Inspired by English-speaking families with children in local Chinese immersion programs, Juliet Lee recently opened an immersion preschool program in the lake area.
A parent of an immersion student herself, Lee says she knows children in immersion kindergarten programs often struggle since the teachers don’t speak in English. “Children are [usually] stressed for the first few months and are relieved to speak English at the end of the day,” she adds. Hence the goal of Sleepy Tigers Chinese Immersion Preschool: to expose and support children likely to attend Chinese immersion programs to a basic knowledge of Chinese.
Everyone learns differently, but Lee says fast learners should be able to speak fluently in about a year and should master daily communication in about two weeks. The Minnetonka center is accepting about 25 students, ages three months to five years, for its inaugural year.
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Sleepy Tigers Chinese Immersion Preschool
16023 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka
612.986.6010; sleepytigers.com
