Philadelphia Chinese Academy

Young children are in a critical period of spoken language development from birth to age six. Most adult conversational language is in place by the age of six. Children naturally strive to learn language in their own environment during this critical development stage. Exposure to sounds and tones in a second language and music would benefit children immensely in brain development and sets the stage for future learning opportunities.

Chinese is unique with having four tones for each syllable with up to four meanings. Many adult learners struggle to master these tones as they would also for slight variations in musical sounds, but young children can easily absorb and learn the intonation and differences. Starting your child early will help “train” their ears in order to build the foundation for future language and music development.

Through her years of study and observation, Maria Montessori discovered what she called “sensitive periods.” Sensitive periods are developmental windows of opportunity during which the child can learn specific concepts more easily and naturally than at any other time in their lives. A child in the midst of a sensitive period will show an especially strong interest or inclination toward certain activities or lessons. "At such a time everything is easy; all is life and enthusiasm." - Maria Montessori

Around age three, children experience a sensitive period for learning rhythm, pitch, melody, and more. This si the best time to introduce music to your child. Music develops the brain, leading to academic, social, and emotional growth. At Philadelphia Chinese Academy, music is a key part of our curriculum.

We firmly believe in effortless and fun bilingual education for children. Kids before the age of six are eager linguistic and musical geniuses and the sooner they start, the easier language and music learning will become. With our group of highly qualified native Mandarin Chinese educators with master's degrees in education and a set of specially designed teaching curriculum using music and guided play, learning will be fun, dynamic and effective.