Yu Ying. Is it really that awesome?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone speak to teacher, especially Chinese teacher, involvement in the school community? I am a waitlisted parent, and i have been to two events and not met any. Haters, please don't roll out the one- year work visa story again.

[Anonymous]

I'm very involved in the parent community, and have been to nearly all of the school and PA's functions over the years. Very few teachers get involved with anything outside of the school day. Come to think of it, the only exceptions that come to mind are teachers or admin that have kids and attend events with them. Most of the teachers do not have children so I suppose attending a community event in their free time wouldn't be appealing. One exception I can think of is the gardening teacher, but she isn't Chinese.

[Anonymous]

At the recent educational discussion series the past three months on the weekends, there have been teachers there including Chinese teachers. But I think most of the time they're done and don't socialize with parents etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very involved in the parent community, and have been to nearly all of the school and PA's functions over the years. Very few teachers get involved with anything outside of the school day. Come to think of it, the only exceptions that come to mind are teachers or admin that have kids and attend events with them. Most of the teachers do not have children so I suppose attending a community event in their free time wouldn't be appealing. One exception I can think of is the gardening teacher, but she isn't Chinese.

Surely you know how many of them come to the Gala, then right? And some donate their time for some great playdates (dumpling-making, museum trips, etc.). Those are always some of the most coveted items. I always thought those were both very generous and very fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is the arbitror of JKLM status? What is the threshold a school needs to reach in order to reach the status shared by WOP schools?

The test scores speak for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone speak to teacher, especially Chinese teacher, involvement in the school community? I am a waitlisted parent, and i have been to two events and not met any. Haters, please don't roll out the one- year work visa story again.

When my son was in his full-immersion pk year, his teacher came to at least one birthday party. But I don't recall any school-wide events where she did.

However, I also didn't expect her to. I always thought that things like dances & movie night were for the kids & families. Most of the teachers seem to be at a point in their lives where they want to go out on the town at night, not hang out with kids & parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very involved in the parent community, and have been to nearly all of the school and PA's functions over the years. Very few teachers get involved with anything outside of the school day. Come to think of it, the only exceptions that come to mind are teachers or admin that have kids and attend events with them. Most of the teachers do not have children so I suppose attending a community event in their free time wouldn't be appealing. One exception I can think of is the gardening teacher, but she isn't Chinese.

Surely you know how many of them come to the Gala, then right? And some donate their time for some great playdates (dumpling-making, museum trips, etc.). Those are always some of the most coveted items. I always thought those were both very generous and very fun.

Of course! You are absolutely right. I was thinking of the regular events like Kidfest, movies, dances, and things like that. I should have included that they and most of the teachers enjoy being honored guests of the gala.

[Anonymous]

We LOVE Yu Ying!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of rising first grader (jumbo class). We're getting to a point in my child's YY experience where I worry that my & my husband's lack of Chinese language knowledge is hurting his educational experience. He's supposed to spend 10 minutes a night reading in Chinese. The school provides books at his level, but they just don't interest him. If I knew the language, I could find different books on the topics that interest him. But as things are, I'm not able to help him out.

We came to YY because we're very interested in bilingual education, and it's the only bilingual school where we got a spot. We had an opportunity to leave last fall for another school, and didn't take it. We're still committed to the school, but our role as parents is even harder than I'd expected.

Same class. I'll admit it, the expectation that parents help with Chinese homework bugs me. I think that's completely unrealistic since most parents knows no Chinese or less than the kids. We don't do it and so far DC is not behind in Mandarin. I can see a day when we may have to hire tutors. DC will be going to China for summer school from next summer onwards although the reason he is not going this year is b/c he is too scared to go: He knows he'll have to do all the speaking/reading/etc for his mother who knows zero Mandarin.

YY does have Chinese homework help in aftercare and on Saturdays - although I'm not familiar with the Sat. program since it's for 1st grade+. YY is an awesome school but only if you really want your child to learn Mandarin.

You are sending your child to CHINA for summer school? Holy crap!

[Anonymous]

This is OP, and agree with PP...is this something that many families do? I don't doubt that its helpful, just wondering if we would be the odd man out if we did not do something similar.

[Anonymous]

No, it is not at all common to send kids to China for summer school. I know of a few families who visit there during the summer or during the school year. But I know of none who would take their child for summer school and expect them to do all of the communicating for their parents, especially a kindergartner. Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it is not at all common to send kids to China for summer school. I know of a few families who visit there during the summer or during the school year. But I know of none who would take their child for summer school and expect them to do all of the communicating for their parents, especially a kindergartner. Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

I know one family that talked about doing this--I'm not sure whether they did.

There are summer language camps in China that are designed for foreign students. I've thought sometimes about sending my son to one when he gets older, though I'd probably only do it if the camp were near his American aunt, so he'd have a familiar face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it is not at all common to send kids to China for summer school. I know of a few families who visit there during the summer or during the school year. But I know of none who would take their child for summer school and expect them to do all of the communicating for their parents, especially a kindergartner. Is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.

Grandparents live in Asia near China so we usually go there anyway. Grandparents also read and speak Mandarin and holiday in China often so we would be going with them for part of the trip but yes, DC would be attending Mandarin camp for foreigners (kids). It's common for kids in our country to go to China in the summer to learn Mandarin.

I don't think this is that common at Yu Ying.

[Anonymous]

^Also, if we do this next summer, DC will be a rising 2nd grader. I translated for my parents in English at that age. Not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Guys---seriously?? Do most parents of kids in French or Spanish immersion programs send their kids to France, Spain or associated language countries for the summer? You're acting as though Chinese language learning is something completely different. There are also many families in those immersion programs who do not have the language connection.
Will kids who have a Chinese connection and whose parents put more effort into connecting them to Mandarin do better? Yes.
Do kids whose parents speak English at home do better in English than parents who only speak Spanish at home? Yes.
It's all a matter of degree of proficiency/fluency. The more you practice and are exposed to ANY language, the better you get. Will YY provide a basic level of proficiency? Yes. Any more than that will be up to you.