Rather than writing a bunch of theory, we thought we’d try and show you what it will be like at our centre from your child’s perspective. Check out the bolded words for examples of how we integrate Mandarin into everyday routines.
7:30: The rhythm starts
I say goodbye to mummy
and daddy as I’m greeted hello by my Auntie Joanna at kindy
. I say hello
and Auntie
Joanna asks me “What would you like to do today?”.
8:00-9:00: Children continue to arrive

I explore different stations inside my centre. First, I do painting and play
puzzles
.
My friends are starting to arrive
. We play in the home corner. I am the mummy and my friend pretends to be the daddy.
Afterwards, we go outside to play in the playground and use the swings.
Read more9.10: Morning meetings (*Friday: Music Session / Dance / Drama Session)

It’s our morning meeting time!
We exercise and stretch our muscles so that we can think better in the day. My favourite exercise is doing star jumps! We also sing Twinkle Twinkle BIG BIG Star as we jump
!
I quickly make a circle with my teacher and friends as we count to ten: “yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí!” We all sit down
!
I greet my friends and teachers in our morning song. We sing it again in Mandarin and say good morning to our friends and teachers.
We talk about the weather, what we would like to do today with our friends, and we sing our favourite songs. I chose to sing ‘Wheels on the bus’. After singing songs, we talk about our families. I have one
Mummy and Daddy and two older sisters in my family. We also play the Rig jig jig game
and pick our friends to dance
with us.
9.30 Morning Tea

I go to wash my hands before eating my morning tea with all my friends and teachers. Morning tea is delicious and everybody is chatting noisily.
10.00-11.00 Morning Bustle begins

Today, we are using watercolours to paint a portrait of ourselves and our families. I use my favourite colour
red to draw my family picture.
When I finish my painting, I join my other friends who are gardening with teacher. We learn to water the flowers and vegetables in our garden
. We count
how many plants we have based on their different colours. My teacher
says they will grow well if we take care of them. I can’t wait for them to grow so we try them!
11.00-11.15 If you like to play, you help to pack away!

I hear my teachers singing the pack away song. I help to pack away the toys
and paints with my friends.
11.15-11.40 Dramatic Storytime (centre wide)

We all meet in the theater room to hear a story.
We use musical instruments to create sound effects while the teacher tells us ‘The Gingerbread Man’ story using puppets.
Last week, I helped to hold the turtle puppet as my teacher told a story: Where Is My Home?.
11.40 Lunch

I go wash hands before eating my lunch with all my friends. Today, we have lots of sandwiches and yogurt
! YUMMMM ☺ After lunch, we eat apple
and cheese to finish the meal. My teacher says they are good for our teeth
, I just think it’s delicious
. I say thanks
to our chef.
12.00-1.00 The centre is quiet
I go put on my sleep nappy and get my bed ready for some afternoon rest
.
1.00-2.00 Time for play and afternoon art

When I wake up, I feel happy and ready to play! My favourite thing at school is the playground. I love pretending to be a superhero while I fly
down the slide.
Some of my friends are painting of their families.
Some of my friends are cooking with my teacher. My teacher says that they are baking rosemary damper today. We help to pick
the rosemary from our garden to put in the Damper. I watch
as they roll the dough and put
herbs in the damper. It’s almost time for a snack, and I am feeling hungry
!
2.40pm Afternoon tea

I go wash my hands before eating
my afternoon tea with all my friends. We get to try the damper we made and it is yummy
. Our big friends also love it
!
3.15-5.00 Play continues

After eating, I am ready to do some building. My friends and I work together to build a tall zoo using the construction blocks. We add some puppet animals and pretend to feed
them. My teacher sings the ‘Two Tiger’ song with us, changing the animals as we go along.
4.30- 5.00 Pack away

It’s almost biscuit time, so I help to pack away and tidy up all the blocks.
Read more5.00-5.30 Story Time

After packing away, we meet in the theater room to hear a story. The teacher reads ‘Room on the Broom’. It is a funny story with words that rhyme. It sounds like a song and I like the story very much!
5.30-6.00 Late Snack

We wash our hands and eat some fruit and crackers before our mums and dads pick us up
.
6.00 Centre closes for the day
I say goodbye to my friends and teachers. I’m a little tired but very happy to see mum and dad!

Don’t miss out!
Register your interest to attend Perth’s first English-Mandarin Early Learning Centre.