Teaching Chinese at Home

[tamarind]

phankao:

My boy likes chinese classic stories better. And stories with human interest.

Then the choices will be very limited. There are very few Chinese classics.
If we want our kids to be good in Chinese, they must read large number of books. Reading just a few books are not good enough.

[phankao]

tamarind:

phankao:

My boy likes chinese classic stories better. And stories with human interest.

Then the choices will be very limited. There are very few Chinese classics.
If we want our kids to be good in Chinese, they must read large number of books. Reading just a few books are not good enough.

Yeah, i generally get them from 2nd hand bookstores. Popular doesn't have any suitable. But plenty from 2nd hand bookstores.

[tamarind]

phankao:

Yeah, i generally get them from 2nd hand bookstores. Popular doesn't have any suitable. But plenty from 2nd hand bookstores.

Just curious, what titles do you get ? What are considered Chinese classics by you ? Very few Chinese novels are written before 1900 :
http://www.chinapage.com/novels.html

After 1900 and before the cultural revolution, there are novels written by 鲁讯, 巴金, 冰心 etc, but I thought that these are considered Chinese literature rather than classics. I will be very surprised that kids nowadays like to read these books. There are also not enough of these books for kids.

[tamarind]

phankao:

tamarind:

[quote=\"phankao\"]
I could never find the books in popular, but i found in the library today and flipped thru them. The stories seem so juvenile. My p6 son wouldn't enjoy animal stories really. The only animal he possibly likes is probably the Monkey god. haha.

I do not agree that the stories are juvenile. If you do read every page of the book, you will find that the themes are very matured. The author uses animals to criticize certain aspects of human nature. My girl finds it very interesting, but I think it is suitable for boys who are into good literature that is thought provoking, rather than action packed type of books.

My boy likes chinese classic stories better. And stories with human interest.[/quote]I also want to clarify that although 笑猫日记 is about animals, the animals behave like humans, and these stories are indeed about human interests.

[phankao]

tamarind:

phankao:

Yeah, i generally get them from 2nd hand bookstores. Popular doesn't have any suitable. But plenty from 2nd hand bookstores.

Just curious, what titles do you get ? What are considered Chinese classics by you ? Very few Chinese novels are written before 1900 :
http://www.chinapage.com/novels.html

After 1900 and before the cultural revolution, there are novels written by 鲁讯, 巴金, 冰心 etc, but I thought that these are considered Chinese literature rather than classics. I will be very surprised that kids nowadays like to read these books. There are also not enough of these books for kids.

Basically most of the traditional stories. Yes, like those you've listed, and others like taotailang, stories about mengzi, kongzi, etc, etc. I will take photo of them later if & when I have time. It does take me a long time to find suitable books for him (& for pri level student).

[Callie Tan]

Hi all,


Thanks for the advise and suggestions and I will heed them by borrowing from the library and see whether my girl enjoys the book or not.

[lil_jade]

Tamarind,


Thanks for your suggestion. I’m having my DD read out some words to me (those that recur for different pages).

Actually, I’m not certain if she really recognizes the word, or it is from memory associated with the book/page… Does it make a difference? I’m not sure if I show her that word, but not in the book, she’ll know the words… hmm, maybe I can try!

As for 《四五快读》, is it recommended for 4 YO? Thought it’s more for 5 or 6, like when you started your DD and DS if I remember correctly?

I’ve ordered a ton of books from dangdang.com (no 《四五快读》 though, I came to this thread too late! Darn…), will likely reach next week… hope DD will like them!

However, I ordered some with higher difficulty levels (ie a couple of sentences / page).

In your opinion, is it ok to read books of different levels to children just for the content, listening to the language, or should I stick to reading those very simple ones (for her age)? This is because she has been helping herself to the Level 2 chinese bookset even though I insisted on finishing Level 1 books…

Thanks!

[tamarind]

lil_jade,

It is possible that she reads it from memory by looking at the pictures. If she encounters the same word in another book, she may not be able to read it.

That is why I recommend the 四五快读 books. 四五 means for 4 and 5 years old. I only managed to get these books when my kids were 5 and 6 years old, that is why I started late. These books teach new words in every lesson, then repeat these words in subsequent lessons. We will know whether the child really remembers the words.

It is OK to read books of different levels to kids. However, reading to kids may not be effective. I have heard of parents who read hundreds of books to their kids, and they are still not good in Chinese. The best way for kids to learn is for them to read every word out loud from the book. This way we can be sure that they are really using their brains and paying attention.

If we want kids to read out loud, then we cannot choose books that are too difficult for them to read, otherwise they will lose confidence. The 四五快读 books are excellent for building confidence, if we use it correctly (remember to read the first 30 pages of book 1). My advise is to complete the 6 books of 四五快读 first, then proceed to read Chinese picture books, slowly increase the level of difficulty until the child can read long novels. The list of books in my blog are ordered in increasing difficulty :

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

[phankao]

tamarind:

That is why I recommend the 四五快读 books. 四五 means for 4 and 5 years old. I only managed to get these books when my kids were 5 and 6 years old, that is why I started late. These books teach new words in every lesson, then repeat these words in subsequent lessons. We will know whether the child really remembers the words.
.

Can I preview these siwukuaidu books anywhere? I do see them on an online store http://www.sgshinekids.com/22235201162455535835.html, but can't flip through and look at the books physically.

I just want to see if am missing anything. haha. My 2yo can already read quite well, but certainly not xiaomao stories, lah! LOL.

[tamarind]

Dear all,

To find out more about 笑猫日记, read the 130+ customer reviews (商品评论) here :
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20839439&ref=search-1-pub

This comment reflects what I think about the books :
是套好书，不仅适合孩子阅读，同时也适合父母读。孩子会在书中学会善良、坚强、友爱；家长会从中悟到如何教育孩子。特别喜欢读其中的《蓝色的兔耳朵草》和《那个黑色的下午》，为动物与动物间、人与人间、人与动物间那种浓浓的爱所打动。