Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Seattle school becomes part of Confucius Classrooms Network

    Beacon Hill International School has become one of 20 schools to take part in the Haban-Asia Society of Confucius Classrooms Network. The network is intended to develop Chinese-language program and eventually will comprise 100 schools nationwide.

    Beacon Hill will get more resources for being part of the network, including $10,000 a year for technology, perhaps money for a new Chinese teacher and development of sister-school relationship with an elementary school in China.

    Beacon Hill began in the fall of 2008 to offer three language-immersion programs: Mandarin/English, Spanish/English and English. It is one five international schools in the Seattle Public Schools.

    —

    More on the Confucius Classroom Network here.

    What other schools are part of this Haban-Asia Society of Confucius Classrooms Network?  How has it worked for your schools?

  • March 1 MIPC Meeting

    Monday March 1st  5:30-7:30 pm
    Mandarin Immersion Parents Council meeting
    Where:  Jose Ortega cafeteria/auditorium (JOES, 400 Sargent St., Sargent & Arch St.)

    Topics:  Mandarin summer camps, Chinese culture-related classes, impacts to the MIP budget

    This will be a jam-packed meeting/information night for Mandarin immersion parents. Plan to be there! Sadly, we can’t offer child care or dinner because we no longer have funding to do so. Please consider swapping baby-sitting with other families in the program this night.

    Mandarin summer camps: We’ll have information and brief presentations from various Mandarin-based summer programs that can deepen your child’s Chinese and keep them from losing ground over the summer. Camps will include the Chinese American International School’s Mandarin camp, the Asian Art Studio, Mandarin Play and Learn and others.
    Mandarin at home: How do you expose your child to more Mandarin when it’s not a language you speak at home? We’ll have a presentation on various easy ways you can slip more Chinese into your child’s life – did you know Looney Tunes videos came in Mandarin?
    Budget cuts: We know 2010-2011 is going to be a rough year in terms of the money for the school district. What will the budget cuts mean for Mandarin immersion? And do we, as parents, need to do to support our programs?

    PARKING: Please park on the Jose Ortega blacktop/play yard, which is directly behind the school building.  A steep driveway at the intersection of Arch & Sargent Streets will lead you there and the cafeteria/auditorium is located beyond the double-doors that lead into the building.  Note, the school’s front entrance may be locked.

    There will be no childcare and food at this meeting.

    Questions? Contact MIPC president Beth Weise 415/452-0311 or weise@well.com

  • Mandarin Play and Learn classes for Spring

    Saturday Mandarin Learn and Play Spring 10-1

    (click for pdf of the flyer)

    Mandarin Learn and Play
    Saturday Classes
    A program for children from 2 and half to 6 years old
    Spring Session 2010
    March 6, 10 ‐May, 22, 2010

  • New schools added in Mandarin immersion school list

    We found a few new schools we didn’t know about in Michigan.

    If you know of more that we don’t list here, please drop us a line.

    Thanks and 谢谢！

  • Chinese New Year in Minnesota at Yinghua Academy

    Rehearsal photos courtesy of Erin Spector and Yinghua Academy

    February 15, 2010

    While most schools might have ended their week celebrating Valentine’s Day or President’s Day, the students at Yinghua Academy were busy putting on a dazzling Chinese New Year’s performance for their families. The Chinese immersion charter public school welcomed the Year of the Tiger on Friday with dances, skits, and musical performances involving all 300-plus students.

    Every seat of the gym-turned-auditorium was filled, and many parents were left crowded in the back against the wall. Big red paper banners hung from the ceiling and a large painting of a dragon served as a stage backdrop, while loud chants of “gōng xǐ fā cái!”, the traditional Chinese New Year greeting of congratulations and prosperity, rang out all through the show.

    Yinghua Academy Executive Director Betsy Lueth said this was the school’s fourth annual Chinese New Year celebration and their biggest event of the year. She says the school focuses a lot of energy and resources on this celebration because the lunar new year is considered the most important holiday in Chinese culture.

    Read more here.

  • Duval, Florida to get Mandarin immersion program

    Here’s an article from Duval, Florida…

    Mandarin language immersion program coming to K-8 Duval school this fall

    School program will let Chinese kids learn in their native tongue

    Zoey Clontz, 6, practices her dance in preparation for the Chinese New Year.
    JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union
    Bryan and Kim Clontz hold their two children, Zoey, 6, (left) and Olivia, 2. They are advocates of Chinese language training in school. Parents gathered Sunday for a Chinese dance practice.
    JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union
    By JOHN PEMBERTON

    Duval County Public Schools’ first Chinese immersion program is scheduled to open this fall at an existing charter school that focuses on foreign languages.

    Global Outreach Charter School, a K-8 school in its first year of operation, agreed to add the Mandarin language program after a group of parents with adopted children from China approached Duval schools seeking an immersion experience.

    Carol Mackoul, whose 5-year-old daughter is Chinese, helped spearhead the program and intends to enroll her daughter next school year.

    “Having that language, the first language that she heard, I think is going to be a gift for her, whether she uses it just for herself or for the business world 20 years from now,” Mackoul said.

    Mackoul is among about 250 members of First Coast Families with Children from China. About 150 of those members are adopted children.

    Global Principal Ralph Della Crosse said the Mandarin program fits the school’s mission.

    Read more here.

  • Teaching Chinese the hard way: Rural Oregon schools use video conferencing

    This is real dedication, doing Mandarin via video conferencing.

    Mandarin language classes flourish in rural schools

    Ruch Elementary School student Robert Starchivick, 12, left, breaks up while practicing a conversation in Mandarin with Erika Adams, 12. Mail Tribune / Jim CravenJim Craven
    February 15, 2010

    Paris Achen

    Mail Tribune

    From a projector screen in a classroom at Ruch School in rural Jackson County, Mandarin teacher Zhagang Frisbee, who moved here from China, instructs a group of 20 seventh- and eighth-graders to ask her how old she is.

    “Ni duo dá?” the students respond.

    “Wo  sanshiqi sui,” Frisbee replies. That translates to “I’m 37 years old.”

    Frisbee explains that in China, it’s not considered impolite to ask someone their age.

    “I know in America some old people don’t like to be asked how old they are,” she says.

    A Mandarin Chinese program for grades 3 through 8 offered by the Southern Oregon Education Service District began late last month in 15 public school classrooms in Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties, most of which are in remote locations, including Ruch, Prospect and Pinehurst. In Jackson County, two classes also are held at the Talent Elementary Outdoor Discovery Program.

    Read the rest of the story here.