There is no one-size-fits-all textbook for Mandarin Immersion, spend the time to research and match materials

While I have been a strong proponent of the Jinan University ZW Books, I want to clarify that I do not think that there is a single textbook available on the American market that can fulfill the needs of the full-time K-12 Mandarin Immersion model. Sadly, teachers have to scramble for materials that align with their school or district's specific curriculum.

What parents can do, however, is help buy and collect the materials ahead of time so that teachers spend less time searching and more time teaching and engaging kids with the material. This adds up to the kids spending more time learning.

For example, when we were in K, the teacher (and school) used the Better Chinese "My First Chinese Words" and "My First Chinese Reader" books. These were great for kindergarten. Unfortunately, they do not scale up in level or content to support a full-time immersion program beyond First Grade. Now, you could say, that's just my opinion. One facet of the problem rests with the fact that these books are bridges to the content in the company's textbook series beyond these two. Discovering Chinese and Magical Tour of China are fine for the Foreign Language model, but not fine for tackling regular school subjects. Then, there is the problem of how much support they can offer for the grammar and language arts.

Another facet of the problem is that I am interested in brain development that results in the 3B's, so I prefer a much more intense ramp up across the board.

In terms of the law, most public districts should allow schools to use whatever materials needed to meet the mandated curriculum content of that district. So you don't have to stick to the same set of books. You just have to find the materials that match. You can have a thematic match or an immediate content match.

This type of work is not rocket science. But it is very time-intensive. Nonetheless, it's getting better all the time with more access to books in Chinese being made more readily available all the time, as well.

If you are in a new Mandarin Immersion program, one of the most important things you can do as a parent is to help find books that align with your regular school curriculum, and, of course, buy them.