Michigan

Another interesting approach to early childhood.

mlive.com

Chinese immersion program targets preschoolers
3/12/2006,

The Associated Press

(AP) — BAY CITY, Mich. — Bay City Public Schools plan to begin teaching some 3- and 4-year-olds in Mandarin Chinese as part of an immersion program that officials hope will help them become more competitive in the global economy.

The idea is that young children are like sponges, making it easier for them to learn a foreign language than for an older person, said Suzanne Murphy, the school district's director of the gifted and talented program and special projects.

"The younger the child, the more open they are to learning," she told The Bay City Times for a story published Sunday.

For half the day, the children at the Webster Childcare Center would be taught in Mandarin Chinese while being immersed in the Chinese culture and the Chinese way of teaching preschool. For the other half of the day, the children would be taught in English, using traditional American curricula.

Because of budget constraints, the school district cannot provide any funding for the project. Instead, planners are seeking grants and contributions.

Although Chinese classes are not yet an option at other Bay City schools, long-range plans call for the preschool program to be expanded to higher grades.

If it is, the preschoolers who have been exposed to Chinese will have the basics under their belts.

"Anything that you do ... when you go to pick it up again it will come much easier than for someone who's never had it," Murphy said.

Chinese has been a part of the high school curriculum in Huron County for more than 20 years.
Annie Eichler, who teaches the language to about 115 students at Laker High School in Pigeon and four other schools via videoconferencing, said several of her students have been offered jobs in China. Others have put the language to use in fields such as in nursing, where workers may encounter non-English speaking patients.

A pilot project that began in January is bringing Mandarin Chinese via the Internet and Michigan Virtual University to 30 students at 21 high schools across Michigan. The plan is to make it available to all high schools this fall.

Speaking Chinese could provide students with opportunities across the globe. About 1.3 billion people worldwide speak Chinese, according to the Asia Society, an international nonprofit group promoting U.S.-Asia relations.

"Our world is Hindi, Farsi and Chinese," Murphy said. "We want our kids to be prepared and to compete globally."