There are many Chinese Schools in NJ, but only one offers immersion program. This week, My Panda Paws were invited to the school for it’s Back to School Night event.

According to Sharon Huang, founder of Bilingual Buds, Bilingual Buds is a unique Mandarin Chinese immersion program for children ages 1-10. It provides children with an opportunity to develop proficiency in Chinese language and literacy, while developing the “whole child” in a child-centered environment. It’s mission is to” prepare children to be global citizens who are intellectually curious, culturally aware, and linguistically capable.”

Infants and preschoolers between the ages of 1 and 3 can pick one of the 3 mommy and me classes offered. This class teaches food and other everyday words in Chinese along with fun games and music.

Preschoolers, ages 2 1/2 to 5 years old have two options. One program meets 5 days a week. In addition to Chinese language skills, children are also taught fine motor and gross motor skills in English. The other preschool program meets 2 days a week, and is taught in Chinese only. This program is designed as a supplement to other type of education, whether in another school or a home school environment.

Kindergarten through grade 3 follows 60/40 Chinese/English ratio. This program is designed to provide a solid foundation for fluency in Mandarin, and includes subjects in both Chinese and English Language Arts, Math, Science, Music, Art, and PE. This curriculum meets the NJ core content and the Summit Board of Education curriculum standards.

After school and summer camp programs are also available. Clcik here for more in depth information about Bilingual Buds.