Chinese + Spanish charter school. are we nuts to pass this up?

i’m 1/2 Chinese.  my husband lived in Argentina for several years.

with 1.4 billion Mandarin speaking people in the world, and about 1/2 billion spanish speakers in the world, it’s a no-brainer that our kids should learn these languages.

i spoke three languages growing up.  Mandarin, Taiwanese and English.  when we moved back to the US when I was 7 though, i felt ‘weird’ speaking Chinese.  so i didn’t.

that was dumb.

my mom tries to speak only Chinese to our kids.  as a result, my Chinese has improved dramatically in the past 3 years.  lil G, our oldest, understands everything she says.  in fact today, he offered me an apple in Chinese.  at school the other day, he introduced himself to another Chinese student in Mandarin.  cute.

my husband was supposed to only speak Spanish to the kids.  he’s got a beautiful Argentine accent.  to Spanish speakers, that’s equivalent to having a British accent…sexy.  unfortunately, that part of our plan didn’t work and we only speak English at home.

i’ve been searching high and low for a chinese immersion program for our kids.  certainly living in orange county, with all the Chinese people around here, there was sure to be a school.

none.

nada.

mayo.  沒有.

wow.  i even researched what it would take to open a school.  then i quickly realized that dealing with a bunch of OC parents wasn’t my idea of fun.

yes, there are Chinese weekend schools.  i did those growing up.  in my opinion, weekends aren’t meant to be spent in a classroom.  kids should be playing.  i was the only 5th grader in the Chinese kindergarten class trying to read Mandarin.

no wonder i have issues!

besides, once a week isn’t gonna cut it.  you need to be speaking it every day.

my husband grew up with Spanish speakers all around him, and he studied through high school and college.  when he applied for a job that required Spanish, the boss suggested he really learn it.  that’s when husband moved to Argie…to immerse himself in the culture and language.

but guess what?  there’s a Mandarin/Spanish immersion charter school opening in Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) in Fall 2012 called Seashore Academy.  it’s based off its sister school in San Diego.  here’s a video giving an overview of the San Diego program.

there are Saturday classes starting January 28, 2012 which include some Mommy & me classes as well as a 4 hour immersion class.  i’m pretty sure this is the email if you want more info.

in addition to kindergarten classes, i hear they’re looking to fill some 2nd and 3rd grade classes, so check out the site and get on the list!