Bumper cars! The trip started with a sunny day. We all got to the school at around 5:30am. Kids were excited. But, as we were approaching the amusement park after participating in the music festival the rain drops started falling. We had five buses filled with kids. There was no turning back. It was a go. Kids were off the bus and they headed directly to the gate followed by the teachers and parent chaperones. Kids immediately headed
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I always enjoy attending Maker’s Faire. Every time I attend the event I meet many creative people. In addition, I experience a lot of surprises. However, what interests me the most at every Maker Faire is seeing children can easily engage in building, creating, and designing. Kids ask questions. They are curious about the out-of-the-box designs. And, children are eager to make their own design with the materials provided to them at the event. Making something is
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Dedication. A mother said it to me. “That takes dedication.” she said again. Introducing a new language to your child needs dedication. Raising a bilingual child needs dedication. When you make the decision you make a promise and it goes forward from there. Dedication means you will be consistent. Smile, play and introduce Mandarin to her. Learn with your child together. You will walk with your child on this learning journey little by little today, tomorrow and
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“Chinese is fun!” “What are we going to learn next time?…” The kids are having a good time and they are eager to know what is coming up in the next class. I am gathering all my materials and am ready to head to the classroom next door. When young learners are engaged and enrolled in learning they are excited and fearless about learning something new. “Miss Panda, I know that song!” As I started singing
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The first time I saw an ice cream truck was in San Francisco. I was spending a summer with my cousins. When I heard the music I was not sure what that was. Suddenly, the kids who were playing in front of me all disappeared and then came back with money and ran toward the music. Out of curiosity, I followed and running after them. Here and then I saw an ice cream truck. It was quite
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Starting each class with the Hello Nǐ Hǎo song is a routine for the kids in my Chinese immersion program. They are toddlers, preschoolers, and babies. My youngest student was three months old. But, I first met baby J when he was a tiny newborn in a Babybjön carrier with his dad. Baby J was about 2 months old and her parents were ready for him to join my class for the little ones. People sing when
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Hello hello, anybody home? Who’s calling? E.T. It’s not a real phone call. This is a pretend call. My kids used to call me on their toy phone. It was a lot of fun. I asked them questions and they gave short and funny answers. How do you say, “hello, hello on the phone in Chinese?” one mom asked me. “It is 喂 喂 wèi wèi in Mandarin,” I replied. The “hello” on the phone is different
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Mason asked me: “Are we going to eat it?” James said, ” I love lemon!” I told them we were going to make lemonade last week. It is always fun when fruit is involved in a lesson. It gives the kids an opportunity to try fruit that their friends like. They can also share their favorite fruit with their friends. I took the lemon out and asked the children to join me. “Are you coming?” as I
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You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. -Zig Ziglar Alice is amazing. She does not speak Mandarin neither does her husband. But, her boy does. Actually this college freshman recently has decided to minor in Chinese. How did Alice manage to get it started for her boy? When she decided a few years ago that her boy should learn some Chinese she just started. Yes, that was really
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Being different or being unique? The walk starts at the Third Street Promenade. Go and take a look if you are in Santa Monica. What is it? Farmers market. Not really. A place to shop. Yes, but there is more. Cafe and restaurants. Yes, but there is more than that. There are the iconic Dinosaur topiary sculptures and fountains that stand there for decades in Santa Monica, California. There are street performers. And, there is this cool
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