03/10/2007

Preschool students to get a taste of Chinese

District to participate in language program this fall

By Christine Finger

cfinger@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Area Public Schools will pilot a Chinese-language preschool program this fall under a new partnership with Michigan State University.

The district was one of two statewide recently chosen to participate in the Education for Global Citizenship project, an initiative of the U.S.-China Center and the Confucius Institute at MSU.

A team of educators from the United States and China developed the model curriculum. Students will spend half of their day in an Eastern classroom where Chinese is spoken and the other half in an English-language classroom.

Superintendent James Feil said the bilingual, bicultural program will be an asset for TCAPS and its students.

"With the global economy, there are more people (who) speak Chinese,” he said. "This is an opportunity for children have that exposure.”

As a partner in the project, TCAPS will have access to resources including curriculum, professional development and a teacher from China who will come to Traverse City to teach.

Cheryl Bloomquist, TCAPS early childhood director, said the new classes shouldn't require any new money from the district.

Current funding from the Michigan School Readiness Program will pay for participation by qualifying at-risk students. Other families will be charged tuition.

"There will be a mix of children,” Bloomquist said.

The program immerses students in the Mandarin Chinese language and culture. Teachers will speak only Chinese in the Eastern classroom and use gestures and other non-verbal tools to help students learn basic Chinese while studying subjects including math, science and language arts.

The Western classroom uses the Reggio Emilia method, a child-centered teaching strategy that focuses on creative thinking and exploration. In the Eastern classroom, teachers will lead students and emphasize content knowledge.

Each classroom can accommodate up to 16 students, with a total of 32 students in the program at one site. Bloomquist said the district is considering several locations, including Traverse Heights Elementary.

For the next two years, TCAPS will implement the preschool program with the ultimate goal of extending it into other grades. In the 2008-2009 school year, enrichment activities will allow kindergarten students to continue learning in the Chinese-English immersion environment.