My husband and I have always valued raising our five children bilingually. As we both speak only English, it has been a bit more difficult for us to pull off. After we arrived here, I started looking around for schools that taught Mandarin.

I was very impressed with the ChildFirst facilities. Everything was very new and clean. My children immediately started playing in the main playroom and had so much fun discovering the food market, the costumes, and the dolls.

Nowadays, my children converse in Mandarin when they don’t want me to know what they are talking about! Isaac can also read simple stories in Mandarin and can write some Chinese characters. He is even beginning to read and write in English. Anna (N2) is learning so much Mandarin and is able to talk to her teachers and sing songs to me in Mandarin. This past January, their younger brother Patrick joined them. He really enjoys his teachers and his first school experience has been a positive one.


我和丈夫一直都希望让孩子们在双语环境中成长，但由于我们本身只会英语，这个愿望很难实现。当我们 来到这里后，我开始四处寻找教双语的学校。

一进才儿坊校园，我就对学校的环境留下了非常深的印象。所有的设施都很新、很干净。我的孩子们也立 刻扎进了多彩的游戏/角色馆，食品街、角色扮演馆、木偶剧院…，玩得不亦乐乎。

现在, 当我孩子们不想我了解他们的谈话时，他们就会用普通话交谈！Isaac还能阅读简短的中文故事书，还 会写一些汉字。同时，他也开始读写英语了。小班的Anna很喜欢学习中文，她能与老师交谈，还会为我唱 中文歌呢！今年一月，他们的弟弟Patrick也加入了才儿坊。他很喜爱他的老师们。显然，他的学习生涯有了 一个美好的开端。

Mary Ellen Lewis: 一位五个孩子的美国母亲
她的孩子们分别是Caroline (7岁)，Isaac (5岁)，Anna (4岁)，Patrick (2岁)和Julia (9 个月)