Yu Ying. Is it really that awesome?
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Anonymous
| Hi, this is OP and this thread has ben extremely helpful to me. We will be giving up our wait list spot if its offered. I think YY is an amazing school, it just doesn't seem like a good fit for our family, especially since we are currently happy with our dcps. Good luck to all who are there and who are hoping to get in. Maybe our declining will help someone else out who would be really excited about attending. |
Anonymous
| Good for you! If you're not truly into the Mandarin or IB PYP aspects please give someone who is a chance!! |
Anonymous
That is very cool that you sought clarity and realized it's not the right fit for your family. Some people sit on the decision forever, even though in their hearts they know they're going to say no in the end. The benefit to your kids of a good fit is first most important, but you removong your name from the waitlist so the next person up gets called directly, that is also awesome! |
Anonymous
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uh, WIS doesn't have a Chinese program at the younger grades, and it's not immersion at the upper. just as I expected, you're the YY troll again. it's amazing how much time and energy you devote to this. so sad for you. OP signed out idiot, as so should you. No idea what your agenda is, other than shadow boxing, but you're a drag to have on YY threads. Everybody who isn't thrilled with YY is always a troll or, worse, a Cantonese speaker. Give it a rest already. . |
Anonymous
| sounds like someone forgot their meds again!! |
Anonymous
Different poster, what is up with you PP, whether you're a troll or not your attitude sucks - you can't make your point without calling everyone idiot? Talk about being a drag on YY threads - even if you were pro-YY we'd all be better off without your hostility. Please take your own advice and give the hostility a rest. |
Anonymous
This year, yes, but that's it. Trip and immersion program helped a lot, definitely, opened our eyes to how our kid had little experience speaking Chinese to peers outside class. YY kids speak English to one another. In CHina,, we met groups from other immersion schools where the kids mostly speak Chinese. We supplement a great deal, but we're planning to move from Capitol Hill partly to switch to WIS or partial immersion in MoCo. Thanks! We're happy with the Chinese DS is learning at YY and more importantly, DS loves the school. His classmates are all really nice kids and we like it that it's very diverse. The Mandarin is a bonus for us. We'll be going to China in the summers for the foreseeable future and DS will be interning there when he gets older so we're not particularly worried about whether DS speaks Chinese to his classmates. I actually don't think it's realistic to expect this from little kids simply b/c they are in an immersion program when the wider culture speaks English. My bilingual nephews will only speak English when they are in the US. We don't supplement at all but DS's tones are perfect and more importantly, he's learning his characters which is much harder to learn than simply speaking Chinese which at this young age comes easily. Good luck on your move! |
Anonymous
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Us too. we have several chinese friends who say dc's tones are great and that they wish they could have sent their children to YY (their kids were too old). took dc to china last year and dc was able to competently have conversations and interpret for his mother and me.
We also love the school, the great community of parents, and the amazing facility and grounds. |
Anonymous
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All depends on your perspective. Our family has a connection (studies/travel) to China so we were overjoyed to know there was not only a public school option to learn Chinese, but one where it could be done in an immersion environment. Also a big fan of IB curriculum so this was a huge plus. We were lucky enough to enroll our DC and were impressed with the school and its teachers and administrators. It isn't perfect but I don't think any school could be. I was impressed by the involved parents, how close-knit both parents and students in my DC's class were, the continually improving facilities (garden and the nature center), etc. I wasn't in class every day but I was very satisfied by what I saw when I did have the opportunity - the kids loved their teachers and they were learning a lot. We love DC's teachers too - super engaged and super confident. I really do feel like we won the lottery when we had the chance to enroll.
I have great things about other schools, both from friends and from DCUM. YY and other more established schools have an advantage in that they have had a few years to grow. When we were initially weighing options, a friend who is a teacher said to avoid first year charters. I have been impressed by what first year charters like MV, IT and others (know more about the former ones) have accomplished. There will always be growing pains with any new endeavor. When I first learned I was moving to DC, my main source of info was DCUM as all my friends with kids lived in VA or MD. They all said to move to the suburbs for the schools. But I was very pleasantly surprised to learn about all the options in DC - some great neighborhood schools as well as charters. With ps-3 and pk-4 available to boot. Yes, there are definitely problems and areas to improve and there are too many kids who aren't learning what they need to to succeed. But there are a lot more excellent options available than I anticipated. |
Anonymous
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I only got through page five of this posting and got thoroughly annoyed, so here's my two cents:
Homework- No one expects you to help your kids with their Chinese homework. You're just expected to make sure they do it. The school gives tons of resources to help your children. There's a family portal with more resources than I know what to do with. (I, too, have never heard of Saturday Chinese, but then maybe I'm not paying attention.) Exposure is key. There's music, movies, tv shows, smart apps, etc. It's what you make of it. If you make sure your kids read the little books they send home, that's probably enough. I make my kids watch cartoons in Mandarin. They don't get any other TV all week, so they're happy to watch in Chinese. I also make them play games that help them with stroke order. That seems to be sufficient for now. Books- If you did speak Chinese, you'd have a very hard time finding books in Mandarin that your kids would like because they will not be reading at the same level as kids in China. If you find books for 1st graders in China, your YY first grader won't be able to read them- it's just too advanced. You could read it to them, but they wouldn't be able to read them alone. A tutor- If you're super worried about homework, skip eating out one night and spend $25/week on a tutor or double up with another family and spend $15/week. It's not prohibitively expensive, it just has to be a priority for your family. We've not had a tutor consistently, but have used them now and then when the kids were falling behind in a specific skill and during the summer to make sure they retain the major characters they should know. Bilingual advantage- My kids are performing above what's expected in Chinese and we have no Chinese in the home. (We do have a second language, but it's not Chinese.) They have friends in their class who do have Chinese in the home and are performing below what's expected. It's very much an academic endeavor and has little to do with what's spoken at home. If you go to any other country in the world (ok, I'm exaggerating... say Europe) where kids are raised bilingual, trilingual, and more- they're still typically getting one language at home and the other languages at school and are still able to speak several languages. Special needs aside, your kids are never at a disadvantage if you're exposing them to another language. Finally, believe it or not, your kids will pick up Chinese just from being exposed at school. I was shocked when I took my kids to China and actually saw them communicating in Chinese (and yes, they did a heck of a lot of translating for me- not that's not abusive). They're not bilingual, but they're in a fantastic position to communicate well in Chinese and take their Chinese to another level in the future should they choose to. Good luck to you! 
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Anonymous
New YY parent here, thank you so much for this matter of fact post. It's very helpful. See you in the Fall! |
Anonymous
It definitely arrived in my inbox. I think there may have been 3 altogether and that they came directly from the principal. My recollection is that they first asked if people were interested, then said there was enough interest and then reminded people to register as space was somewhat limited. |
Anonymous
| Is it still happening? What month was this sent out? |
Anonymous
Where did you find the games that help them with stroke order? Also which channel do you watch for the Chinese cartoons? I have some DVDs. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| My kids love the app "chinese writer" by trainchinese. |