Yu Ying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We thought we were golden at YY until we moved on to a top DC private for 6th grade. The school made our kid take a remedial English course the summer before enrolling (although he got 5s on the PARCC for ELA) and wasn't impressed with his Chinese either. They interviewed him partially in Mandarin.

We're AA and don't speak Chinese at home. Wish things were different.

Assuming you stayed with YY, what do you wish you had done differently? Tutoring?

[Anonymous]

What is the YY parent community like? Active PTO? Play dates common?

Can those of us that matched through the lottery expect an email? Will there be an “admitted students” tour?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hardly any JKLM zoned parents choose YY, a few dozen at most.

Some of us think that our kids have more than enough "cognitive benefits."

If an "immersion" public ES isn't serious about teaching a language for 8 years for whatever reasons, I'd pass. You don't want kids who are weak in two language come middle school by high SES DC standards. No shortage of YY kids in that category.

The idea is that they do YY for PK3 and PK4 and go IB JKLM starting in K right? They wouldn't actually go all the way through to 5th grade, would they?

[Anonymous]

We are very low on waitlist for PK4 at Yu Ying, and none of the other schools will be an option. This surprises me, but I'm hopeful that things will work out at YY.

However, I do have some real concerns. Here are some questions, I'd appreciate any feedback!

1. Will coming in at PK4 (as opposed to PK3) be very difficult for DD? Do they mix the "new" kids in or is there a separate class?

2. How is instruction in science, music, art, etc?

3. How much screen time are kids exposed to? I read reviews on greatschools that said kids are watching movies during lunch. Is this going on? What about during instructional classes?

4. Teacher experience - I've also read that some teachers lack experience. Are they trained in ECE and other subjects, or are they just native Chinese speakers?

5. Social development - this is one of my main concerns. I'm not sure how this works when kids don't understand teachers. Can someone explain how teachers can effectively develop kids' social/emotional skills?

6. My SIL is from China and lives in US and is raising her son with Chinese, so DD would have exposure outside of school - I'm sure we can do at least weekly chats in Chinese. Would this be "enough" or would we also need to hire a tutor to achieve more fluency?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

PP again. From this thread it seems like the challenge with YY is learning English rather than Chinese, and parents should supplement with English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are very low on waitlist for PK4 at Yu Ying, and none of the other schools will be an option. This surprises me, but I'm hopeful that things will work out at YY.

However, I do have some real concerns. Here are some questions, I'd appreciate any feedback!

1. Will coming in at PK4 (as opposed to PK3) be very difficult for DD? Do they mix the "new" kids in or is there a separate class?

2. How is instruction in science, music, art, etc?

3. How much screen time are kids exposed to? I read reviews on greatschools that said kids are watching movies during lunch. Is this going on? What about during instructional classes?

4. Teacher experience - I've also read that some teachers lack experience. Are they trained in ECE and other subjects, or are they just native Chinese speakers?

5. Social development - this is one of my main concerns. I'm not sure how this works when kids don't understand teachers. Can someone explain how teachers can effectively develop kids' social/emotional skills?

6. My SIL is from China and lives in US and is raising her son with Chinese, so DD would have exposure outside of school - I'm sure we can do at least weekly chats in Chinese. Would this be "enough" or would we also need to hire a tutor to achieve more fluency?

Thanks in advance!

These are excellent questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in to Yu Ying and I am nervous - never actually thought we would get in. I am bad at languages. If my kid struggles what happens? What if your kid is at an immersion school and ends up sucking at learning a foreign language? You either continue through with bad grades or go back to general lottery? I could really use some advice.

No worries, lady. No kid struggles with Mandarin at YY, at least on paper. All the kids earn good grades for speaking (even if they can hardly speak after many years in the school). The standards for Mandarin aren't high (and the results are seldom good for the families who don't supplement extensively) and the great majority of the parents like it that way. My 4 and 5 year olds speak better Chinese than many YY kids in 4th and 5th grades. I tell you this as a native speaker who volunteers at the school from time to time and has done for a decade.

I have nothing to do with this school and no desire for my kids to learn Mandarin, but your post sucks. Does the school know someone who apparently volunteers there bashes the kids' command of Mandarin in public forums? Have you thought about the fact that for many kids there, YY is a much better education than their alternatives? Have you considered that prolonged exposure to a language has benefits (cognitive, cultural exposure, etc.) even if full fluency is not achieved? Or do you simply perseverate on how it's not fair that native speakers have no preference at this public school? Because from past posts, that seems to be the underlying sentiment.

I understand the value of native speakers in an immersion school--my child attends an immersion school with a significant number of native speakers, and it definitely helps--but YY appears to have a lot of other strengths. Kids who want to continue pursuing Mandarin after YY will have a good foundation. It's okay if full fluency is not achieved by age 10.

Good luck to all who placed here, and good luck to your kids!

What's too bad that the PP whose post "sucks" is right.

PP isn't the only one who's been disappointed w/Mandarin instruction at YY over the years. If this is "bashing," call me a basher among many.

What happens is that many random parents like OP, with no particular interest in having their children learn Chinese well, drift into YY mainly because they got lucky in the lottery and their IB DCPS schools suck. Meanwhile, many parents who would be a lot more serious about the Mandarin (including native speakers) don't have access to the school.

YY doesn't raise standards for Mandarin because it has to serve the families parents it gets, not the parents it wants. Nothing to be done but supplement expensively (and expensively) to make sure that your own YY kid's Mandarin is decent eventually, if that's what you want.

Signed
Parent with two children on DCI advanced Chinese track

So what would you have YY do to "raise standards for Mandarin" given that it has no control over who wins the lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - This is for PK4. Will learning to write suffer? How do they teach English writing if its Chinese only in PK level?

OP - we got into YY for PK-4 this past year. My DC is doing really well, even with having no exposure to Mandarin before August. I am amazed at how quickly DC has picked it up - singing Chinese songs at home, counting in Chinese, even using the Chinese word or phrase in lieu of English when we are at home.

They do some sort of writing in English because DC's handwriting has gotten much better, but they're not composing sentences or anything (not sure of any PK that does that). DC also started reading last fall, even though there is not much emphasis (if any) on that in the classroom outside of the weekly library session. We read books at home, DC knows all of the letter sounds (before starting at YY), and reading just finally clicked. I say this only to point out that even though PK-4 is 100% immersion, I've been seeing a lot of cognitive developments in my DC in English as well. Would this have happened regardless of the school? Perhaps. But DC's English does not seem to be suffering at this point despite the Mandarin immersion at school.

I obviously cannot speak to what may happen in the upper grades, but we are happy with the school so far.

[Anonymous]

Can current parents give insight on how much before and aftercare is? For someone who won’t qualify for any vouchers or assistance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are very low on waitlist for PK4 at Yu Ying, and none of the other schools will be an option. This surprises me, but I'm hopeful that things will work out at YY.

However, I do have some real concerns. Here are some questions, I'd appreciate any feedback!

1. Will coming in at PK4 (as opposed to PK3) be very difficult for DD? Do they mix the "new" kids in or is there a separate class? They mix up the students. In DC's PK-4 class, about half are new students. DC was new and adapted very quickly.

2. How is instruction in science, music, art, etc? They do a lot of activities in the classroom involving art and science concepts relevant to the current unit of inquiry. For example, they just finished exploring concepts of "self" within the community so they made life-size self-portraits by mixing paint, using different materials (traditional and non-traditional art materials), creating some type of slime/playdoh substance. They sing a LOT of songs in Chinese to learn the language, but there doesn't seem to much of a formal music class at the PK level. There is a music teacher and music room, though.

3. How much screen time are kids exposed to? I read reviews on greatschools that said kids are watching movies during lunch. Is this going on? What about during instructional classes? The PK kids eat in their classroom and in my DC's class, there is no screen time during lunch. I believe there is the occasional showing of Paw Patrol or Pegga Pig (in Mandarin) before or after nap but it doesn't sound like a daily occurrence. The teachers might show Chinese songs and videos from the internet to teach the kids a particular song or dance, also.

4. Teacher experience - I've also read that some teachers lack experience. Are they trained in ECE and other subjects, or are they just native Chinese speakers? Both, but as I understand, the standards are a bit different for charter schools than DCPS.

5. Social development - this is one of my main concerns. I'm not sure how this works when kids don't understand teachers. Can someone explain how teachers can effectively develop kids' social/emotional skills? The kids pick it up really fast. The teachers use props and gesture to help the kids understand when needed. They will also speak to the kids in English if necessary. I don't know all of the tools my DC's teacher uses, but somehow, the kids largely get along and are learning how to handle social conflict in the classroom (some kids better than others of course, as is the case at pretty much any school).

6. My SIL is from China and lives in US and is raising her son with Chinese, so DD would have exposure outside of school - I'm sure we can do at least weekly chats in Chinese. Would this be "enough" or would we also need to hire a tutor to achieve more fluency? Not sure there's any way to predict that because it depends on your child. But it would be more than what other parents are doing, especially at the PK level.

Thanks in advance!

See answers above. But these are also questions that should be directed to the school because ultimately, you have to feel comfortable with what THEY are representing to you about their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in to Yu Ying and I am nervous - never actually thought we would get in. I am bad at languages. If my kid struggles what happens? What if your kid is at an immersion school and ends up sucking at learning a foreign language? You either continue through with bad grades or go back to general lottery? I could really use some advice.

No worries, lady. No kid struggles with Mandarin at YY, at least on paper. All the kids earn good grades for speaking (even if they can hardly speak after many years in the school). The standards for Mandarin aren't high (and the results are seldom good for the families who don't supplement extensively) and the great majority of the parents like it that way. My 4 and 5 year olds speak better Chinese than many YY kids in 4th and 5th grades. I tell you this as a native speaker who volunteers at the school from time to time and has done for a decade.

I have nothing to do with this school and no desire for my kids to learn Mandarin, but your post sucks. Does the school know someone who apparently volunteers there bashes the kids' command of Mandarin in public forums? Have you thought about the fact that for many kids there, YY is a much better education than their alternatives? Have you considered that prolonged exposure to a language has benefits (cognitive, cultural exposure, etc.) even if full fluency is not achieved? Or do you simply perseverate on how it's not fair that native speakers have no preference at this public school? Because from past posts, that seems to be the underlying sentiment.

I understand the value of native speakers in an immersion school--my child attends an immersion school with a significant number of native speakers, and it definitely helps--but YY appears to have a lot of other strengths. Kids who want to continue pursuing Mandarin after YY will have a good foundation. It's okay if full fluency is not achieved by age 10.

Good luck to all who placed here, and good luck to your kids!

What's too bad that the PP whose post "sucks" is right.

PP isn't the only one who's been disappointed w/Mandarin instruction at YY over the years. If this is "bashing," call me a basher among many.

What happens is that many random parents like OP, with no particular interest in having their children learn Chinese well, drift into YY mainly because they got lucky in the lottery and their IB DCPS schools suck. Meanwhile, many parents who would be a lot more serious about the Mandarin (including native speakers) don't have access to the school.

YY doesn't raise standards for Mandarin because it has to serve the families parents it gets, not the parents it wants. Nothing to be done but supplement expensively (and expensively) to make sure that your own YY kid's Mandarin is decent eventually, if that's what you want.

Signed
Parent with two children on DCI advanced Chinese track

This isn't true. They have just as much access to the school as anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can current parents give insight on how much before and aftercare is? For someone who won’t qualify for any vouchers or assistance

It's very expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got in to Yu Ying and I am nervous - never actually thought we would get in. I am bad at languages. If my kid struggles what happens? What if your kid is at an immersion school and ends up sucking at learning a foreign language? You either continue through with bad grades or go back to general lottery? I could really use some advice.

No worries, lady. No kid struggles with Mandarin at YY, at least on paper. All the kids earn good grades for speaking (even if they can hardly speak after many years in the school). The standards for Mandarin aren't high (and the results are seldom good for the families who don't supplement extensively) and the great majority of the parents like it that way. My 4 and 5 year olds speak better Chinese than many YY kids in 4th and 5th grades. I tell you this as a native speaker who volunteers at the school from time to time and has done for a decade.

I have nothing to do with this school and no desire for my kids to learn Mandarin, but your post sucks. Does the school know someone who apparently volunteers there bashes the kids' command of Mandarin in public forums? Have you thought about the fact that for many kids there, YY is a much better education than their alternatives? Have you considered that prolonged exposure to a language has benefits (cognitive, cultural exposure, etc.) even if full fluency is not achieved? Or do you simply perseverate on how it's not fair that native speakers have no preference at this public school? Because from past posts, that seems to be the underlying sentiment.

I understand the value of native speakers in an immersion school--my child attends an immersion school with a significant number of native speakers, and it definitely helps--but YY appears to have a lot of other strengths. Kids who want to continue pursuing Mandarin after YY will have a good foundation. It's okay if full fluency is not achieved by age 10.

Good luck to all who placed here, and good luck to your kids!

What's too bad that the PP whose post "sucks" is right.

PP isn't the only one who's been disappointed w/Mandarin instruction at YY over the years. If this is "bashing," call me a basher among many.

What happens is that many random parents like OP, with no particular interest in having their children learn Chinese well, drift into YY mainly because they got lucky in the lottery and their IB DCPS schools suck. Meanwhile, many parents who would be a lot more serious about the Mandarin (including native speakers) don't have access to the school.

YY doesn't raise standards for Mandarin because it has to serve the families parents it gets, not the parents it wants. Nothing to be done but supplement expensively (and expensively) to make sure that your own YY kid's Mandarin is decent eventually, if that's what you want.

Signed
Parent with two children on DCI advanced Chinese track

This isn't true. They have just as much access to the school as anyone else.

+1

I have a number of Mandarin speaking friends in DC. All have their kids at Yu Ying. Most just lotteried until they got in. They like it, because they want their kids to be fluent enough to speak to family in China. They all have degrees from top U.S. schools. They assume that their kids will be living professional lives in the US. The complaints I have heard have been about the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again. From this thread it seems like the challenge with YY is learning English rather than Chinese, and parents should supplement with English.

The research is pretty clear that bilingual education improves learning in the native language. There are literally hundreds of peer reviewed studies proving this.

Could YY in particular improve ELA instruction? Probably . The PP whose kid went from YY to a top private and needed added writing instruction would probably have had the same problem coming out of Murch. The one advantage privates have over publics is that the small class sizes let teachers assign and grade a lot more essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. From this thread it seems like the challenge with YY is learning English rather than Chinese, and parents should supplement with English.

The research is pretty clear that bilingual education improves learning in the native language. There are literally hundreds of peer reviewed studies proving this.

Could YY in particular improve ELA instruction? Probably . The PP whose kid went from YY to a top private and needed added writing instruction would probably have had the same problem coming out of Murch. The one advantage privates have over publics is that the small class sizes let teachers assign and grade a lot more essays.

Agree with this and would just add that I believe the research shows that there is often an initial lag in language development for kids who start out with two languages, but then the kids typically catch up and even surpass monolingual counterparts.