Our Mandarin classes for children have been researched and developed for children who are both native and non-native Chinese speakers. Currently, the majority of children who attend our classes are non-native speakers. Our Mandarin Stars community is diverse and we welcome children from all cultural backgrounds.
Ni hao!
Mandarin Stars was thrilled to be featured in the Australian Financial Review last Saturday 17th July.
The article focuses on the benefits of Mandarin learning for families of all different backgrounds, especially from a young age. We were particularly pleased to see the article capturing the essence of Mandarin learning at Mandarin Stars, with our focus on immersing children in the language through fun activities and games.
(For subscribers to the Fin Rev, check out the article here at: http://afr.com/p/national/mandarin_for_toddlers_is_the_language_UVKGD5OnfsNqXq1eDhk7VM)
A very special thanks to Sally and Craig (a long-term family involved with the Mandarin Stars community), whose son Anthony featured as our young representative Mandarin STAR! To blatantly steal Sally’s line (which we love): “They’re little human sponges and they’re desperate to learn” – we highly encourage that children be exposed to Mandarin during early childhood, given the evidenced linguistic and intellectual benefits of exposure at a younger age.
Xie xie!
Dawna and the Mandarin Stars Team!
Mandarin Stars provides fun and inspiring Mandarin Chinese lessons for children age 1 to 12 years. Our Mandarin program for children is designed for children from all nationalities and our program is specifically designed for non-native learners. To find out more and to read about what our parents and the wider community think of us- please visit www.mandarinstars.com.au
Ni hao!
Firstly I just want to say ‘GOODBYE FROM MANDARIN STARS FOR TERM 2!’ to all of our wonderful parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers at Mandarin Stars!
I hope everyone enjoyed the fun Chinese Dragon Boat Festival celebrations! At Mandarin Stars, the children celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival by practising new vocabulary and phrases, acting out the Dragon Boat races, and even making special, celebratory Chinese Tamales!
To find out more about the festival: visit this link to an actual Dragon Boat race, and learn how to make tasty treats here!
These fun, exciting classes were in addition to the usual focus each week on our key learning areas at Mandarin Stars – Self Introduction, Colours, Family members and Body parts, and learning how to say and build basic phrases and sentences such as:
- I would like/ I don’t like…
- Yes please…
- No thank you…
- Please may I have…?
- What’s this?
Over the Term 2 holidays, I highly encourage that parents use and practice these phrases at home with your child, supported by the downloadable flash cards and sound files from our online Activity Centre. In particular, the new sound file that Claire and I have completed covers all the core sentences/ phrases that we teach and reinforce at Mandarin Stars.
New classes at Castle Hill and Cremorne for Term 3!
Mandarin Stars is proud to announce that we will now be offering Mandarin Chinese playgroups and classes for children age 2 to 5 years at Castle Hill on Friday AND Cremorne on Saturday, beginning in Term 3! Our Castle Hill classes on Friday will run as follows:
9:45am to 10:45am: Class for 2 to 5 years (Pre-schooler Class)
10:45am to 11:45am: Class for 2 to 5 years (Pre-schooler Class)
11:45am to 12:45pm: Class for 2 to 5 years (Pre-schooler Class)
For more information about all classes at Castle Hills, please visit:
http://www.mandarinstars.com.au/main/page_timetable_castle_hill.html
The Castle Hill classes will be taught by Andrea:
Andrea has a completed a MA in Translation and Interpreting from Macquarie University and has been teaching with Mandarin Stars for 9 months.
Andrea has also completed several Mandarin Stars training programs and also external events with the LRCA. Passionate about teaching in the Pre-school space, Andrea has been teaching our under 5’s with Claire on a Monday at Newtown and has also been leading the Mandarin Language Club at Beecroft Buddies Daycare Centre with much success (so much so that when she has to leave- the children ask her why she has to go and if she can please stay!).
Our Cremorne classes on Saturday will run as follows:
9am to 10am: Class for 1 to 3 years (Mandarin for Tots)
10am to 11am: Class for 3 to 5 years (Pre-schooler Class)
11am to 12pm: Class for 3 to 5 years (Pre-schooler Class)
For a timetable of all classes at Cremorne, please visit:
http://www.mandarinstars.com.au/main/page_timetable_cremorne.html
The Cremorne classes will be taught by Athena:
Athena is currently pursuing a MA in Education from the University of Sydney, and is a keen advocate of bilingual learning, which she has spoken about in educational conferences.
Athena’s experience with teaching with the Beijing International Education Institute, Beijing Juren Education Group and training with Mandarin Stars has allowed for a wonderful transition into the Mandarin Stars classes. She has been teaching together with Colleen and Claire at Chatswood on Fridays and Saturdays, and her enthusiasm is very infectious for both our teachers and the children!
Each 1 hour class costs $25/ class (fees are payable per term) and includes all materials and online resources which contains flashcards, phrase sheets (with sound files), weekly activity sheets, bonus work sheets and also traditional Chinese recipes for the whole family to try!
Class sizes will be limited to 6 children per class thus early enrolment is recommended. Note that we offer a FREE trial lesson for all new students.
Our Mandarin classes for children are:
- Immersion based and suitable for non-native learners
- Professionally developed
- Deliver proven results
- Trusted by parents
- Respected by academia and Mandarin teachers worldwide (see our testimonials at www.mandarinstars.com.au to find out more)
- Loved by children!
If you would like to reserve a place or book a FREE TRIAL in any of these classes – feel free to contact the Enrolments team on: (02) 8437 2498 or enrol@mandarinstars.com.au
New classes at Chatswood for Term 3!
Mandarin Stars is pleased to announce that we will be running a NEW Bubs to Tots group, for children aged 1 to 2 years old, as well as new Playgroup classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Chatswood!
NEW 45 minute Bubs to Tots Group for 1 to 2 year olds!
We are delighted to offer 3 x new 45 minute Bubs to Tots Groups for children age 1 to 2 years as follows:
- Tuesday at 915am to 10.00am
- Wednesdays at 915am to 10.00am
- Saturdays at Saturday at 915am to 10.00am
Cost: $20/ class
Inclusions: Access to a dedicated Online Activity Centre where parents can download flashcards (with sound files), links to music, colouring sheets and guidance and newsbites on developing bilingualism and how Monolingual parents/ carers can support the learning and teaching of a second language from an early age.
This class has been especially designed with this age group in mind and will be for 45 minutes. This interactive session will involve lots of movement, singing, dancing and interactive play with our Puppets. Completely 100% immersion in Mandarin, your child be exposed to Mandarin in a very natural, play based and Montessori inspired environment.
Places will be limited in this session and priority will be give to current Mandarin Stars parents.
NEW 1 hour Pre-Schooler Classes for children age 3 to 5 year olds!
We are delighted to offer some more new classes on a Thursday for our 3 to 5 years olds as follows:
Thursday 1030am to 1130am
Thursday 3.00pm to 4.00pm
These classes are very similar to the regular 90 minutes playgroups however they are condensed to 1 hour as they do not include a Morning/ Afternoon Tea. These sessions are focused on developing strong listening and speaking skills in Mandarin and will be taught by our qualified Mandarin teacher Lynne. Lynne has completed her Certificate in Language Teaching which has been developed by The Department of Education and the University of Wollongong and is looking forward to practicing the knowledge she has acquired from her course.
To see a full updated timetable for all of our classes at Chatswood, Cremorne, Newtown, Thornleigh, Castle Hill and Bondi Junction, please visit:
http://www.mandarinstars.com.au/main/page_timetable_chatswood.html
NEW Mandarin Stars After Schools Clubs at Strathfield South Public School and Northside Montessori
Mandarin Stars is pleased to announce that we will be commencing our SuperSTARS classes at Strathfield South Public School, on Thursday afternoons:
3:15pm to 4:15pm Kindergarten to Year 2
4:15pm to 5:15pm Year 3 to 6
Also – we are commencing the After Schools Club at Northside Montessori from Term 3, which will run on Thursdays from 12:30pm to 1:30pm.
Mandarin Stars is looking forward to our involvement with these learning communities, and our teachers are keen to share our immersion-based program and encourage more children to enjoy the benefits of our structured learning classes!
To book a free trial lesson for any of our classes, please contact us on 8437 2498 or email enrol@mandarinstars.com.au and we will arrange this for you.
Welcoming Abbotsleigh’s AbbSchool to our learning community!
Mandarin Stars is proud to have been selected to run our program at Abbotsleigh’s AbbSchool!
We will be teaching boys and girls across K to 12 on a Thursday afternoon and are looking forward to extending our classes in the North Shore. AbbSchool is Abbotsleigh’s extended tuition and holiday programs. The courses are offered to the school and also to the wider community. In additional to the Mandarin classes that they offer, they also run a range of courses including:
- Dramatic Arts
- Tennis
- Swimming and Diving
- Sport (capoeira, fencing, sport aerobics, rhythmic gymnastics, taekwondo)
- Languages
- Cooking
- African Drumming
- Holiday programs (including tennis programs, sport clinics, performing arts workshops, swimming and diving)
- Various adult programs
To find out more about AbbSchool – please contact abbschool@abbostleigh.nsw.edu.au or visit their website at www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au
Involvement with Asia Education Foundation
Mandarin Stars has been invited by the Asia Education Foundation to be an Ambassador for their Asia Literacy Ambassadors project. The Asia Literacy Ambassadors – Partnering Businesses & Schools project – is a two-year initiative that establishes and supports partnerships between businesses (in the form of Asia Literacy Ambassadors) and schools with the objective of stimulating and increasing student and school community demand for Asia literacy. To find out more about this project- please visit: http://ambassador.asiaeducation.edu.au
In addition, we have been asked if Mandarin Stars can be added to the Asia Education Foundation’s Business Alliance list – a group of organizations that recognize the value of, and support, the development of Asia-literate young Australians.Other supporters include various Peak Organizations and Business Councils and Corporations such as KPMG, Qantas, Macquarie Group, GE Australia and NZ, Deutsche Bank, Australia/ New Zealand and DuPont Australia Ltd to name a few. According to the Alliance,
‘Asia is becoming more important to the global economy. Within 10 years, the region will have three of the four largest economies of the world. A generational shift of financial might is occurring from the west to the east. The IMF forecasts the global economy to decline by 1.3 percent yet developing Asia is predicted to be much stronger at 4.8 percent growth. Increasingly, Australian business leaders see Asia as a growth engine. Many companies are consequently investing in ensuring their talent base is Asia literate, able to leverage opportunities and minimize risk in this new economy.’
Mandarin Stars is proud to have been invited to fulfill these new roles and will work hard in helping to contribute to Asia literacy in Australia.
Staff Training and Program Development
Our teachers Vicky and Betty have attended a course this term on: “Alive with Music and Movement – Introduction to Brain Dance 0-5 years”
According to Betty, the course was really fun and interactive and she commented that:
‘Vicky and I really enjoyed the course… during the course we were required to dance and move with the lecturer which was very interesting and informative as well. I believe that some of the music and games we learnt will be quite useful for us at Mandarin Stars. We can definitely add so many new ‘Language Music Games’ in our Playgroup Programs as well as Superstars Programs which will really aid language learning.
Also – Andrea is attending some courses with The Montessori Children’s Foundation.We look forward to hearing about her experiences after the program!
Mandarin Stars is always keen to sponsor our teachers to attend courses to develop their practical skills, as Vicky and Betty have not only benefited from the workshop personally … also, by sharing their experiences with the entire Mandarin Stars team, we are better able to improve and enrich our program and teacher’s skills across all the classes. At our next staff development day in the coming school holidays, our teachers have agreed to demonstrate what they have learnt to the rest of the team.
Thank you Vicky, Betty and Andrea!
As part of our ongoing commitment to support your child’s Mandarin learning outside of the Mandarin Stars lessons, we would like to share some excellent videos online. Full of sounds, colour and fun, these resources are an excellent and educational way to enjoy Mandarin together with your child on a rainy day. Visit the blog here for our recommendations.
National curriculum for Asian studies?
“We sometimes hear that all will be well because Asians will all learn English, but this is naïve and self-deluding nonsense. How can we hope to resolve vital issues for our future like people smuggling, terrorism, or climate change, and how can we capitalise on economic growth in Asia, if Australians do not even speak the languages of own region? We urgently need to invest in our future by rebuilding Asian language studies before it is too late.”
The Asia Education Foundation has recently published a report illustrating Australia’s declining state in bilingual learning of Asian languages. Read more about their discussion and recommendations here.
Also, Sid Myer, chairman of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program Reference Group, proposes the importance of incoporating Asian studies into a national curriculum. For more on his article, ”Asia focus a smart call for schools”, visit our blog here.
About our teaching team
I would like to welcome Joy, Jenny, Athena, Iris and Lynn to our teaching team. They have been training across different classes and we look forward to them developing their teaching careers with us.
On behalf of the team, we congratulate and wish Betty much success in now teaching the Monday and Saturday groups with Anna at Bondi Junction. Betty is passionate about teaching Mandarin to children and is a great asset to our team. Trained by Colleen, Betty has an MA in Interpreting and Translation and taught English and Art in China for 3 years. She is also an IELTS ( International English Language Testing System) teacher and volunteers for The Smith Family teaching migrants and refugees in the Home Tutor Scheme. Betty has acquired a wealth of knowledge in teaching languages and we are proud to have her in our team. If you would like to read more about Betty or any of our other team members – please visit http://www.mandarinstars.com.au/main/page_meet_the_team.html for more details.
In recruiting and training new teachers, Mandarin Stars is very aware of the different accents and dialects that exist across China. All our teachers are fluent in STANDARD Mandarin – we are strict about enforcing this requirement to ensure consistency in the Mandarin that families and children with Mandarin Stars are exposed to. This way, we eliminate any possibility of confusion for children to learn the tones, and to support their overall listening and speaking skills.
If there are any suggestions or comments you have about our program or classes, we would love to hear from you! Feel free to contact enrol@mandarinstars.com.au or (02) 8437 2498, we value the contributions and support from families enrolled with Mandarin Stars!
Some very special news …
Finally, I am delighted to announce some very exciting news for our teacher Colleen, who has been with Mandarin Stars since our inception.Colleen is expecting her first baby later this year! The team and I are very excited for Colleen and her husband Josh and we wish them much love, good health and happiness as they prepare for their new addition. Colleen has decided that she would like to take time off teaching as of Term 3 and plans to return next year (hopefully she might bring her baby to some of the Toddler classes too!). She will however take on the role of Training Co-ordinator and will be researching, planning and running staff workshops. She will also come into classes to assess new trainees so parents and children may see her lovely smile again.
On behalf of the team and myself again – congratulations to Colleen and Josh!
Xie xie!
Dawna and the Mandarin Stars Team!
Mandarin Stars provides fun and inspiring Mandarin Chinese lessons for children age 1 to 12 years. Our Mandarin program for children is designed for children from all nationalities and our program is specifically designed for non-native learners. To find out more and to read about what our parents and the wider community think of us- please visit www.mandarinstars.com.au
