Teaching Chinese at Home

[kids_r_innocent]

tamarind:

Dear all,

I have compiled the list of wonderful Chinese story books in my home library here :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

I am also sharing my experience teaching Chinese at home. Please feel free to view and comment.

I will be adding more books to this list in the future.

Dear Tamarind,

Thank you for your effort and time in posting those books and advise; appreciate it.

My girl is coming to 6 yrs old, and has finished Bk 6 of SiWuKuaiDu a few mths ago. I have juz started her on 笑猫日记 and though she is willing to read abt 3 pages a day for me, i find that she doesnt know how to read about 30% of the words(per page). Do you think it's too early to get her to read it now?? :idea:

[sean wife]

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for your advice. I do ask them to read out the 2 word phrases and sentences in the book. But I find that if they read the same sentence more than one time, they seem to be remembering the sentence structure and reading out from memory rather than from reading the individual words…that’s why I thought it’s good to let them read more variety of sentences to ensure they can really recognize the word itself when it appears in different combinations with other words.

Anyway I have gotten the 学前阅读计划 幼儿首 (100-800) 字 as laughingcat recommends. It’s supposed to work like P&J, but I realise the major difference is the words from the earlier series are not repeated in the more advanced series. So each series will teach a new set of 100 words. But the words are big and clear and easy to start with I guess…

[ccgoh]

tamarind:

ccgoh,

All thanks to this series of books
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html

and also for the fact that my girl attends Berries since 4 years old. She knows more than 80% of the words in the long chapter books after she completed the Si Wu Kuai Du series of books. I asked her to read out loud to me, and I teach her to read the words that she does not know, so it is easier for her. Also, the books that I let her read are very interesting, and she really loves the books.

It is important that we do not make kids check the dictionary as they read. That will definitely kill their interest.

Good resources are more important than a good tutor. I highly recommend the Si Wu Kuai Du series of books to be used by tutors to teach. Also make sure that the tutor reads the first 30 pages of book 1 in order to know how to use the books effectively, we should be using games to teach, not just point and read.

The best way to get a child interested in Chinese, is to find good books for her. I have listed many books in my blog, and I will also be listing new books soon.

Hi tamarind,

Thanks for your help! Really appreciate it, if your daughter does not know how to read a word, how do you get her to understand it then?

Do you know where to get the Si Wu Kuai Du series? (not sure if you have posted about it before, but a bit lazy to scroll back to the earlier pages

[tamarind]

kids_r_innocent:

tamarind:

Dear all,

I have compiled the list of wonderful Chinese story books in my home library here :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

I am also sharing my experience teaching Chinese at home. Please feel free to view and comment.

I will be adding more books to this list in the future.

Dear Tamarind,

Thank you for your effort and time in posting those books and advise; appreciate it.

My girl is coming to 6 yrs old, and has finished Bk 6 of SiWuKuaiDu a few mths ago. I have juz started her on 笑猫日记 and though she is willing to read abt 3 pages a day for me, i find that she doesnt know how to read about 30% of the words(per page). Do you think it's too early to get her to read it now?? :idea:

kids_r_innocent,
After book 6, I did not let my girl read chapter books immediately. Before she started on the books in the 6 to 10 age group, she read many of the picture books listed in the 3 to 6 age group :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

Most of the books in my list for the 3 to 6 age group are actually very challenging even for P2 or P3 kids in Singapore.

笑猫日记 is meant for kids 8 years old above, I find that the subject matter may be too mature for a 6 year old child. Those books listed in my list of books for age 6 to 10 are actually much better than 笑猫日记. I would suggest that you read those books in my list first.

[markfch]

tamarind:

kids_r_innocent,
After book 6, I did not let my girl read chapter books immediately. She read many of the picture books listed in the age 3 to 6 group :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

before she started on the books in the age 6 to 10 group.

笑猫日记 is meant for kids 8 years old above, I find that the subject matter may be too mature for a 6 year old child. Those books listed in my list of books for age 6 to 10 are actually much better than 笑猫日记. I would suggest that you read those books like those books in my list first.

Thanks Tamarind. You're really a blessing to us all :celebrate:

[tamarind]

Hi ccgoh,

My girl can guess the meaning of the word from the context of the story. She has a very good understanding of what she is reading, so I don't explain the meaning of word unless she asks me too. In fact, when I was a student, I also read Chinese books extensively, and I don't check the dictionary for every word that I don't know. The most important thing is for the child to enjoy the story, don't worry about whether the child can remember every word. A child who reads 1000 words every day will certainly read the same words again.

I have written about how to buy the Si Wu Kuai Du series of books in this page :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html

Please read my blog to understand more about the books. These books may not be suitable for every parent, but a good Chinese tutor will definitely be able to make good use of these books.

[tamarind]

sean wife,

I use games to teach the words, and also revise old words using games, so I know that my boy can recognize the individual words, and that he is not remembering the sentence structure. In fact, from book 3 onwards, every lesson includes a story of many words, it will not be possible for the child to memorize the entire story.

Both my kids actually enjoy the stories in the Si Wu Kuai Du series very much, and they are very eager to read new stories

[tamarind]

markfch,

It's my pleasure to share

[tamarind]

Dear all,

I remember that some parents have recommended other wonderful Chinese books in this thread before. Please feel free to post comments to share about good books in my blog :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

[dimsum]

Hi tamarind, :thankyou: for the wonderful compilation of the story books!


3 more chapters and my DS is gg to complete Book 6. However, even for those simple picture books such as 噼里啪啦系列, 是谁嗯嗯在我的头上, there will be quite a bit of words that are not covered in SiWuKuaiDu. It's difficult to get him to rem. these new words (he's more like reading from memory instead). How does your DD rem. the new words?