Teaching Chinese at Home

[tamarind]

porcupine12trade, keltong,

My younger boy dislikes repeating the same thing everyday, so I don’t ask him to do so.

When I taught him using the Peter and Jane series, I tried to let him read new pages everyday. He encountered the same words, but in different sentences everyday, so he did not complain. By the time he read level 6, he had read the common words many times and he could remember them.

The Sage basic Chinese series uses the same method as the Peter and Jane series. My suggestion is just keep going on to new lessons, kids will have lots of practice since they will see the same words again, but in different sentences. After you completed the series of 5 books, if you find that your child still cannot remember many words, then go back to the first book again. I think it will be less boring for the kids this way, by the time they read book 5, they would have forgotten what book 1 is like.

For the Si Wu Kuai Du series, the method of teaching is different. We should make sure that the child knows all the words in one lesson before continuing. Since we use word cards to teach, we can play a different game everyday, mix up the words in different order, so kids will find it more challenging. There are also sentences and stories in every lesson, and it is best to read them at least a few times. However, my boy refused to read the same story again, I usually can only make him read a story once. He likes to play with the cards, so he is still able to learn all the words in the 6 books.

Now he is reading story books like 不一样的卡梅拉 to me everyday, he is also reading new pages everyday. He laughs when he reads every book. I think that we should focus more on enjoying the story, rather than remembering new words. When kids have read extensively, they will be able to build up a large vocabulary. We just have ask them to read every word out loud, then help them if they do not know how to read any word.

[3darlings]

hihi... inspired by Tamarind and other parents here. I tried the method of reading aloud using P&J with my boy. it works wonder. he now enjoys reading everyday after dinner. my youngest gal also joins in.


:thankyou:

[tamarind]

3darlings:

hihi... inspired by Tamarind and other parents here. I tried the method of reading aloud using P&J with my boy. it works wonder. he now enjoys reading everyday after dinner. my youngest gal also joins in.


:thankyou:

Hi 3darlings,
You are welcome

[porcupine12trade]

keltong:

porcupine12trade:

Keltong,

No la, 3 lessons coz its the first book n first 3 lessons hahaha. the first word ”山“，he cld rem the quickest, then the enthusiasm died down after 3-5th lesson. Somehow he just doesnt like repetition. I cant go beyond the 5th or 6th lesson which is “大” with him.So I cant go on further with him...mainly coz he is not keen and also i dont think he rem the words?! once a day he will remind me he doesnt want to read \"高高的山“ haiz

I dont think you are going too slow. Honestly if my son can just rem 1 lesson each day, I'll be glad! but if just 1 lesson, it'll be done in less than 3 mins and also mean u just keep looking at that same lesson, boring or not heh...do you just spend so little time on the Sage book? That's the reason i go on to more then 1 lesson, as long as I see they are keen...but only my K2 dau is keen

Ya...the 1st day 1st lesson I literally do \"山\", \"山\", \"山\" and case close. Than I keep praising him for a job well done. Haha...but day 2 I will do lesson 1&2, day 3 lesson 1,2&3 and so on for the 1st 5-8 lessons. Than from lesson 9 when it become too many lessons to repeat, I will pick out certain lessons to repeat instead of repeating from lesson 1. And I (try to) do this every morning and night (1 extra word a day). Sometimes he wants to do the next word but I will stop him and tell him to look forward to it tomorrow.

So far it has work with my boy so I just stick to it, the only problem is me keeping the daily morning and night reading. Thankfully he has been receptive so far so I am very happy with the progress. He is probably the slowest in his 天下 class but I hope by end of the year he can catch up with the rest.

Hi Keltong,

You are such a committed father! :celebrate: With your effort, you sure will see very positive result!

I try to do the same too. Read at least 2x a day, in the afternoon (coz my kids go morning class) and night. At times when I am very busy (esp when my hb not in sin), I have to miss 1x, I feel \"bad\" coz generally I am a very inflexible person haa, must follow rules kind. But to be so consistent and committed, very shiong! I tend to neglect my #1. She is independent in Eng, but chinese story books, she needs me, so for now, I am sacrificing her...too much to handle.

[porcupine12trade]

tamarind:

porcupine12trade, keltong,

My younger boy dislikes repeating the same thing everyday, so I don't ask him to do so.

When I taught him using the Peter and Jane series, I tried to let him read new pages everyday. He encountered the same words, but in different sentences everyday, so he did not complain. By the time he read level 6, he had read the common words many times and he could remember them.

The Sage basic Chinese series uses the same method as the Peter and Jane series. My suggestion is just keep going on to new lessons, kids will have lots of practice since they will see the same words again, but in different sentences. After you completed the series of 5 books, if you find that your child still cannot remember many words, then go back to the first book again. I think it will be less boring for the kids this way, by the time they read book 5, they would have forgotten what book 1 is like.

For the Si Wu Kuai Du series, the method of teaching is different. We should make sure that the child knows all the words in one lesson before continuing. Since we use word cards to teach, we can play a different game everyday, mix up the words in different order, so kids will find it more challenging. There are also sentences and stories in every lesson, and it is best to read them at least a few times. However, my boy refused to read the same story again, I usually can only make him read a story once. He likes to play with the cards, so he is still able to learn all the words in the 6 books.

Now he is reading story books like 不一样的卡梅拉 to me everyday, he is also reading new pages everyday. He laughs when he reads every book. I think that we should focus more on enjoying the story, rather than remembering new words. When kids have read extensively, they will be able to build up a large vocabulary. We just have ask them to read every word out loud, then help them if they do not know how to read any word.

Hi Tamarind,

Very good suggestions, I'll do the same for my boy then, thanks again for your advice :)!

[tamarind]

Brenda10:

tamarind:

Thanks. So far my kids only watch 喜羊羊, do you have any other DVD recommendations ?

Hi Tamarind

You may want to consider the 西游记(古装/神话/奇幻) 2010 new version. I did not buy but happen to see some parts during TS Video sales. The show is come with Chinese subtitle and fantastic effect that I think children should like it.

Hi Brenda,
Thanks ! I will look for those DVDs, always wanted my kids to watch 西游记 !

[jerejoy]

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

[tamarind]

jerejoy:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

Hi jerejoy,
Even if you send to Berries, you still have to consistently practice the week's lesson with him everyday. He will improve quickly if you speak only Mandarin to him. Otherwise, once a week in Berries is not sufficient. Both my kids attended Berries since 4 years old, though they can read many words, they still did not feel confident enough to speak Mandarin when they completed K2.

I find that the best way to practice oral skills is to ask the child to read out loud from Chinese story books. When your boy has completed the 3 series of Sage, total 15 books, you can try to let him read simple Chinese story books. If he can read up to one thousand words out loud everyday, then he will be much more confident speaking Mandarin. Start with one hundred words a day, then slowly increase the volume as he reads faster.

My P2 girl now reads about 3000 words out loud to me everyday, she can finish reading in about 20 minutes or less. She is very confident in speaking Mandarin now.

[deardear07]

jerejoy:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

Wow! Ur son is onto p&j level5? Read with understanding?

My 34mth son cannot read yet... Most letters cannot recognize too... Only recognize some words in books that he had constant exposure to.even then,he will forget at times.

He is better at recognizing chinese words though... Weird coz his spoken mandarin is poor due to lack of exposure.we expected him to pick up english faster. He is onto a little phonics so mayb need more time?

[phankao]

jerejoy:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

if you want your child to converse in Mandarin, then you'd have to speak with him in Mandarin. My son is 30mths old and that's what I've been doing with him. Also, we read lots of Chinese books together. I'm poor in Chinese, so it's through all the books that we both learn proper Chinese and sentence structure together. He can speak and express himself in Chinese. I'm not sure what language is dominant to him, since I've been hearing him \"speaking\" with his toys in both English and Chinese at different times. Probably he's comfortable with both and thinks in both english & chinese.