Unconventional comparison, but Lee vs Yuying?

[Anonymous]

OP, I’d stay local until making a permanent move. YY would be too much of a headache for a native speaker. It’s a weird scene, a fake Chinese immersion school with unhappy teachers, parents who delude themselves to an absurd degree and bullying admins. Lee would be fine and positive for one or two years for a little kid.

[Anonymous]

OP probably won’t get into YY anyway.

[Anonymous]

For someone who wants to focus on math and writing, a Montessori program does that! Their way of teaching reading, writing and math uses manipulatives and the children really do learn it. But you'd want to stay for the entire 3 year cycle - PK3, PK4 and Kindergarten.

I think at this young age you can keep speaking in Mandarin as you do, start introducing writing, and keep that bilingualism up (which is hard) and THEN if you really want bilingual school, you'd look at a private Mandarin/English program (if they exist).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For someone who wants to focus on math and writing, a Montessori program does that! Their way of teaching reading, writing and math uses manipulatives and the children really do learn it. But you'd want to stay for the entire 3 year cycle - PK3, PK4 and Kindergarten.

I think at this young age you can keep speaking in Mandarin as you do, start introducing writing, and keep that bilingualism up (which is hard) and THEN if you really want bilingual school, you'd look at a private Mandarin/English program (if they exist).

You do realize that traditional programs use manipulatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For someone who wants to focus on math and writing, a Montessori program does that! Their way of teaching reading, writing and math uses manipulatives and the children really do learn it. But you'd want to stay for the entire 3 year cycle - PK3, PK4 and Kindergarten.

I think at this young age you can keep speaking in Mandarin as you do, start introducing writing, and keep that bilingualism up (which is hard) and THEN if you really want bilingual school, you'd look at a private Mandarin/English program (if they exist).

You do realize that traditional programs use manipulatives.

Traditional programs don’t teach math the way it’s done at a Montessori school though. It’s not just about the manipulative, it’s about the sequence. And traditional schools don’t typically use manipulative for every math concept, maybe some, but not all and not consistently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know people who taught at YY and based on what they’ve told me, I’d never send my children there.

Would you mind elaborating what the problems are related to? Is it the way that teachers treat students, in that they’re unsupportive? Or is it related to the admin and how teachers are treated? Is it the teaching methodology? Is it related to the teachers who teach Chinese, English, math, etc.? This comment is just so general that it’s impossible to discern what the issues are and whether those are things we’re willing to deal with or not bother. I’m just trying to get a better sense as it was difficult to gauge the school culture and vibe through the limited virtual open house this winter.

FWIW, I’m not looking for a perfect school that’s top notch at teaching Chinese and all other subjects, as for something close to that I should go private or move to the burbs. I’m just trying to avoid sending my child to a school where he’s going to end up being really behind in English/writing and math. If having him attend Lee is going to get him on a better trajectory with his overall learning, then I’m okay with passing on YY’s seemingly low level of Chinese teaching and put more work on teaching him Chinese at home. We are a bilingual family and one parent one language.

Math is terrible at almost all elementary schools. The vast majority of early educators aren't math people. They just aren't. Don't understand it at any more than a superficial level and can't teach it. If your kid ends up with two teachers during pk-5 who actually are competent math teachers, he's won the fricking lottery. Writing instruction at the elementary level is predictably better. And bilingual schooling isn't a negative there--the important stuff "translates." Even the scope of his English vocabulary will be driven much more by his interactions with his parents than with his peers or teachers.

I am a veteran teacher and I completely disagree. Seems like you are a "math person" and expect algebra in 3rd grade. Math programs in elementary in DC and surrounding areas are competitive. You definitely do not need to be a "math" person to teach K-5 math. Writing is a complete disaster. I have seen very few programs that explicitly teach writing mechanics in elementary.

Says the typical elementary ed teacher who regurgitates math "strategies" that she doesn't really understand and certainly can't explain but thinks she's doing fine.

If you can't tell the difference between the (few) good elementary math teachers and the (many) poor ones, you're surely in the latter camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know people who taught at YY and based on what they’ve told me, I’d never send my children there.

Would you mind elaborating what the problems are related to? Is it the way that teachers treat students, in that they’re unsupportive? Or is it related to the admin and how teachers are treated? Is it the teaching methodology? Is it related to the teachers who teach Chinese, English, math, etc.? This comment is just so general that it’s impossible to discern what the issues are and whether those are things we’re willing to deal with or not bother. I’m just trying to get a better sense as it was difficult to gauge the school culture and vibe through the limited virtual open house this winter.

FWIW, I’m not looking for a perfect school that’s top notch at teaching Chinese and all other subjects, as for something close to that I should go private or move to the burbs. I’m just trying to avoid sending my child to a school where he’s going to end up being really behind in English/writing and math. If having him attend Lee is going to get him on a better trajectory with his overall learning, then I’m okay with passing on YY’s seemingly low level of Chinese teaching and put more work on teaching him Chinese at home. We are a bilingual family and one parent one language.

Math is terrible at almost all elementary schools. The vast majority of early educators aren't math people. They just aren't. Don't understand it at any more than a superficial level and can't teach it. If your kid ends up with two teachers during pk-5 who actually are competent math teachers, he's won the fricking lottery. Writing instruction at the elementary level is predictably better. And bilingual schooling isn't a negative there--the important stuff "translates." Even the scope of his English vocabulary will be driven much more by his interactions with his parents than with his peers or teachers.

I am a veteran teacher and I completely disagree. Seems like you are a "math person" and expect algebra in 3rd grade. Math programs in elementary in DC and surrounding areas are competitive. You definitely do not need to be a "math" person to teach K-5 math. Writing is a complete disaster. I have seen very few programs that explicitly teach writing mechanics in elementary.

Says the typical elementary ed teacher who regurgitates math "strategies" that she doesn't really understand and certainly can't explain but thinks she's doing fine.

If you can't tell the difference between the (few) good elementary math teachers and the (many) poor ones, you're surely in the latter camp.

What advanced mathematical concepts do you expect to be included in the elementary curriculum that you feel like your kids teachers are failing at? I’ve been happy with the math curriculum/ teaching. My kids regularly have math talks working though data based problems. I think the elementary math teaching today does a much better job of helping students develop number sense in creative ways (one of my kids struggled with this) than it did when I was a kid. I see my kids teachers incorporating visual mathematics, and sharing the science behind why it’s important. Anyhow, my kids have had great math teachers in elementary and I’m sorry your kids didn’t.

[Anonymous]

Move to Baltimore - you can have Montessori AND Chinese!

https://tonglemontessori.com/

[Anonymous]

We had the same choice but stayed at Lee. Our decision was mainly because we could not support Mandarin. If we did have a Chinese speaker at home, we might have chosen YY. We have many friends who are content at each school. Each school had pros and cons. Of the yy families I'm friends with, only one has a Mandarin speaking parent at home, but they are satisfied enough by exposure, not necessarily counting on fluency.

I would advise you to try to talk with some families at each school. What I see on DCUM does not reflect the experience of many. I will echo the pp who said that if you're asking about test scores, Lee might not be for you. I love the school, but that's not the focus. The way the kids learn math, though, is really cool. They probably understand concepts far better than I did when I was getting really high standard test scores. Yy has better scores, which you can look up.

Whatever you choose, try to choose something you can work to commit to and not go in deciding that you're soon going to bail for NW.

[Anonymous]

We had to make a similar choice, YY vs. our neighborhood school, Whittier. We visited Whittier and loved it - the teachers were so attentive and caring, and being able to walk to school was very appealing. Plus, even at-risk students do well at Whittier, and the school seems to improve by leaps and bounds ever year. On the other hand, I'm a native Chinese speaker (my husband is white and doesn't speak a word of Chinese), and I would have loved for our kid to have that extra exposure at school. We ended up choosing Whittier and we're so glad we chose our neighborhood school. We have a great sense of community here now. But, one of my coworkers who also lives in our neighborhood (white, non-Chinese speaking) chose YY for his kids, and they are thriving and love it there. He showed me a drawing his 4 year old did with writing in Chinese that said, "When I grow up, I want to be a dolphin." Your kid will probably do fine in either school, especially in the lower grades, as long as they have attentive teachers, and you supplement at home.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of one Chinese speaker at home. My kid is still young but we are determined to send her to YY, provided that we won the lottery. We would like her to feel proud of her background and minimize the identity issue growing up. This is the main reason we decided to stay in DC and try for YY, and this is more important than the math score to me.

I see a few one parent Chinese family here in this post, and if we are all interested helping the kids learn Chinese better, anybody interested in a wechat supporting group? Not too many Chinese parents in DC I'd always want to meet some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of one Chinese speaker at home. My kid is still young but we are determined to send her to YY, provided that we won the lottery. We would like her to feel proud of her background and minimize the identity issue growing up. This is the main reason we decided to stay in DC and try for YY, and this is more important than the math score to me.

I see a few one parent Chinese family here in this post, and if we are all interested helping the kids learn Chinese better, anybody interested in a wechat supporting group? Not too many Chinese parents in DC I'd always want to meet some.

Interested parents can send me an email: [e-mail]. we will go from there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't get all your information from DCUM and don't predict who your three year old will be 8 years from now. Go with what works for your faily.

+100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of one Chinese speaker at home. My kid is still young but we are determined to send her to YY, provided that we won the lottery. We would like her to feel proud of her background and minimize the identity issue growing up. This is the main reason we decided to stay in DC and try for YY, and this is more important than the math score to me.

I see a few one parent Chinese family here in this post, and if we are all interested helping the kids learn Chinese better, anybody interested in a wechat supporting group? Not too many Chinese parents in DC I'd always want to meet some.

If you want to meet DC Chinese parents who aren't super assimilated (speak their dialect at home with their families), head to Rockville on weekends for heritage language classes. That's where your kid can feel proud of her background.

The identity issues are unlikely to be mitigated by sending your kid to a school where only a handful of families out of hundreds mainly speak Chinese at home. It's not uncommon for DC Chinese to find the experience of being a token bilingual ethnic family at YY alienating. We found that the head speaks Chinese worse than our PreK kid, and that most of the Chinese kids in the school were adopted by non-Chinese speaking whites.