About Chinese for Families

What we are: Chinese for Families is a Chinese language school & children's publisher. We want to help families learn Chinese at home together. We offer standards and research-based Chinese classes for children ages 1 & up (and their parents!) in Colorado and Pensylvania. To learn more about the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century & the AP Chinese exam, click on the National Standards button located on the left menu. We also produce & publish songs and stories for kids who want to learn Mandarin as a second language. It's never to early or to late to start. We believe in child-centered learning through play -- kids learn best when they are having fun. We create fun CDs, books, games & more to help kids sing and tell stories. All our products undergo classroom testing with multiple age levels.

Why Chinese? Chinese is an important language for business, fun, and for the future. Any child interested in learning should have the opportunity in a warm, engaging and positive program designed to develop functional language proficiency. This is our goal.

Who we are: Chinese for Families is a team of Mom/Linguists - Anne Martin-Montgomery & Janice Staynings. Our journey began when we started to teach our own children to speak Chinese. But we couldn't find good books & CDs that taught the basics and then went beyond. Therefore, we decided to create programs and materials that reflected our values - education through fun. Now we have a whole series designed for and tested by the toughest audience around - American kids.

Anne Martin-Montgomery, MA, MSc. Founder Chinese for Families, Director Philadelphia Branch My name is Anne & I'm the founder of Chinese for Families. I'm an anthropologist, archaeologist, and a children's song & book author. I love to write & sing in Chinese. I wrote Pre-Adoption Trip Chinese, and co-authored Lang Wai Po, Fun with Pinyin & Bopomofo, Nursery Rhymes I, and Monkey King I & II with Janice Staynings. I also write the quarterly "Let's Get Radical" column for Mei Magazine. I studied Chinese in Taiwan and at Johns Hopkins University. My favorite activities include making up silly songs and games in Chinese with my daughter.

Janice Staynings, MBA. Director Chinese for Families Colorado Branch, President of Rocky Mountain Chinese School, & NNELL Co-Representative for Colorado. My name is Janice. I'm Chinese American. I grew up in Singapore & South Dakota. I am the director Chinese For Families in Colorado and president of the Rocky Mountain Chinese School. I specialize in second language acquisition, early childhood education and literacy. I wrote co-authored Lang Wai Po, Fun with Pinyin & Bopomofo, Nursery Rhymes I, and Monkey King I & II with Anne Montgomery. I have two children & live in Colorado. I studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong. I like writing Chinese books for kids, skiing, snowboarding and spending time doing crafts with my children.