Chinese "immersion" outside of school hours

[Anonymous]

if you want an immersion environment but can't get to an immersion school, what are the best afterschool/weekend programs? Are there daily aftercare or other high exposure options?

[Anonymous]

We use Hope Chinese School. Very affordable and culturally Chinese. Kid recently made high marks on the HKS IV as administered by HanBan. They say "Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level IV) can converse in Chinese on a wide range of topics and are able to communicate fluently with native Chinese speakers."

Child was able to communicate easily when in China for the first time, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Whoops. Should have said "HSK."

[Anonymous]

I saw that, but couldn't find the price. How much is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoops. Should have said "HSK."

Is this evenings or weekends?

I really hate to give up family time for activities, that's part of the draw of immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoops. Should have said "HSK."

Is this evenings or weekends?

I really hate to give up family time for activities, that's part of the draw of immersion.

OP here: the site notes it weekends. click on the map to find the different times for each location
https://www.hopechineseschool.org/contactus

[Anonymous]

NP here. It says it's also after school:

https://www.hopechineseschool.org/node/77

"As an after-school learning center, a lot of auxiliary classes for our children and parents are available, such as Dance, Drawing, Painting, Violin, Child vocal, Chess, Gong Fu, Tennis, Yoga, and Zumba."

Guess that varies by location?

[Anonymous]

WIS has Chinese immersion summer camp. No experience there though.

[Anonymous]

My kids are fluent in French due to our "family immersion program". They go to afterschool programs in French 5 days a week. My 8 year old son has done this since Pre-k 3 and his brother a Kindergartener has done this for three years. We wanted an immersion program but Stokes is the only option in DC and sadly we didn't get in. Our method has worked very well though. Best of luck OP. Chinese is probably much more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. It says it's also after school:

https://www.hopechineseschool.org/node/77

"As an after-school learning center, a lot of auxiliary classes for our children and parents are available, such as Dance, Drawing, Painting, Violin, Child vocal, Chess, Gong Fu, Tennis, Yoga, and Zumba."

Guess that varies by location?

I'm not sure if "afterschool" was meant to mean "outside of school hours"... the website is pretty opaque.
But I looked at the individual sites and the hours match with the map. I'll call when my need gets closer anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are fluent in French due to our "family immersion program". They go to afterschool programs in French 5 days a week. My 8 year old son has done this since Pre-k 3 and his brother a Kindergartener has done this for three years. We wanted an immersion program but Stokes is the only option in DC and sadly we didn't get in. Our method has worked very well though. Best of luck OP. Chinese is probably much more difficult.

THanks. An everyday afterschool program would be perfect. But I'm not sure if there is one around. We have not moved yet so am currently flexible on location. We have Chinese family, so that's why we are focused on Chinese.

[Anonymous]

Host an "EduCare" au pair through one of the agencies that offers the 30-hour a week option and recruits extensively from China, e.g Go Au Pair in Utah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Host an "EduCare" au pair through one of the agencies that offers the 30-hour a week option and recruits extensively from China, e.g Go Au Pair in Utah.

That sounds expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Host an "EduCare" au pair through one of the agencies that offers the 30-hour a week option and recruits extensively from China, e.g Go Au Pair in Utah.

That sounds expensive.

About $30,000 a year. For that you get child care no more than 30 hours a week.

Au pair must live in, and you must provide a bedroom and private bath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Host an "EduCare" au pair through one of the agencies that offers the 30-hour a week option and recruits extensively from China, e.g Go Au Pair in Utah.

That sounds expensive.

About $30,000 a year. For that you get child care no more than 30 hours a week.

Au pair must live in, and you must provide a bedroom and private bath.

Right, exactly. That's not remotely feasible.