Anonymous
03/28/2014 15:03
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Actually, there are a surprising number of families at YY who speak another language at home--mostly French, a few Spanish, and several others. One Francophone mom I know says that she values the sheer internationalism of YY.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 14:21
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Whatever. The kid is young. He will get over it. We are talking about first grade, after all, not switching majors in your third year of undergrad. Nothing wasted because he got his brain functioning in a unique way.
It just seems pointless. He may get over it, but what has he gained? Nothing. Because if you don't continue with Mandarin and that is what he would be speaking all day @ 100%. You have nothing to show for it at the end.
But with that logic, you'd be devastated at all the silverware that a Montessori child has polished in their classroom without a silverware set to show for it at Thanksgiving dinner. Or all the jogging without going anywhere, or without later signing up for a marathon.
I would love to sign up my child for a year of Mandarin immersion, and would follow-up with some other contact with the language, if I were so lucky to get my DC into YY, but somehow couldn't keep her there beyond a year. In my family's situation, I would enroll my DC, and in a couple of years hope her sibling gets in, and keep them there for as long as it's open. it would probably alter our life in a big way, since it would refocus our traveling to an area of the world I don't know, and we would probably change our criteria for who we rent our spare room to, and our reason for renting it. Instead of money to pay for child care, it would become a source of language and cultural exposure, and a source of money for international travel to support my kids' language immersion.
But there you go, dcum has me daydreaming. Back to the reality of the odds and the likely choice between the local dcps and private.
Now, I completely understand how families flaking out at K can be detrimental to the school, and to other students, especially if the charters can't allow test-in new students. That clearly is something that needs to be tweaked.
I am impressed by your open-mindedness, but I think a lot of people are more purposeful than this when it comes to educating their children.
What you describe sounds more common for a spouse, e.g., you never planned to marry any ethnicity in particular, and it just so happens that you fell in love with a chinese person in grad school, so you ended up learning chinese and traveling to china a lot. I do see a lot of that.
But once you are married your family heritage is pretty much determined. It is relatively unusual for someone to be as open minded as you, like, "I am not chinese and don't speak a word, nor does my spouse, but because of some random lottery result one year in one of America's worst public school systems, we decided to invest 110% in us and our kid learning chinese and traveling to china a lot for the rest of our lives".
I think most people would say, f*** it, we're moving to Bethesda, before sending their kid to chinese immersion at a DC charter.
BTW not to get personal but I am guessing that both you and your spouse are English-dominant. If one of you was from another culture with another language dominance, I think you would be much more intentional about language education for your kids. Not asking you to share your personal details, this is just what I would expect if I met someone who wanted immersion but didn't care what language.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 14:18
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:In my family's situation, I would enroll my DC, and in a couple of years hope her sibling gets in, and keep them there for as long as it's open.
PP here. Just to clarify, when I said "keep them there for as long as it's open, I didn't mean to suggest they would close. My weird phrasing comes from a late European comedian who once said, talking about how he obtained a higher ed degree "Oh, I went to school and I stayed in school. I stayed til it closed!"
Anonymous
03/28/2014 13:41
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Whatever. The kid is young. He will get over it. We are talking about first grade, after all, not switching majors in your third year of undergrad. Nothing wasted because he got his brain functioning in a unique way.
It just seems pointless. He may get over it, but what has he gained? Nothing. Because if you don't continue with Mandarin and that is what he would be speaking all day @ 100%. You have nothing to show for it at the end.
But with that logic, you'd be devastated at all the silverware that a Montessori child has polished in their classroom without a silverware set to show for it at Thanksgiving dinner. Or all the jogging without going anywhere, or without later signing up for a marathon.
I would love to sign up my child for a year of Mandarin immersion, and would follow-up with some other contact with the language, if I were so lucky to get my DC into YY, but somehow couldn't keep her there beyond a year. In my family's situation, I would enroll my DC, and in a couple of years hope her sibling gets in, and keep them there for as long as it's open. it would probably alter our life in a big way, since it would refocus our traveling to an area of the world I don't know, and we would probably change our criteria for who we rent our spare room to, and our reason for renting it. Instead of money to pay for child care, it would become a source of language and cultural exposure, and a source of money for international travel to support my kids' language immersion.
But there you go, dcum has me daydreaming. Back to the reality of the odds and the likely choice between the local dcps and private.
Now, I completely understand how families flaking out at K can be detrimental to the school, and to other students, especially if the charters can't allow test-in new students. That clearly is something that needs to be tweaked.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 13:24
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Whatever. The kid is young. He will get over it. We are talking about first grade, after all, not switching majors in your third year of undergrad. Nothing wasted because he got his brain functioning in a unique way.
It just seems pointless. He may get over it, but what has he gained? Nothing. Because if you don't continue with Mandarin and that is what he would be speaking all day @ 100%. You have nothing to show for it at the end.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 13:20
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Whatever. The kid is young. He will get over it. We are talking about first grade, after all, not switching majors in your third year of undergrad. Nothing wasted because he got his brain functioning in a unique way.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 13:03
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Interesting.
I think unlike many of the other schools, MV, lamb...that offer immersion, you can't half-ass YY. You really need to put in the effort. I think those parents that apply really want the school for their kids.
I agree. Those that apply, want the school. Want it bad.
Not sure I agree. I applied online and despite the problems with the site got my kid's application in successfully at about 8.05am for K. I think that may give us a good timestamp. But we are half-assed about it. My husband is adamant that he doesn't want our kid to learn Chinese. And, though I'm definitely interested, it's not actually in my top 5 list of dream schools.
Just curious - why does your husband now what your kid to learn Chinese? If that is the case, why apply? That's not half-assed, that's a complete rejection of the school since it's Chinese immersion.
PreK3 and PreK4 at Yu Ying is 100% Mandarin immersion. The kid will not learn the alphabet or prereading skills in English. Sending a child there for free daycare and not Mandarin is ridiculous.
I think that putting a kid in a 100% Mandarin environment with plans to pull the kid out after one year dishonors the work that you're forcing the child to do. PK4 at YY is hard work for most kids.
We sent our first to YY because we wanted immersion, though we would have preferred Spanish. We got into our dream school for K, but I realized that it was unfair to him to throw away the hard work he'd done all year. I sometimes regretted that decision, but now (1st grade) I'm really seeing all his efforts pay off.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:45
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Interesting.
I think unlike many of the other schools, MV, lamb...that offer immersion, you can't half-ass YY. You really need to put in the effort. I think those parents that apply really want the school for their kids.
I agree. Those that apply, want the school. Want it bad.
Not sure I agree. I applied online and despite the problems with the site got my kid's application in successfully at about 8.05am for K. I think that may give us a good timestamp. But we are half-assed about it. My husband is adamant that he doesn't want our kid to learn Chinese. And, though I'm definitely interested, it's not actually in my top 5 list of dream schools.
Just curious - why does your husband now what your kid to learn Chinese? If that is the case, why apply? That's not half-assed, that's a complete rejection of the school since it's Chinese immersion.
PreK3 and PreK4 at Yu Ying is 100% Mandarin immersion. The kid will not learn the alphabet or prereading skills in English. Sending a child there for free daycare and not Mandarin is ridiculous.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:42
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Interesting.
I think unlike many of the other schools, MV, lamb...that offer immersion, you can't half-ass YY. You really need to put in the effort. I think those parents that apply really want the school for their kids.
I agree. Those that apply, want the school. Want it bad.
Not sure I agree. I applied online and despite the problems with the site got my kid's application in successfully at about 8.05am for K. I think that may give us a good timestamp. But we are half-assed about it. My husband is adamant that he doesn't want our kid to learn Chinese. And, though I'm definitely interested, it's not actually in my top 5 list of dream schools.
Just curious - why does your husband now what your kid to learn Chinese? If that is the case, why apply? That's not half-assed, that's a complete rejection of the school since it's Chinese immersion.
There will probably not be any spots for K; if there is one or two, they will probably go to siblings of newly admitted PK-ers. So the point may be moot. (I agree with PPs that most, obviously not all, applicants to YY are applying because they are set on Chinese, keen on immersion, or eager to snag a spot at any Tier 1 charter and therefore likely to accept the spot.)
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:40
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP again--
I can share further that at the JKLM I'm talking about the inboundary applicants with siblings have a 50/50 chance of getting in. I know quite a few families this year and over the past 2 years who would prefer the JKLM but also have an interest in Chinese or Spanish and view Yu Ying or Mundo Verde as a back-up for PK. PK is viewed as a bonus year--if the kid likes it and the commute works then they'll stay at the school. If not, the kid will go to the JKLM for K with their guaranteed seat.
I've heard this too and want to comment on it. COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SELFISH. Please don't do this and leave the seats at good charter schools for people who actually need them, that is who don't have good in-bound options and who don't have the funds for private.
I'm one of the people who you're talking about (lives west of the park in a JKLM) and I don't have funds for private for PK either.
You are being just as "selfish" in demanding the spot for free PK for your child as I am in hoping to get it for mine.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:23
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP again--
I can share further that at the JKLM I'm talking about the inboundary applicants with siblings have a 50/50 chance of getting in. I know quite a few families this year and over the past 2 years who would prefer the JKLM but also have an interest in Chinese or Spanish and view Yu Ying or Mundo Verde as a back-up for PK. PK is viewed as a bonus year--if the kid likes it and the commute works then they'll stay at the school. If not, the kid will go to the JKLM for K with their guaranteed seat.
I've heard this too and want to comment on it. COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SELFISH. Please don't do this and leave the seats at good charter schools for people who actually need them, that is who don't have good in-bound options and who don't have the funds for private.
I'm not the PP to whom you are responding but I'm the PP who argued up-thread that it's not selfish. And another person made a good point in response to my post, that LAMB does not accept anyone at K (I presume because of montessori philosophy?). In that case, it sounds like taking a PK3 spot really does tie up that spot "forever" even if you leave at K, and I must admit I didn't know that previously.
But for the other schools, if someone leaves at K, then the spot opens up and you can get it. I really don't see why it is so dastardly to take a spot for pk3 and/or 4 while considering other options for K onward. As for immersion programs, this is another good point made by the PP up thread, but I am assuming that you will pursue some language learning in whatever your backup plan is (nanny who speaks the language, classes if you are SAHM, whatever suits your situation). I realize this will be easier for some families than others. For example if your situation requires you to stay in a particular private daycare that doesn't offer immersion (maybe one associated with your workplace), then this will be a challenge.
As for us, we're more agnostic/open-minded about both our IB and our lottery picks. We'll wait and see what we do. But it's quite possible that we will attend one school for Pk3/4 and another from K onward and I really don't see any issue with that.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:22
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Interesting.
I think unlike many of the other schools, MV, lamb...that offer immersion, you can't half-ass YY. You really need to put in the effort. I think those parents that apply really want the school for their kids.
I agree. Those that apply, want the school. Want it bad.
Not sure I agree. I applied online and despite the problems with the site got my kid's application in successfully at about 8.05am for K. I think that may give us a good timestamp. But we are half-assed about it. My husband is adamant that he doesn't want our kid to learn Chinese. And, though I'm definitely interested, it's not actually in my top 5 list of dream schools.
Just curious - why does your husband now what your kid to learn Chinese? If that is the case, why apply? That's not half-assed, that's a complete rejection of the school since it's Chinese immersion.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:11
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:PP again--
I can share further that at the JKLM I'm talking about the inboundary applicants with siblings have a 50/50 chance of getting in. I know quite a few families this year and over the past 2 years who would prefer the JKLM but also have an interest in Chinese or Spanish and view Yu Ying or Mundo Verde as a back-up for PK. PK is viewed as a bonus year--if the kid likes it and the commute works then they'll stay at the school. If not, the kid will go to the JKLM for K with their guaranteed seat.
I've heard this too and want to comment on it. COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SELFISH. Please don't do this and leave the seats at good charter schools for people who actually need them, that is who don't have good in-bound options and who don't have the funds for private.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 11:08
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
Anonymous wrote:Interesting.
I think unlike many of the other schools, MV, lamb...that offer immersion, you can't half-ass YY. You really need to put in the effort. I think those parents that apply really want the school for their kids.
I agree. Those that apply, want the school. Want it bad.
Not sure I agree. I applied online and despite the problems with the site got my kid's application in successfully at about 8.05am for K. I think that may give us a good timestamp. But we are half-assed about it. My husband is adamant that he doesn't want our kid to learn Chinese. And, though I'm definitely interested, it's not actually in my top 5 list of dream schools.
Anonymous
03/28/2014 10:03
Subject: Yu Ying waitlist hypothesis
I know it has to be parents that are worried about not getting into one of the schools they want so they applied to all of the non common app schools for safety. It will also be families that want all of the children to be in the same school and if that can't happen at YY they are not interested.