I received this information today and am excited to pass it along:
I am a college professor of Mandarin Chinese. I have begun an
organization called Make Time for Mandarin in order to bring free
Mandarin Chinese video lessons to schools and homeschoolers.Yours,
Mike Hainzinger
Definitely take some time to check out these videos. You could easily get a start at learning Mandarin with these videos.
The teacher in the videos has a very conversational teaching style that I think your kids will enjoy. There are already 30 lessons up on the site. Not super high-tech, but the videos are clear, engaging, and educational. I had to laugh when I first saw the videos, but keep watching! They are packed with great information and will have you speaking the most common language in the world before you know it.