Academics
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Bilingual Mandarin Education
Chinese Language Arts
Our Chinese Language Arts curriculum includes modern and classical literature, informational texts, and the foundational skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Topics integrate history, social studies, science, and technical subjects. Classical literacy is incorporated in all grades in a variety of forms to support students’ language and cultural understanding. In Middle School, Chinese Language Arts teachers systematically introduce classical Chinese literature to widen the scope of students’ Chinese language knowledge and advance their cultural literacy.
The Mandarin Chinese immersion program incorporates both content-based instruction (CBI) and thematic-based instructional approaches. The full early immersion model program that Yinghua adheres to was designed in consultation with the Center for Applied Linguistics and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. Yinghua’s program is internationally recognized as a dynamic example of language immersion best practices.
English Language Arts
Yinghua Academy’s English Language Arts (ELA) program is built on evidence-based literacy instruction aligned with the Science of Reading and the Minnesota Read Act while supporting our unique Mandarin immersion model. Following a comprehensive review of research-based programs, the school selected UFLI Foundations as its core English literacy curriculum because of its explicit, systematic approach to phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, encoding, and reading fluency. In Kindergarten and Grade 1, students develop foundational literacy primarily in Mandarin using resources that build reading, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension, creating a strong foundation for bilingual literacy.
As students progress through Grades 2–8, English literacy instruction expands through UFLI Foundations while Mandarin literacy continues to grow through authentic literature and high-quality instructional resources. Instruction emphasizes vocabulary, morphology, grammar, fluency, comprehension, and critical thinking in both languages. Teachers collaborate regularly, participate in ongoing professional learning, and use student data to monitor progress and refine instruction. By combining evidence-based English literacy practices with rich Mandarin language experiences, Yinghua Academy provides a rigorous biliteracy program that equips students with the skills to become confident, capable readers, writers, and communicators in both English and Mandarin.
Cultural Education
Our cultural education curriculum prepares children to participate in a global community. The curriculum has been developed with the goal of helping our students to understand the people, customs, history and heritage of China and other world cultures. For example, our 1st Grade students explore ancient Egypt and contemporary Mexico (check our curriculum maps for more details by grade level). Our cultural curriculum includes school and classroom activities as well as community participation and field trips. In our Middle School, a three-year Global Citizenship Project is embedded in all content areas.
At Yinghua, we celebrate many traditional Chinese festivals to weave the culture into the curriculum throughout the year. Some may only be discussed in class, others are surrounded by large programs. These festivals include: Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb), Lantern Festival (Feb), Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Sept), Double-Ninth Day (Oct).