PRESCHOOL IMMERSION APPROACH 

The Children’s House program has a Chinese and a Japanese track. In both tracks, the entire morning (from 9 am – 1 pm) is taught in the target language. All teachers speak only in Chinese/Japanese with the children and with each other. Classroom time also includes read-aloud sessions, cultural materials, and songs in Chinese/Japanese. In the afternoon, a head teacher stays in the classroom and continues instruction in Chinese/Japanese. She is joined by one or more English-speaking teachers, who work with the children to translate skills learned in the target language (e.g., counting or arithmetic) into English. The afternoons are also where English writing and reading are emphasized. Because the afternoons are when most English language instruction takes place, we require children who are no longer napping to stay until 3:30 pm. We believe this 100% immersion approach is essential in enabling children to speak the language, and not just understand it.