Teaching Chinese Language To Preschoolers
Learning centers in both Naperville and Schaumburg are planning a unique way to introduce area children to China’s Mandarin language at a very young age this fall. Beginning Sept. 8, a KinderCare Learning Center in Schaumburg and a Knowledge Beginnings center in Naperville will offer an immersion program in Mandarin for 3- to 5-year-olds.
Their parent company, Knowledge Learning Corp., has selected only five locations across the nation to host this program. Patricia Koh created the Mandarin bilingual immersion program 20 years ago in Singapore, and is now bringing it to these limited locations in the United States.
She was at an open house Tuesday evening at the Schaumburg KinderCare for parents curious about the program. In Singapore, Mandarin is a second language after English, but Koh said she’s seen kids benefit from such early immersion in a second language for two decades.
