WELCOME TO YINGHUA ACADEMY

KINDERGARTEN

MAIN TOPICS FOR TONIGHT Chinese Language Arts curriculum Singapore Math Science Whole School and Classroom Expectations How to get involved at school Important Events

KINDERGARTEN CHINESE LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM

My First Chinese Words 36 Book set from Better Chinese

I Love Chinese: The 14 book set from Better Chinese

青 (qīng) 田 (tián) story books Singapore reading materials Reading materials from China

BASIC CONCEPTS OF IMMERSION EDUCATION

Language acquisition vs. Language Learning

Chinese immersion environment Connect sound to print and connect

print to meaning (Same as MN English Language Arts standards)

IMMERSION TEACHING STRATEGIES Use daily routine phrases Visual aids Body language Facial expressions Sing Chinese songs Recite Chinese poems Nursery rhymes Read stories

HOW TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START WRITING CHINESE

CHARACTERS Be familiar with the 18 basic

strokes Follow the writing rules Use the proper stroke order

when writing characters Practice is the key

WHAT ARE CHINESE CHARACTERS? Multiple types of characters (e.g.

pictographs, ideographs, compound pictographs, compound ideographs, semi-phonetic compounds, etc..)

Starting with simple characters, such as pictographic characters

EXAMPLES OF PICTOGRAPHIC CHARACTERS

EXAMPLE OF A CHINESE CHARACTER

WHEN YOUR CHILD GRADUATES FROM YA KINDERGARTEN

Your child-- Will be able to understand the classroom

directions from teachers in Chinese Will be able to express their needs and

wants with Chinese speakers Will understand the basic strokes and

formation of characters Will be able to write at least 80 Chinese

characters Will recognize at least 150 Chinese

characters

SINGAPORE MATH Singapore Math Method - follows a spiral progression - Principles: Three step learning

model, moving from the concrete, to the pictorial, to the abstract

-consistent and strong emphasis on problem solving and model drawing

SINGAPORE MATH

Suitable for immersion program -Builds upon preceding levels. -Explanations of math concepts are

exceptionally clear and simple.

SCIENCE Follows the MN Science Standard Follows the Core Knowledge Scope and

Sequence Integrates with Chinese Language Arts in the

immersion classroom ,e.g. observe plants growth

Fosters a science attitude: "The success of science has more to do with an

attitude common to scientists than with a particular method. This attitude is one of inquiry, experimentation, and humility before the facts." - Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, Second Edition, p. 3

Hands on activities, experiment experiences

SCIENCEElementary school children are in a concrete

operational stage of their development. (Piaget, 1958)

--Invisible things must be represented in concrete form to enable these children to grasp the concepts.

IN YOUR HANDOUT• Kindergarten Curriculum Map• School Wide Calendar• Class Schedule• Class List• Kindergarten Classroom Rules

A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR• Read to your child everyday• Good rest and eat well• Check sent home folder every night• Check our Classroom Page weekly

(password: welovechinese)• Arrive at school on time and pick up on time• Individual snack in the backpack • Turn in homework on time• Learn with your child• Be involved

EXCITING EVENTS• Three field trips• Star of the week• Grandparents’ Day- October 23• Chinese New Year Performance-2/08/2013• Academic Performance-5/17/2013

COMMUNICATE WITH US VIA…• E-mail• Notes in the folder• Class Coordinators KG4 Coordinators are: Ana Ly, Carrie NorthCasey Piersma, Jeralyn Thelen, Matt Hinton • Kinder Campus Office (Kinder cell 612-212-

4463)• Report an Absence”- go to the Yinghua home page

and scroll to the bottom, there is a link in the black bar at bottom. Click on that link and fill in the form, the school will receive an email with the information.

谢 (XIE)谢 (XIE)