Our family has attended Kids Go Mandarin for several sessions since our son was 2 years old. Specifically we attended the Winter Holiday, Spring, and Summer sessions. And now we are enrolled for the upcoming Fall session.
The Winter one was impactful in holiday activities with the Mandarin songs. This 3-class intimate session was what won us over to give up most Saturday mornings for nearly a year. My son is incredibly engaged, always asks to listen to Mandarin music on repeat, and can belt out songs on a whim. Our family puts as much emphasis on Mandarin-immersion learning as possible, and my son has absorbed a lot in these classes.
Culturally, I know some kids grow up with slightly different childhood music in China, Singapore, Philippines, and Taiwan. I noticed a slant towards Taiwanese childhood music, which is nostalgic for me. Secondly, the class starts with a little zhuyin and drum beat exercise, which I appreciate, since many Mandarin-immersion programs have completely done away with Zhuyin and focus on Pinyin. Thirdly, when there is a Chinese holiday, there is always something special. You will have to attend to find out. Fourth, the accompanied CD or MP3 files start with the spoken lyrics, followed by singing of the song, and ends with the instrumental version. My son's intonation, pronunciation, and enunciation has improved by listening to the spoken lyrics. This type of multi-layered repetition is useful not just for learning but also for speech & language therapy, especially to distinguish among 4 intonations. Lastly, the original and rearranged songs have soothing instruments and are sung by the teachers and children. There is no hyper-digitized and high pitched music that we often hear on children's youtube.
I also appreciate the lyric books which have traditional characters and Pinyin. I noticed non-Mandarin speaking parents pick up a few songs through repetition and by studying the Pinyin.
Prior to this, we had done Music Together through a different program, East Bay Music Together (not through Vita's Early Start music). In comparison, my son had a lot more fun with the energetic Chih-Hui and Vita. Both teachers have incredibly creative movement and hands-on props to maximize the kids' interest, curiosity and anticipation. I totally agree with Cindy's review that the amount of effort the teachers put into this class is refreshing compared to other programs. And there is more exposure time to real instruments. For Chih-Hui, she does this to benefit the greater community of families that are looking for creative Mandarin outlets. Definitely selfless. The sessions tend to go longer than 45-minutes, which is fine in my lazy parenting books. I take any relief I can get, even if it is 15 more minutes!
Out of all the organized activities our toddler has done (soccer, swim, Music Together, Mandarin playgroup, and gymnastics), Kids Go Mandarin tops my son's request list. He always asks for Mandarin music class during the week even though we go once a weekend. Obviously word has spread because the sessions quickly sell out. read more
