English 中文

希林芝北中文学校简介

     希林芝北中文学校原名为希林西北大学中文学校，创办于1995年，是芝加哥北郊第一所由中国大陆学人开办的教授汉语拼音、简化字的周末学校。十几年来，学校稳定发展，从一开始的几十名学生，发展到现在的200多名，逐步形成其注重教学质量，培养双语人材的办学特色。

宗旨

     宏扬中华文化 ，促进中国文化和其它族裔文化的相互认同和融合；为所有对汉语、对中国有兴趣者，提供学习中文，了解中国文化的机会和环境；尤其是为华人子女提供专业的教育和辅导；让学生通过听、说、读、写、译的基础训练，掌握汉语知识。整个教学过程渗透中华传统美德教育和行为规范教育，培养孩子良好的心理素质，使其具备中、英双语能力和世界眼光。

软件

     希林芝北中文学校是个非营利的教育机构，一切费用用于中文教学，一切活动都围绕中文教学。本校历届行政领导班子都是由无私奉献的并通晓中西方文化的专业人士组成；学校保持着一支敬业的和专业化的师资力量。教师们不断地探讨行之有效的教学方法，吸取美国式教育之长处和中国最新教学研究成果，尽力使生活在美国的孩子学得轻松，有成效。 我们不认同“在美国学中文，学生能学多少算多少”的观点，我们注重教学效果，力争让学生在上高中之前，达到一定的中文实用水平。

硬件

      Oakton Community College位于Skokie的校园为我们提供了幽静安全的学习环境。College有免费停车场，有装有Projector 等电教设备的正规教室。这使我们能充分地利用多媒体的优势，把汉字与动画、图像和音效结合起来，让儿童在看动画的过程中学习中文。

课程

     希林芝北中文学校每周日设两小时中文课和两小时文化课。除了双语、幼儿、1-10年级的中文以外，还设有数学、英文、美术、舞蹈和武术等才艺课和SAT辅导等课程。还为家长开设强身健美课。 

活动

     自1997年起，学校不定期出版的校刊是报道学校动态，交流经验，展示学生成长和学习进步的平台。现在我们的网站已开通，为师生家长提供便捷适用的信息。

     学校每年举办几次大型活动，如春节联欢会，让孩子们虽身居海外，仍能在热烈快乐的气氛中欢度中国新年，感受中国的传统文化；每年新学期开始前的热身活动 - 湖边野餐，交流交友，大人孩子喜闻乐见；为了提高孩子们学中文的兴趣，各班老师还不定期地搞一些小型的比赛活动，如说量词，讲故事比赛等，让学生温习、消化学过的中文；学校鼓励学生回国参加由国务院侨办主办的“中国寻根之旅”夏令营，把从书本学到的知识变成亲身体验；学校组织学生参加由国内、全美中文学校协会和有关团体以及社区主办的各种活动和竞赛，不少学生不仅得到了锻炼，而且荣获奖项，受益匪浅。

     学校的任何活动都离不开家长们的支持和配合。学生家长中人才济济，为加强海外华人联谊及中美文化交流发挥了很大作用。在社区和中小学的国际文化节上, 家长们积极操办，摆出中国展台，穿上中国民族服装，让学生表演中国文艺节目，展示自己的才能，产生良好影响，打破了当地历史上虽有中国人群，却听不到中国声音的局面。

     学校组织的一切活动都是中文课堂教学的延伸，增强了孩子们作为中国人的自豪感和学好中文的信心。

     中文学校既是学生们学习的场所，又是家长们的周末俱乐部。学校设有家长休息室，适时为家长举办实用性的讲座，尤其是免费为家长提供的太极、健身班，深受欢迎。

区域

     由于我校位于芝加哥北郊，多年来我们为西北大学、以及周边的著名中学，包括New Trier High school, Glenbrook North High school and Glenbrook South High School， 输送了许多掌握了坚实的中文基础的学生。我们将争取与这些学校达成协议，让学生在我们学校上的中文课，通过这些中学的中文程度鉴定程序后，可转换成学生们的学分。

     任重而道远，我们承诺将继续开拓进取，为中美文化交流，为海外华人子弟，务实做事。

English 中文

Xilin North Shore Chinese School Introduction

 Xilin North Shore Chinese School was formerly known as Xilin Northwestern University Chinese School. The school was founded in 1995, in the northern suburb of Chicago, run by scholars from mainland China. Over the past decade, the school has grown steadily from an enrolment of a few dozens of students to more than 200, and has formed its special characteristics by placing an emphasis on the quality of teaching and training of bilingual personnel.

Purpose

Xilin North Shore Chinese School carries forward and promotes Chinese culture through the following initiatives:

1.    we provide a positive environment for education in learning Chinese culture and language;

2.    we provide American born Chinese children with professional education and tutoring;

3.    we train the students to master the basic skills of listening and understanding oral Chinese, speaking Chinese, reading and writing Chinese:

4.    we incorporate traditional Chinese virtues and a standard behavioral education into the teaching process to improve the children’s higher level thinking abilities, giving them bilingual ability and a panoramic view of the world.

Curriculum

The school is a non-profit educational institution, in which all costs are used for teaching, and all activities serve the teaching of Chinese culture, language, and other enrichment activities. Our past executive administration was formed by selflessly dedicated professionals who were familiar with Chinese and Western culture. The school maintains a professional, hardworking teaching staff. Our teachers continue to explore effective teaching methods from the strengths of American education system as well as the most recent results of education research in China. We focus on the most effective approach to enable pre-high school and high school students to learn to their maximum ability and come away from their learning experience with a clear understanding of the Chinese culture as well as the ability to speak and write Chinese.  In addition, we provide enrichment courses for students who are interested in preparing for college entrance examinations and other cultural activities.

Facilities

The Oakton Community College campus is located in Skokie, Illinois.  The facility includes free parking and provides a quiet and safe learning environment, including well-equipped classrooms, quiet areas for individual work, and an area where students and parents can meet and socialize. The college’s formal classrooms are equipped with a video projector and other advanced audio-visual devices for the use of our teachers. This allows us to fully utilize the advantages of multi-media and combination of animated images and sound effects to improve the richness and variety of the student’s learning experience.

Courses

Every Sunday there are 2 hour Chinese classes and 2 hour culture classes. In addition to classes for bilinguals, toddlers, and children grades 1-10, there are also courses in mathematics, English, art, dance, martial arts, and SAT/ACT test preparation. There are also fitness classes for parents.

Activities

Since 1997, the school has published periodic newsletters which consist of school progress reports, school activities and exchange learning experiences from both teachers and students. We have setup a website to provide information to teachers, students and parents.

The school organizes several major events each year, such as the Spring Festival get-together, providing Chinese-American kids an opportunity to learn about traditional Chinese holidays. This is also an opportunity for students to perform on stage and show their talents through the results of their Chinese studies. Before the start of the new school term Xilin North Shore Chinese School organizes a summer lakeside picnic at which students and parents can get together, share a meal, and make new friends. In order to increase the children's interest in learning Chinese, teachers from time to time engage in mini-competitions, testing the students’ knowledge of word usage, story-telling, which enables the students to review and digest the Chinese they’ve learned in the past. These activities have achieved good results. In addition, the school encourages students to return to China to participate in a “China roots trip,” a summer camp sponsored by the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs where students get a first-hand learning experience. The school regularly organizes students to participate in a variety of domestic activities and competitions hosted by The National Association and the Chinese School’s Community Groups. Many students have benefited from their attendance and received awards as well.

School activities cannot be successful without the complete support and cooperation of parents. Parents of students come from a wide variety of diverse backgrounds and they have a huge impact on the cultural exchange between Chinese and other ethnic communities. In local and regional cultural festivals, Xilin school families participate by running booths, performing in traditional Chinese costumes, and introducing the culture of China to the community. It is unique for western people to hear our Chinese children speaking Chinese language as they perform at these cultural festivals.

All school activities are an extension of classroom teaching, enhancing students’ sense of pride and confidence in being Chinese and learning Chinese.

Chinese school is not only a place for students to learn, but also a weekend club for parents. The school has a parent lounge which is used for parent lectures and a place to provide parents with free Tai Chi classes

Regional

Our school is located in the northern suburbs of Chicago within close proximity of Northwestern University, and many well-known high schools from which we draw our student population. Many students from New Trier, Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High School have gone through our program. Xilin School has laid a solid foundation of Chinese education for these students. We are currently working on an agreement with these high schools to grant high school credit for our classes in Chinese.

We still have a long way to go, but we will continue to move forward and do whatever we can to promote Chinese-American cultural exchanges and for the healthy growth of young overseas Chinese generation