Grooming Early Chinese Reading Habits
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Anybody start grooming Chinese Reading/writing Habits at home by themselves?
My DS is 3 and we have been speaking and reading english mostly at home. I am thinking of starting to try to converse and read to him more in chinese.
Wondering what is the norm (which characters the kids should recognise by what age?) for various age group and whether anyone have tricks and tips to share? My mum had been teaching my nephew (also 3) chinese and he can recognise chinese characters for all the rainbow colours, vehicals and family members in Chinese. -
For myself, my kid is speaking English much more. So I will only speak with him in Chinese while my spouse continue to speak with him in Chinese.
It is much easier to make kid comfortable with more than 1 language at young. I do flash some simple Chinese words to him from the 我会读 series of books. Luckily is the pre school he attend have a good Chinese programme, so that do compensate. -
After working hard for the last six months trying to get my daughter to speak Chinese, I'm pleased to say that she has started to use Chinese voluntarily to converse. Sometimes, she would just sit in ther corner and play by herself, speaking some nonsensical Chinese sentences which we cannot decipher. But hey, we're happy.
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For Chinese, we teach the kids to memorize and recite 唐詩, tang poetry. I can only find time to teach them on some Sundays, my mother help to teach them during the weekdays when I am working. I have a very nice tang shi book from Popular which has nice pictures illustrating the meaning of every poetry, and even includes a CD containing songs of the poems.
I print out a number of famous tang shi, one poem on an A4 size paper, and pasted them on the walls. I teach my kids not only to memorize the poems, but also to look at the words as they recite the poem. I use the pictures in the books to explain the meaning of every poem to them. My kids don’t mind learning them because to them it is like learning different songs.
By memorizing and reciting tang poetry, children learn to appreciate the beauty of the Chinese characters, and they become familiar with the pronunciation. -
For my family, I am the one who is better in Chinese, but I am the one who is with him most of the time, so I still need to speak or read to him in English. I guess, I need to make it a point to speak chinese and read Chinese to him.
Phantom, like in your case my son childcare do teach chinese too. His teachers teach san zhi jin, so he seems to be able to recite more than I do… But not too sure how are they interms of characters recognition…
CSK, wow your daugthter uses Chinese voluntarily to convers? The only time my son uses chinese to converse is after lots of coaxing or when he is trying to be cheeky.
tamarind, tang shi is a good idea. The verses sounds very nice too. I tried "yong er" for my kid when he was younger, but he seems to dislike that one. I suppose I should keep trying. -
mincy,
What is yong er ? How about 静夜思 ? Most kids like this one.
床前明月光，疑是地上霜。
举头望明月，低头思故乡。
My girl likes this one.
下江陵
朝辞白帝彩云间，千里江陵一日还。
两岸猿声啼不住，轻舟已过万重山。
My kids invent their own silly songs to \"sing\" the tang shi
I also speak english to the kids at home. I have no choice but to send them to Berries Chinese enrichment class. It is highly recommended. Children should start not later than 4 years old at Berries, otherwise they will not be able to follow up. -
it's 咏鹅 it's a cute poem by 骆宾王 when he is 7 yrs old. it goes like
鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌。白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波。
[quote]How about 静夜思 ?[/quote]
I like that one, but I read somewhere that the meaning is kind of heavy for young kids & they might not be able to relate, so I was planning to wait till he is older ...
sounds like berries have high standard... I was actually planning to skip Chinese enrichment and try to teach at home...probably will need lots of commitment. -
mincy:
it's 咏鹅 it's a cute poem by 骆宾王 when he is 7 yrs old. it goes like
鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌。白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波。
[quote]How about 静夜思 ?
I like that one, but I read somewhere that the meaning is kind of heavy for young kids & they might not be able to relate, so I was planning to wait till he is older ...
sounds like berries have high standard... I was actually planning to skip Chinese enrichment and try to teach at home...probably will need lots of commitment.[/quote]Oh I see. 咏鹅 is nice.
My boy's PCF nursery teacher taught 静夜思 to 4 year old kids ! My girl learnt this poem at her K1 class in her PCF kindergarten.
清明时节雨纷纷
路上行人欲断魂
借问酒家何处有
牧童遥指杏花村
I thought how can a child understand the meaning of 断魂? But I guess the Chinese teacher's intention was not for the kids to fully understand the poem, but to be familiar with tang shi, so when they grow up, they can relate to it.
Yes you definitely need lots of commitment to teach Chinese at home The problem is that it is not easy to find good home teaching materials in Chinese.
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Hi mummies,
when come to tang shi. Did u explain the meaning? Sometime I find it hard to explain to the kids. My ger is only 5 this yr. -
[quote]when come to tang shi. Did u explain the meaning?[/quote]
erm no leh. My mum also says no need. The idea is to get them to recite and appreciate the language first. The meaning comes later unless they are interested bah.
like what tamarind says -when they grow up, they can relate to it.
oh btw tamarind, found some materials on line... some of the chinese websites have some good stuff..songs, poems complete with cute little comics for the poems and games.
http://www.61song.cn:8080/index.php/flash/index
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