Comparing Chinese Enrichment (Primary/Preschool)
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jeanieg:
Hi jeanieg,Hi Mommies
My DD1 is has been attending Berries since she was 4+ and now that she is going to P1 next year, I am wondering if:
1. Is Berries still relevant/good for P1 and above?
2. If not, would appreciate recommendations.
Thanks!
My son attended Berries since K1 until the first half of P1. Apart from Berries and School, he has not much contact with Chinese. We neither use nor teach the language at home until early this year. I only started working on Chinese with him 2 months ago (cos we are currently overseas). Surprisingly, though my son missed studying the entire P1B book, he has no problem following (in terms of reading and understanding) the Primary 2 syllabus. And he is also starting to read Chinese storybooks on his own, ranging from picture books to books such as 大脚鸭跳踢踏舞 (finally
I bought this book during the Popular book sales two years ago) by 杨红樱. Just last week, we introduced him another series 樱桃园 by the same author. The stories are longer and with more difficult words, but he could still understand the gist of the stories without explanation.
I would say Berries has helped lay a strong foundation for my son. Otherwise, he couldn't have achieved this much within a short span of 2 months. Friends with upper primary kids at Berries are very happy too with their children's progress. But I have also heard about Berries being unsuitable for upper primary students. So, it really boils down to the Chemistry between the teachers and the students.
Btw, my girl is also attending P1 next year. I'm using Berries books as the main text and supplementing it with other books like 大头儿子和小头爸爸 and 大脚鸭跳踢踏舞. Perhaps, you can try that with your daughter too. She might surprise you by reading some parts of the books without any help.
(But I have to work more on her understanding though. She only did half a year of K1 with Berries 
)
PS: In case you are wondering if the HYPY would hinder their words recognition, it is not a problem for us so far. For my son, he will look at the HYPY only when he comes across new words, so as not to break the flow of reading. For my daughter, I'll read through with her and show her the HYPY how it should be pronounced correctly. After a while, she would use a blank piece of paper to cover up the HYPY and read the story herself. We use the same method for Berries text. For new words, I'll put the HYPY underneath the word. Usually she'll remember the words after a few reads. But I do know that many kids will become reliant on the HYPY instead. So, you have to observe your child's learning habits. -
jeanieg:
You mean the 四五快读 books ? Check out my blog :Hi smurf and tamarind
Can I buy the book from Popular? Wanna go have a look at it.
Ya I agree Tao Shu books are good as they have hanyupinyin as guide.
Any other series to recommend?
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html
You can try to look for them at Maha Yu Yi bookshop at Bras Basah level 3.
I bought it direct from http://www.dangdang.com. Thanks to these books, my girl is able to read long Chinese novels (each over 70000 words) since she was in P1. Some of the books that she has read are used by Berries in their P4 to P6 classes.
However, parents need to be good in Chinese in order to use these books. The instructions written for parents are not easy for those adults who cannot reading Chinese newspapers comfortably. Click the following link to read a page :
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w1nyHWTEh94/SzQMM0_2kGI/AAAAAAAABas/fiu6YIcA5gk/s1600-h/b2.JPG
You can try this series of books :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-chinese-500.html
There is Hanyu Pinyin, and they are easier to use, just point and read. The Basic Chinese books are available at Popular. -
phankao:
phankao,
I guess you missed the point.smurf:
It's not...
Even when I dun work, I still find it very difficult. I'm ok with Chinese, better than English, but I can't find the time to do it...have to prepare breakfast, and then lunch and then dinner...where to find the time to teach? And no, I dun have help at all, by the time I have the time, I have no energy left.
It's really easy for me, since we started from a few mths old only. How difficult is it when I just made a point to show him the flashcard video lesson for 2 mins a day everyday? Once for English, once for Chinese. So that makes 4mins a day. Show the same video for 7 days, then switch to the next 2-min lesson. Until, the whole set of DVDs are all shown in the same manner. Then let him watch randomly everyday with increased speed(for right-brain training). By 10mths, he could show us that he could recognise words already.
Not difficult, right? But when I tell parents with very young babies that, they think I'm crazy. They say \"why would I bother to even show my baby? I don't think it's necessary for him/her to read so early? Baby, leh!\". Oh well, whatever, lor. For me, I've gone thru' trying to teach 4 to 7 year old kids how to read, and I do know how much effort has to be put in. No matter how I tried, 2 of my older kids went to pri school not knowing how to read, so isn't what we did with baby so very easy? Of course back then, 10years before, there were no flashcard DVDs. And I would have been too lazy to do manual flashing.
Your 2 yo is definitely an amazing child, and honestly I don't think that many other kids can achieve the same thing at 2 years old, even if their parents use flashcard DVDs like you do. Every child is different, and there is a limit to each child's ability.
BTW I did not teach both my kids anything except the 26 letters of the alphabet before they were 3 years old, and I never use flashcards. I spent only 30 mins a day teaching each of them. I am lazy in comparison to many other parents.
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tamarind:
But you were so hardworking after that. Have to put in extra work.
BTW I did not teach both my kids anything except A,B,Cs before they were 3 years old, and I never use flashcards. I am lazy in comparison to many other parents.
I didn't teach ABC either. -
phankao:
I spent only 30 mins a day teaching each of them between the ages of 3 to 6.
But you were so hardworking after that. Have to put in extra work.tamarind:
BTW I did not teach both my kids anything except A,B,Cs before they were 3 years old, and I never use flashcards. I am lazy in comparison to many other parents.
I didn't teach ABC either.
As a full time working mommy, I simply cannot afford to spend more time. -
tamarind:
I spent only 30 mins a day teaching each of them between the ages of 3 to 6.
But you were so hardworking after that. Have to put in extra work.phankao:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
BTW I did not teach both my kids anything except A,B,Cs before they were 3 years old, and I never use flashcards. I am lazy in comparison to many other parents.
I didn't teach ABC either.
As a full time working mommy, I simply cannot afford to spend more time.[/quote]Very long compared to my 4mins/day, lor. -
In the 四五快读 books, the author wrote about a baby. His parents started to teach him to read Chinese words when he was only 3 months. They simply pasted many words on the wall, then just pointed to each word and read to him everyday.
By the time the baby was 1 year old, he already knew many words, and he was able to find and read the words that he knew from the newspapers.
The author also wrote about a baby girl who could recognize 1500 Chinese characters before she knew how to talk. She was able to pick out the correct card from a big pile of word cards when tested. This is really amazing.
The author wrote that if parents have the patience and persistence, and use scientific methods (flashcard DVDs, point and read, etc), then the kids will be able to read independently from a very young age. -
tamarind:
haha....i have the persistence, but not the patience.
The author wrote that if parents have the patience and persistence, and use scientific methods (flashcard DVDs, point and read, etc), then the kids will be able to read independently from a very young age. -
phankao:
Not many parents are as persistent as you
haha....i have the persistence, but not the patience.tamarind:
The author wrote that if parents have the patience and persistence, and use scientific methods (flashcard DVDs, point and read, etc), then the kids will be able to read independently from a very young age.
The author also wrote that many kids are not interested in learning words. Parents should just let them progress at their own pace, and do not force them to learn. -
tamarind:
Babies don't have a choice. That's why it's so much easier for them to pick up. It's the same as the Suzuki Violin learning principle.... Suzuki picked up on what he called the \"Mother-Tongue\" method. It was built on his observation that young kids can speak even the most complicated languages effortlessly. And no kid refuses to learn his \"mother tongue\", hence exposure, preferably from birth, works marvellously. And that's why it worked with that baby in the \"si wu kuai du\" book.
The author also wrote that many kids are not interested in learning words. Parents should just let them progress at their own pace, and do not force them to learn.
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