Translated by Ariel Tsai
Edited by Ariel Tsai
Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool, Long Island, recently held an Open House event, inviting families from the community to visit the school and learn about the upcoming summer courses and fall enrollment plans. Coinciding with the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival and Father’s Day, the preschool specially planned activities such as making Dragon Boat Festival herbal sachets and creating Father’s Day cards, allowing children and parents to learn about Chinese culture and Tzu Chi’s humanistic education through hands-on experience.
Jenny Nearchou, Director of the Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool, Long Island, stated that this is the first Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool on Long Island and the fifth in the United States.
“Today is a very special day,” said Nearchou. “Currently, Tzu Chi has five preschools across the US—two in California and two in Texas—and this is the first one established on Long Island. We held an Open House today to recruit students for summer and fall programs. Many families came to visit, and quite a few families registered; the results are very encouraging.”
The preschool enrolls children ages 2 to 5, and employs a bilingual English and Mandarin Chinese immersion education model. Each classroom has one Chinese teacher and one English teacher, providing a bilingual environment for children’s growth.
Beyond academic learning, we also emphasize character education, including respect, compassion, and caring for others. We hope to instill these values in our children so they can grow up to be good citizens.
Integrating Traditional Culture into Life Education
During the Open House event, children made traditional Dragon Boat Festival herbal sachets and Father’s Day cards by hand, experiencing the festival culture through games and creation. Teacher Wendy Lin led the children in making Dragon Boat Festival sachets, preparing herbs such as lavender, rose, mint, jasmine, and cinnamon, allowing the children to freely choose their favorite scents.
She explained, “Children may not usually recognize these herbs, so we let them smell them and see which scent they like. Lavender is the most popular. Each child can make their own sachet and take it home.”
Lin said that this kind of content isn’t something they might encounter in regular schools, but it’s a great way to learn about Chinese culture.
Besides academic instruction, we also teach children gratitude, respect, and love. These values are important in daily life and are what make Tzu Chi education so special.
In another activity, youth volunteers Melody Hsu and Chloe Chang helped children make Father’s Day cards.
Hsu stated, “I believe children should treat their fathers with respect and love. Tzu Chi has excellent character education programs, and I think these courses are very suitable for teaching children.”
Chang added, “Tzu Chi teaches many concepts about respect, including mutual respect between parents and children. I think it’s important for children to learn the values we learn from a young age.”
Bilingual Immersion Teaching
Many parents said the bilingual environment and cultural education were key reasons for their decision to attend.
Jolvy Ker, a parent from Woodbury, NY, said that they already speak Chinese at home, so they wanted their child to have a more complete Chinese learning environment.
She said, “I really like it here because, in addition to academics, they also teach my child love, kindness, and Chinese. We speak Chinese at home, so it’s very important for my child to learn Chinese.”
Ker shared that her eldest daughter has been studying Chinese at the Tzu Chi Academy for two years, so she was not unfamiliar with the Tzu Chi philosophy.
I like that this place not only focuses on academic studies, but also emphasizes cultural courses, allowing children to learn more about Chinese culture.
Parent Ginger Chiang shared that she has been waiting for the kindergarten to open for a long time. “We have been waiting for a really long time. We originally hoped that the second child could come here to go to school, but the school was not open at that time. Now it is finally the third child’s turn.”
She believes that Tzu Chi’s humanistic education and bilingual environment are the biggest attractions.
I really like that this place not only teaches what regular schools teach, but also teaches children manners, character, and principles of conduct. These are things that are not often taught in regular schools.
Parent Wendy Liang also expressed her hope that her child could retain their cultural roots.
“My family is from China and later immigrated to the United States. I feel that many aspects of our culture have been gradually lost during my upbringing, so I’m very happy to know about a school that allows children to connect with the values and traditions of their own cultural background.”
Kelvin Chew, a parent from Malaysia, said, “We really hope our child will become bilingual. In New York, English is of course the primary language, but we also hope our child can retain their own culture and be able to speak Chinese.”
Education Center Officially Opens
Freeman Su, Executive Director of Tzu Chi USA Northeast Region, explained that the Long Island Education Center, where the Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool, Long Island is located, has two floors. The first floor is the space for the preschool, and the second floor is planned as a space for adult education and community courses.
He stated, “The second floor primarily serves as an adult education space, featuring a bookstore/coffee area, cooking classrooms, lecture halls, and multi-functional classrooms. We aim to create a learning environment where families can grow together.”
In the future, courses will be offered in Chinese, English, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, yoga, Zumba, and vegetarian cooking.
Regarding the preschool, Su said, “We have two main characteristics: bilingual teaching in Chinese and English, and character education. We hope to teach children to be good people, kind people.”
Currently, the kindergarten has five classrooms and can accommodate 78 students.
“Today is our first Open House, and about thirty families have visited,” Su shared. “We hope to officially open soon, with summer camp starting soon, and classes officially commencing in September.”
Cultivating Love and Care from Childhood
The event also included a bamboo bank sharing session to help parents understand Tzu Chi’s humanistic spirit.
Tzu Chi volunteer King Wu said that he has been dedicated to volunteer service since he received his certification in 2016, and during the Open House, he specially shared his story of the bamboo banks with the parents.
The bamboo bank spirit isn't something only the wealthy or exceptional can embody. Anyone can do it, as long as they are willing to give love and help others.
Wu used the metaphor of water droplets converging into the ocean: “Kindness is like a drop of water; as drops accumulate, they eventually form ponds, rivers, and even the ocean. The ocean can encompass everything, symbolizing that the whole world can gather together love and kindness.”
He stated that children are born pure, and their environment influences what they learn: “If we cultivate the habit of kindness from a young age, our families, society, and country will all become better as we grow up. The more kindness and love there is, the better the world will be.”
Volunteers Accompany and Witness Growth
Horace Wang, a parent and volunteer who has long been involved with Tzu Chi, shared that both of his children grew up in a Tzu Chi environment.
“Like many parents, I used to drop my children off at school and leave. It wasn’t until I started volunteering that I discovered I truly enjoyed serving with Tzu Chi.”
He recalled that his children had served at hospitals and nursing homes with Tzu Chi. “My children learned to respect elders and to help others. Every time they return to Taiwan, relatives and friends ask, ‘How can your children, who grew up in America, still retain such culture and manners?’ I think this is what Tzu Chi has always taught them.”
Teacher Cindy Tsou stated that Tzu Chi’s most unique aspect lies in its combination of bilingual education and character education. “We have Chinese in the morning and English in the afternoon, with each class having both a Chinese teacher and an English teacher. Children are exposed to two languages all day long,” she said. “More importantly, children learn gratitude, respect, and love from a young age; these core values are crucial for their future lives.”
With the Open House event, the Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool, Long Island officially began enrollment. The preschool hopes to accompany more children to grow happily in an environment of love and kindness through bilingual teaching, humanistic education, and cultural heritage preservation, while also allowing families to participate in learning and continuing the humanistic spirit of Tzu Chi education.
