Chinese language class

We checked out a toddler Chinese language class last weekend down by Lincoln Park. I don’t remember what prompted me to sign us up for this, but the upshot is I found three competing language “schools” that offered toddler language classes. This place was the first to respond, and we set up a free “come-check-us-out!” session.

We got there in perfect time, and were introduced to Winnie from Taiwan – a high-energy girl who encouraged us to participate with/for Joey during the class. There were I think five other toddlers, all there with just their dads (which I found amusing for some reason).

It was interesting to see how the lesson was structured. She basically had bags of toys/activities which she would whip out and introduce. One bag was tambourines, and she went to each child and queued them on how to say “please give me the tambourine” in Chinese – and would cheer if the child said it, but also accepted if the parent said it in lieu of the toddler (who was either too young or too shy). Then she’d give them the tambourine. Then when everyone got a tambourine we’d sing “tambourine tambourine tambourine” in Chinese. Then we would all say “goodbye tambourine” in Chinese, and move on to the next bag.

There was also a segment where all the toddlers were asked to sit around a little table, parents were told to sniff their hands and say stinky, then everyone took turns asking for a clean wipe, and then took turns asking for a plate, then either some cheerios or goldfish crackers.

Tom’s comment today when we talked about it: “He is sooo my child. All the kids were done eating and he was still popping cheerios one by one.”

I’d say that we would definitely be up for something like that – except I think the classes are $40 per hour which is a little steep. The plan is to check out the other two competitors and see what’s what. At the very least, I’ll get some ideas on how to teach it myself at home.

Why wouldn’t I do that anyway? Well, I think it helps if people other than just Mom (and a bit of Dad) is babbling at him in Chinese. Already he seems less stubborn about repeating things to me in Chinese – he seems to like counting in both English and Chinese since we came away from the class. So… we’ll see!

I’m usually full of plans but my follow through record isn’t the greatest…

Here’s a pic taken on the way to the class:

Meanwhile, snapshot of the latest “meal” I came up with:

Pasta sauce is from the Allrecipes.com World’s Best Lasagna sauce, cooked up and saved in containers. Added yellow bell peppers and rotini and macaroni pasta. I tried it with angelhair and he gets frustrated with it.