Women teaching Chinese language, customs creatively at Sprout Studio

For the last two years, Emily Jia has been leading Chinese story times at the Iowa City Public Library.

The program proved so popular, the library asked Jia to lead other bilingual activities.

But those activities take place only at limited times. So Jia and her friend Qiawen Wiechert recently launched Sprout Studio.

Jia and Weichert lead children up to age 6 in multisensory, creative activities that incorporate the Chinese language and culture. Sprout Studio's programs are aimed at children whose parents are native Chinese speakers, as well as children who are new to Chinese.

'I found that if you cannot provide an enriched environment, it is very hard to keep (Chinese) traditions alive,' Jia said. At the same time, she said, more Americans are going to China, and there should be an opportunity for youths to learn the language.

Amie Ohlmann, whose daughter is best friends with Wiechert's daughter and specializes in multisensory learning, has been helping Jia and Wiechert with their early events.

'Kids are early language learning geniuses. They are learning so naturally,' Ohlmann said. 'By the time they are offered languages in school when they are 13, it is much more difficult to learn.'

Sprout Studio launched with a Halloween event in October. Jia said there were two parties because so many people registered. Recently, there was a six-day winter camp for children of native Chinese speakers and a 'Creativity 1,2,3' challenge open to anyone. The activities included language, music, art, creative writing, reading, food and dramatic play.

'No matter what program we are doing, we want to make it interesting and involve kids in multisensory activities so they are learning things and not just listening to the teacher in the traditional way,' Wiechert said.

For now, Wiechert and Jia are running Sprout Studios out of a rented condominium on Ryan Court in Iowa City. But they described the location as 'transitional' and said they are looking at moving to a different location at some point.

They also are looking to expand and hire more people. In the spring, they want to launch a mommy and me program, 'so parents can come with their kids and do art and play,' Jia said. They also want to do a summer camp and more Chinese heritage programs.

'We are passionate about educating kids. We are following our hearts,' Jia said.