WSC hosts The Purple School for incredible bilingual opportunity for kids
Posted: Jun 30 2014
WSC hosts The Purple School for incredible bilingual opportunity for kids
WILLISTON, N.D.-WSC will be hosting The Purple School on July 7th as an opportunity for children to open their minds to a second or third language. This is an 8 week summer program, for the price of a 6 week program.
The Purple School is a program that offers language classes in two sections. One from 3 month old babies to 6 year olds, and the other K-6th graders. The languages are taught through games and songs so the children don't experience the program as a class but a fun time to absorb language.
The Williston program offers Spanish, Chinese, and Norwegian. There is also interest in French.
The program has only been offered in Williston since fall of 2013 to the younger age group. It was not until this January that they began to teach K-6 at St.Joseph's Catholic School and Trinity Christian School.
Joyce Nadolny Shui, the founder of the program, says, "Baby and kid brains can learn language almost effortlessly. So we use kid-friendly song, games, and play to take full advantage of this unique window of opportunity that only kids have."
The 3 month to 6 year old programs offer parent child classes, where the parents attend the program with their children. It is a good way for moms to get out and start learning too.
"It is also fun for parents to learn and the classes give them the ability to use songs at home to reinforce the language. The program tries to teach a lot of house held Spanish to be used at home," states Shui.
Shui says, "The important thing is that kids can get to a comfortable level with different cultural backgrounds early on. It gets them interested in learning about these cultures with things such as food and song. The program also opens kid's minds to learning language in general and gives them access to more people within different cultures."
The hope for the future of the program is that it will be brought to the public schools. It is a great opportunity for North Dakota because of the population growth.
For more information about The Purple School program, please contact Joyce Nadolny Shui at 701.205.1962 or joyce@thepurpleschool.com. For all other information about Williston State College, please call 701.774.4200, visit willistonstate.edu, or stop by 1410 University Ave.