Approach To Teaching
METHODOLOGY
At Planet Han, our goal is to help each child be comfortable in conversing in everyday Mandarin in various degrees within one year. The success of our program is based on our novel and proven teaching approach called
M.A.T. – MODEL.ACTION.TALK.*
– where children use the language the majority of the time in the classroom. This exciting methodology has been modified and used successfully to teach young children in multiple settings including a nursery school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
MODEL:
Teacher introduces new vocabulary words, sentences and questions
ACTION:
Children put these words into action through movement, song, play and artwork
TALK:
Children repeat and practice in an engaging format
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Our curriculum stresses daily practical usage. We believe children will be better motivated and rewarded when they experience Mandarin on a daily basis. It could be as simple as your child saying “I love you” in Mandarin to their grandparents.
We believe that children learn best through hands on experience. We use puppets, games, movement, art, crafts, bean bags, flash cards and even chopsticks to reinforce language!
Songs are another key element of our curriculum, especially for 2-3 year olds as they learn best through singing and music. We adapt preschool favorites such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with Mandarin lyrics.
The use of songs gradually decreases for older age groups. It is replaced with rhymes and poems, sentences and questions. We focus heavily on the Tones and “Pinyin Alphabets” as that is the key to mastering conversational Mandarin.
Each lesson is tailored with the children’s natural progression in mind. Our curriculum is a four year rotation and unit based.
