Makita Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) To give a little background, when we first started homeschooling in the fall of '07, I asked my DD (then 5) what she wanted to learn about. Her reply was, "China!" We did a unit study on Ancient China and at some point she said to me, "I want to learn to speak Chinese." We searched for resources and in the fall of '08 were fortunate that the Language Institute (a local company that provides immersion preschool in Japanese and Spanish as well as private tutors for a variety of languages for all age levels) began to offer a Mandarin Immersion Class for 4-6 year olds. All year, the class has been small - just 4 students of which my daughter is the oldest. They meet 2x a week for 1 hour sessions. Each session is 6 weeks (thus 12 hours of instruction). This coming summer, the institute is going to change the class to a Mandarin immersion preschool; 2 half days each week. They have invited my daughter and the other students to continue with the preschool, stating that they will modify activities to their level and essentially have 2 groups. Only 2 days remain in the current session. As my daughter will be 7 in Sept, I am considering not continuing. Though I love that she would be exposed to Mandarin for 6 hours a week - I don't think it would be in her best interest to be surrounded by younger learners. 7 is such a huge developmental stage. Am I wrong? Our intention is to continue with Mandarin with the instructor via one-on-one private tutoring. But how frequently? 1 hour a week? It is significantly more $$ ($30 per hour) so I am a little apprehensive. She would move at her own pace though so she could learn more material. What say you ?? Thank you for your input.... Makita Edited March 30, 2009 by Makita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I think that one hour a week will not be very much - she might be able to move faster in theory, but there won't be enough time for review. When my boys had one hour a week of Mandarin tutoring they were living in China, so they had reinforcement in their every day lives. Currently, they have a two hour class each Saturday, plus a couple of hours of extra work with me during the week. I would ask what the school means by having two separate groups. Will they really allow the older ones to move forward and have their own activities? In that case, I think it might be a good opportunity. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friederike in Persia Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 ...but in Germany they've tried very hard to expose all primary school children to English every day and after some years of this it's looking like it might not make that much of a difference. In light of that I wonder if it would really be worth hiring a one-on-one tutor for your relatively young child. Why not have her stay with the group, even though there'll be younger children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 we have thought of putting my 5 year old in Chinese school 3 hours per week (Sunday afternoons), but I too am worried that it will not be enough. Our cost is $100 for 15 weeks though....not too bad. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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