Teaching Chinese at Home

[kids_r_innocent]

tamarind:

kids_r_innocent:

Hi hi...


I was wondering if anyone could advise if we use DBS AMEX card to pay in dangdang website, how long do we need to wait for the transacted details to be reflected on our bill.

I have placed my previous order (the website reflected that the books has been shipped out) quite some time ago but has yet to see the amount reflected in the bill.

TIA...

I called Amex customer service about this before, it could take a few weeks.

Oh... thks!! I will continue to keep a lookout then. ;D

[kids_r_innocent]

tamarind:

Dear all,

I saw the 二十四孝books back on sale at NTUC Hypermarkt at Jurong Point. Only $1.00 a book !

These are excellent books for teaching a child to be filial to his parents. Read my blog for more details :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/03/books-about-filial-piety.html

Hi hi...

I have sent you a pm. TIA...

[dimsum]

tamarind:

I mean can pass CL2 at P1, not to get 90+ marks CL2 at P1 is quite easy to pass.

oh i see.

[dimsum]

Busymom:

Bought some books in China last year and I can see that they are also available on dangdang. Found them to be interesting stories with a moral. The illustrations are very pretty too, not those loud or bright type, just very soothing and warm like the theme of each story. Especially like the first two books.


http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20444656&ref=product-0-E

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20444657&ref=search-1-A

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20444655&ref=product-0-A

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20444658&ref=product-0-A

thanks for the recommendation, busymom! ya, the illustrations in those 绘本 storybooks are lovely.

[pinkapple]

tamarind:

I mean can pass CL2 at P1, not to get 90+ marks CL2 at P1 is quite easy to pass.

u mean pp fail chinese at p1? :!:

[pinkapple]

tamarind:

The 基础汉字500 books are back in stock at Popular !

...

yah. I realised.

but it's more than 2x the price NTUC was selling. sad that I didn't buy all the 5 books when I saw them at NTUC. super regret now.

[tamarind]

pinkapple:

tamarind:

I mean can pass CL2 at P1, not to get 90+ marks CL2 at P1 is quite easy to pass.

u mean pp fail chinese at p1? :!:

Yes I have heard of that in my girl's primary school. If the child never learn Chinese before entering P1, or only depend on kindergarten teachers, they may fail Chinese at P1.

[tamarind]

http://www.tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,240973,00.html?


Mother Tongue Debate
She spends $1,000 on Chinese tuition for two sons
By Bryna Sim and Gan Ling Kai
May 19, 2010\t\t \t\t

Madam Karen Boh, a 39-year-old school administrator, has been spending $1,000 on Chinese tuition for her two boys every month, but it has yielded little result.

Madam Boh is not alone.

In Parliament yesterday, MP Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) raised a concern shared by parents like Madam Boh.


Sharing her story with The New Paper, Madam Boh described how her elder boy Trystan Choong, 8, scored a dismal 15 per cent in his Primary 3 mid-year Chinese examination results.

Now, for $600, Trystan goes for Chinese tuition twice a week.

Madam Boh and her husband, Leon Choong, a 39-year-old education administrator, said Chinese is not their forte.

Worried that Trystan may have difficulties continuing his education here, Madam Boh applied for permanent residence in Australia for Trystan and herself.

They got it in 2005.

\"If need be, we will migrate there for the sake of his education, but that's really our last option because all our relatives and friends are here. This is our home.\"

[tamarind]

Refer to the above article, note that not all private tutors are good. Even if you spend $1000 a month, it does not guarantee that your child can pass.


It does not mean that if you spend a lot of money sending to enrichment classes or hiring private tutors, you child will do well in Chinese. It is very important to use the correct methods.

Kids learn best between the age of 3 to 6. Parents should make sure that the child learn to recognize as many Chinese characters as possible. It is not necessary to memorize the individual strokes at this age. At this age, the child is able to take a photograph of the whole word and store it in his brain and it is not necessary to practice writing Chinese words.

The author of the http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html books wrote that any child is capable of learning enough Chinese words to enable him to read about 80% of Chinese newspapers before entering primary school. I can confirm from personal experience that this is true.

She also wrote that it is very important to read as many story books as possible. The author of another excellent book http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20464285&ref=search-1-A also wrote the same thing :
小学，甚至初中，没有真正的学业落后，也不存在绝对的成绩优秀，一切都是可逆转的。使情况发生逆转的神奇力量就是：课外阅读。有一根“魔杖”，它确实是有魔力的，哪个孩子一旦被它点中，就会变得更为聪明，在学习和才能上更有潜力。这个“魔杖”是什么，谁能有幸被它点中，这一定是许多人想知道的——请原谅我的故弄玄虚，我不是在讲童话，是在作一个现实的比喻，因为想不出比它更贴切的比喻了。

Once the child is able to read Chinese very well, and has read extensively, he will have no problem writing.

I wrote earlier that parents cannot simply leave all the teaching to the private tutors or the enrichment centers. A child cannot learn a language just by going to tuition twice a week. If we want our child to do well, then we must spend time reading with them everyday.

[relaxedmom]

Tamarind, I agree with you absolutely. My DS reads a lot of English story books from very young, that's why his grasp of vocab and grammar is strong. And he has no problem with English at all. However, for Chinese, I made the mistake of not starting him young and also not being diligent enough in pushing him to read more in Chinese. Now that he is in primary 5, he already detest Chinese. He finds it a struggle. he just got back his chinese results...almost failed his higher chinese. sigh...now I have to think of how to motivate him and improve his chinese :? any tips out there??? I have already tried making him read chinese story books every night (at least a bit each night) and let him watch the 7pm channel 8 show. But so far no improvement.....Help! :?: