Chinese Immersion Programs

bones said:
Irvinecommuter said:
Slight aside...I am curious about afterschool programs rather than immersion program.  Has anyone had any experience with those and any recommendations?  Thanks.
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My kids aren't old enough for after school programs but I have heard about two language ones that may interest you:

1. Little Dynasty:  they offer a 3 hour after school program and I believe will even shuttle the student from SG Elem and a few other elem schools to their location.http://www.alittledynasty.com/chinese-after-school-program.html

2. Karis Academy:  they also offer an after school program.  It includes some language time as well as some play time at Playland Cafe (I believe).http://www.karisacademy.com/mandarin/course.html

My kids have taken classes at both but my experiences are both early childhood based and probably not relevant to the age you are looking for.
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bones, if you have to choose among the two for early childhood, which would you pick based on your experience ? thanks.
 
thanks bones.  We actually inquired at Little Dynasty before and took them several days to return our call (which gets to voicemail and when you call back, nobody answers and so on).  One time, my wife got off work early and drop by on a weekday early afternoon, the center is closed.  We had lunch on a weekend in that shopping center on another time and dropped by again to check and center is still closed :( 
 
bones said:
I started off thinking my kids would do Mandarin (either as immersion or a second language after school activity) but have switched over to Spanish
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just keeps on getting better and better.
 
I've looked at several privates schools and did the tour at Renascene School. Here are my observations:

Plus:
+Intense language immersion in both Spanish and Mandarin
+Use of Mandarin to teach science and math
+Physical Education in Spanish
+Teachers are paid based on performance
+Use of 3rd party student testing done quarterly to track progress

Minus:
-Campus facilities are clean but old and basic
-Expensive but similar tuition to a traditional school like Fairmont
-No standardized teaching certificates but almost all have some teaching background/higher education degrees
-Located in Costa Mesa and might be too far for some
-Relatively new school
-Although they say they will have grades up to HS, there is no clear pathway for older students

My overall impression was positive. Seeing a 4 year old Caucasian girl raising her hand in class to answer a math problem in Mandarin blew me away. If you are serious about language immersion, I would check this place out.

Personally, I am still on the fence about private schools. I constantly have this conversation with my wife about why we live in Irvine if we choose private schooling. I know there are many reasons to live here but it seems like such a waste of money to not take advantage of the local public schools.
 
I recommend David Chey Chinese immersion Academy. One on one tutoring from Senior Principal of the academy. Transportation provided but class location varies.
 
How old are your kids? I recently started a thread about Spanish immersion. It would be nice to add at least Chinese and Korean a year or two later, since those seem to be in-demand languages for parents in Irvine.
 
Seashore Academy is best suited for preschoolers. My friend's child attended last year, but she pulled the child out because they taught by handouts from workbooks mostly. Barely any English was taught. Too much emphasis on art projects instead of academics. The older students were grouped into the classes for younger student due to low enrollment and didn't learn anything in their grade. This "school" is better off as an after school Chinese language only school. The main teacher and most of the older students left last year.
 
Hello- I was wondering if anyone has direct experience with Renascence School?  They seem fairly new, so we're wondering about what people think (in particular their trilingual immersion program, academics and general reputation, etc).  Thanks!
 
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