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Date: 12/4/07
Topic: Valencia Enterprises Offers “Chinese for Kids” After-School Program at Hunter’s Creek Elementary School
When Valencia Enterprises’ Center for Global Languages approached Hunter’s Creek Elementary School to gauge their interest in teaching Chinese to kids, the reaction from both administrators and parents was immediate and positive.
As China’s impact on the world economy continues to grow, more Chinese speakers will be needed in the American workforce. With the mindset that it’s never too early to start preparing students to become successful adults, Hunter’s Creek welcomed a Chinese after-school program for its students.
“At Hunter’s Creek Elementary School, students are becoming global citizens. In addition to celebrating and appreciating the many cultures represented on our campus, we are now able to offer Mandarin Chinese lessons through “Chinese for Kids,” said Anne H. Geisler, principal at Hunter’s Creek Elementary School.
Valencia Enterprises worked closely with Hunter’s Creek to create its Chinese for Kids class, which was introduced this past October. The class is ten weeks long and meets once a week after school for an hour and a half. It has a 20-student capacity and is aimed for children in third- through fifth-grades.
The curriculum focuses on themes common to students’ everyday life and teaches speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Fundamentals such as basic vocabulary, questions and key phrases are covered to provide students the tools for practical communication with Chinese speakers.
Since learning Chinese characters takes many years and does not easily lead to oral communicative competency, the Chinese for Kids program teaches “pinyin.” Pin means “spell” and yin means “sound.” Pinyin is the Romanized version of Standard Mandarin and serves as the Chinese phonetic alphabet. The benefit of pinyin is that all Valencia Enterprises Offers “Chinese for Kids” After-School Program at Hunter’s Creek Elementary Schoolvowels and most consonants are pronounced similarly to those in English, making it a good starting point for children learning to speak Chinese.
Chinese culture is also an integral part of the class, which covers the differences between life in China and the United States. To keep things fun, the curriculum is varied and includes games, arts and crafts, music and videos.
The class is co-taught by two instructors, Ying-Chuan Che and Huimei Yang. Che has five years of experience teaching Mandarin Chinese and has worked with a variety of students, including elementary school children, university students, and business people. Yang, who also has five years of teaching experience, has taught Chinese and math for first- through sixth-graders in China.
“We try to keep the material interesting and lively to teach students this beautiful language. It can be a big advantage for their future,” said Che.
To meet increased demand and to allow students to further their instruction, Valencia Enterprises plans to expand its curriculum to offer four consecutive Chinese for Kids classes. The second course installment is scheduled to begin spring 2008.
While Valencia Enterprises’ Chinese for Kids program is currently only offered for Hunter’s Creek Elementary School students, there are plans to expand it to other elementary schools in Orange and Osceola counties where “Spanish for Kids” programs have already been successful.
For information on this or other programs by Valencia Enterprises’ Center for Global Languages, please contact the Client Service Center at 407-582-6688.