掌握知识；只有把中文和中国文化贯穿到美国的教学大纲中，中文教学才能得以站住脚，不至于因为美国的教育经费削减而砍掉汉语课程。

     

    欢迎踊跃报名 （Registration）

     

    Ø      请上网下载注册表：www.sfsu.edu/~ci

    Ø      填妥注册表，扫描后电邮至： cisfsu@gmail.com

                                  或传真至：(415)405-2866

                                  或邮寄至：                                        

                                        Confucius Institute at SF State                                      

                                        San Francisco State University                                                              

                                        1600 Holloway Avenue, Burk Hall 325                                                                           San Francisco, CA 94132

     
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