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methodology is based on research AND fun!
Our Method — Research — Recommended Reading
Our curriculum is uniquely
and carefully designed to maximize what occurs in a youngster's brain
during each developmental stage — while playing!
We use whole language in context - meaning we do everything in the foreign language, in real situations and using whole sentences. We use gestures, facial expressions, modeling, and positive feedback to make children comfortable and happy.
We do not count or learn the alphabet; rote memorization is
not true learning, and it does not take advantage of the flexibility of
the young brain. Instead, we make language relevant and engage the imagination. This makes pathways in the brain flexible and strong.
Our teachers are experienced, fluent, speak only in the foreign language, and make learning fun by using familiar stories and activities that can easily be repeated and reinforced at home. They encourage children to move, sing, dance, and more!
Small Class Sizes
~Toddlers: 6 children maximum, each with 1 adult.
~Preschoolers: about 6 children.
~3-Hour Extended Program for 3-5 year olds: about 6 children.
~Older classes: no more than 8 children.
Joining Your Child
~Toddlers: 1 adult per child, to participate fully in the language (no other languages, children or adults).
~Preschoolers: 1 adult per child welcome as needed as silent observer (no other children or adults).
~ 3-Hour Extended Program for 3-5 year olds: no adults; children must be potty-trained and ready for a school-type environment.
~Older classes: no adults, aside from first day for silent support.
Language Immersion
~All classes (except Mandarin for 6-10s): Entirely in the foreign language, with a minute or two in English at beginning and end for review and encouragement. Our 3-Hour Extended Program also provides a brief snack time in English, so children may integrate information and recharge.
~Mandarin for 6-10s: English is used to teach "pinyin" (roman alphabet that spells out characters), characters, strokes, and stroke order, games & culture. Over time provides increased immersion playtime and teaching, as children gain comfort and skill.
Age-Appropriate Units
~Toddlers: Games, songs, rhymes, and crafts
about everyday life to engage developing senses. ~Preschoolers:
Well-known stories, acting, games, music, art, and some reading to encourage language understanding and creation.
~3-Hour Extended Program for 3-5 year olds: Same as Preschoolers above, as well as art and music, movement, math, nature, science, literacy, organized games, independent play, and snack time to develop both knowledge and life skills.
~Older classes: Theatrics, culture, stories, reading, writing, music, and games that extend over a few weeks and develop communication and social skills.
Fun Activities
~All classes: Our activities
center around daily routines, well-known stories, and familiar games. As part of our mission to making language learning fun and playful, no classes have homework. We do provide vocabulary, song lists, and worksheets for you and your child to use at home.
~ 3-Hour Extended Program for 3-5 year olds: Includes social skills, school routines and expectations, artistic and free expression, math thinking, music & movement, nature & science, organized games, literacy concepts, and supervised play. Please note that this Program does not include the alphabet, reading, or writing, as children learning a foreign language must first integrate listening and speaking - just like their first language!
Mandarin Foundation and Continuing Classes
~Foundation: Children 6-10 who are new to Mandarin take this 12-week class to learn "pinyin" (the phonetic alphabet to read characters, which is so important that it is 20% of the SATII). They also discover basic characters, and to begin developing listening and speaking skills.
~Continuing: This program develops abilities more deeply and in new contexts, with longer immersion games, reading, and writing characters with correct stroke order.
Diverse Learning Styles
Classes focus around thematic units that deepen the learning process and make activities relevant to real life. Classes are interactive, varied, and use a wide range
of learning styles. Children listen, speak, look, touch, make music and
sing, interact, create, and move.
Spiral Curriculum
Our
in-depth curriculum means that new language, stories and games are always being introduced yet material is familiar and comfortable.
Opening and closing activities remain the same, and instructors
continually use learned materials in new contexts.
Benefits of Attending Multiple Times Per Week
Children attending multiple times a week enjoy similar activities that use language skills and knowledge in new contexts, which deepens the learning process. Research also shows that 90 minutes or more per week of immersion on a regular basis over the years is the tipping point that can lead to true fluency and accent. We keep language classes short for children's attention span and so they have fun, so coming 2-3 times per week allows that extra reinforcement. 3-Hour Preschool Program classes also provide independent play and monitored down time, to allow children to integrate what they are learning in class but still be in deep immersion.
Kids learn foreign languages naturally!
Everything a child sees, touches, hears, feels, tastes, thinks and so on translates into electrical activity in just a subset of his or her synapses, tipping the balance for long-term survival in their favor. - Lise Eliot, Ph.D.
Research proves that all languages are learned and processed equally for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and in the first few grades of school. A young child’s brain is in a state of neuroplasticity, when the brain is growing more synapses and connections. Connections that are made and strengthened before the age of 10-12 remain active throughout life. This also means that it is extremely difficult and rare to master skills that are not introduced and practiced in those first years of life.
Multi-lingual children have an edge!
Research shows that learning a foreign language actually enhances children’s overall mental development. When given foreign language instruction by age 3 or 4, children are able to speak like a native in their second language. - Lynne S. Dumas, Researcher & Author
Studies show that these children demonstrate maturity and skill functioning in multicultural academic, social, and work environments. By strengthening their foreign language skills, children are in turn better prepared for future academic experiences and higher social functioning in an increasingly global society. Little ones improve their overall mental development in such varied areas as math and science. This applies to school, on standardized tests, in the workplace, and in life.
Playing = Learning!
They may not know exactly why they are saying what they are saying, but they can say it... Think of it like singing along with a tune on the radio, and after a while you can’t get the words out of your head. - Neill Jeffery, Language Educator
Experts agree that very young children learn language from a different part of the brain than older children. After the age of 10 or 12, language is learned much like other academic subjects, via memorization and effort. Before that age, children learn from doing, playing and being immersed in the language - in the same way that they learn their first language through interaction with you!
Recommended Reading
What’s Going On In There? How the Brain and
Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, Lise
Eliot, PhD, Bantam Books: New
York, 1999.
Magic Trees of the Mind: How to Nurture Your Child's Intelligence, Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from Birth through Adolescence, by Marian Diamond, PhD and Janet Hopson, Penguin: New York, 1999.
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn -- and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less, by Kathy Hirsch-Pacek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Rodale Books: Emmaus, PA, 2003.
Foreign Learning as a Strategy for Closing the Achievement Gap (PDF)
Why Your Child Should Study Foreign Languages (PDF)
Learning a Foreign Language (PDF)
Being Bilingual Boosts Brain Power
Early Learning Library Insightful Articles on Language Learning
Learning Language & Becoming Multilingual
How Young Children Learn Language
Finding a Voice: Perspectives on Language Acquisition
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