Big Kids Club is an enrichment program designed by veteran educators from Mandarin Seeds, a trusted go-to destination for children’s Mandarin language classes since 2008. This distinctive program is designed for heritage speakers and alumni graduated from Ya Ya Preschool with prior Mandarin background. The key focus is to advance children's listening and speaking skills in Mandarin, while nurturing their appreciation for the Chinese language and their motivation to learn it
Class Schedule Options
*Annual enrollment only from September to June*
Please click here to view the calendar.
Registration Process
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Registration for the school year of 2024-25 is currently closed. Please email us directly to inquire about spots.
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Priority will be given to currently enrolled students and graduates of Ya Ya Preschool from the current school year.
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A student’s spot will be confirmed only if the tuition invoice is fully paid. Please understand that we will not be able to save any spot after the invoice deadline is past, and the spot will be released to the next student on the waitlist.
Highly Selective Educators: We take pride in adhering to the highest selection criteria for qualified Mandarin teachers. Our teachers participate in ongoing training and receive support from hands-on Directors who ensure consistent curriculum planning.
STEAM Projects & Activities: Our teachers are experts at designing open-ended art activities and stimulating science experiments. The teachers primarily use Mandarin instructions to guide these hands-on projects. Mandarin vocabulary and meaningful discussions are seamlessly woven into carefully planned activities. Our teaching approach aims to recreate an extracurricular experience similar to what students would have in Taiwan or China. (Scroll down to view some classroom photos and read more about the types of art and science activities we typically do in class.)
Learning Goals:
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Advancing listening and speaking skills in meaningful contexts.
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Building pre-reading Chinese literacy skills
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Broadening vocabulary through topic studies
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Fostering motivation to learn the Chinese language & culture
Continuity & Commitment: Acquiring proficiency in a language is comparable to mastering a musical instrument, requiring years of consistent practice, repetition and commitment. This is why we only offer an annual program schedule, from September to June.
Please email yaya@yayapreschool.org for any questions.
Notable Key Features
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you teach Chinese character reading and writing?
While we do not teach Chinese character reading and writing based on textbooks, we support our children to develop early Chinese literacy skills with our in-house designed books with Chinese characters. Our immersive classroom environment is intentionally set up to act as an invisible teacher, with Chinese characters labeled everywhere, on the bulletin board, calendar, projects, and story books. Early readers have plenty of opportunities to learn.
Can my child join if they don’t already speak Mandarin?
Our programs are designed for children who already can understand basic classroom instructions and directions in Mandarin (either our alumni from Ya Ya preschool day school program or a Mandarin native speaker at home). If your child is under 4 years of age, we highly recommend starting the journey with our day school Ya Ya Preschool.
Are Chinese reading and writing classes offered at Ya Ya?
Our program is a comprehensive Mandarin program that focuses on listening and speaking skills, as well as pre-reading and pre-writing Chinese literacy skills.
If you wish to focus on learning reading and writing, you may wish to consider another Chinese language program called CCBG, which will teach pinyin, reading and writing systematically.
What is a typical Class Like?
Our teachers excel in guiding children to use Mandarin in a diverse range of art and science activities, sparking their motivation to learn beyond the language.
In the science domain, the children learn to build skills in critical thinking and problem solving. Have you observed how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly? Why does vinegar and baking soda create a chemical reaction that will help propel a rocket that we have created? How does an elevator work and how do we build one so that it can go up and down? How do we turn flour into colorful playdough?
In the art domain, the children use their imagination and think outside-the-box through open-ended art projects. How do we use recycled materials such as empty bottles, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, and turn them into our very own unique art pieces, like using egg cartons to create a boat or a helicopter?
Cooking projects incorporate both art and science! We have made yummy treats such as baked apple crisps, sticky rice balls, bubble teas and more!
芽芽小學堂裡的學生都是小小科學家和藝術家。芽芽科學家將透過生動有趣的科學活動，探索自然科學的奧妙，培養創意思考和解決問題的能力。你看過毛毛蟲變成蝴蝶的過程嗎？要怎麼使用醋和小蘇打粉發射自治火箭呢？電梯是怎麼升上去和降下來的呢？芽芽藝術家將透過充滿創意的藝術課程，把喝完的水瓶、用完的衛生紙盒、家裡不要的雞蛋盒子，這些隨手可得的物品變廢為寶，賦予它們全新的生命。你知道怎麼把麵粉變成黏土嗎？要如何把雞蛋盒子變成直升機還有船呢？你也喜歡當小廚師嗎？ 我們可以來烤蘋果酥，揉揉湯圓和做珍珠奶茶。
讓我們動動腦和動動手一起做實驗，一起拿起畫筆，剪刀和工具，把想像力變成超能力吧！