Parents at the Meadowlark Chinese Bilingual Program showed great interest in learning Mandarin. With the support and organization of the Meadowlark School, the Confucius Institute provided the course to about 20 parents.
During the 10 weeks of classes, parents learned some basic Chinese language skills enabling them to engage in some basic communication with their children who are also learning Mandarin in the Chinese bilingual program.
When the ten week session was completed, parents requested that the sessions be extended for another five weeks. This spoke to the success of the project. It is wonderful to see parents wanting to learn the language alongside of their children. The results can only be positive for both.
The CIE has offered similar parent classes at other schools. These classes were well received by the parents and teachers, since this program would be able to enhance their students and children to learn Chinese at schools as well as at home.