Time to say good night! Good night 晚安 wǎn ān! Maria sings Dear Sweetheart lullaby to her daughter every night. Her little girl was hiding behind her and smiling. Dear Sweetheart is a song I wrote for my daughter when she was just a tiny new born baby. When we went home with her this song became a bed time routine. Bed time routine is a good way to wrap up the day with the little ones.
Read more →Who got poked? “Did you feel that?” “Me, too!” “What was that?” There was some screaming. At the same time, there was some laughter. A trip to the aquarium sitting in the 4D theater watching the dolphin movie was quite interesting. The ocean, the playful dolphins, then there was an appearance of a shark on the screen. As the shark swimming toward the audience and opening its mouth it came along a light poke from the back
Read more →Fire! Fire! The news was on. The heavy smoke. The beautiful historic buildings. The people who were watching. The emotions. Fire! There was a big fire. When I asked my students if there was anything big happened. One of the students told me there was something big happened at home. It was a big event. There was a roasted turkey and a big party with family and friends. It was a celebration. He did a good job
Read more →Slow process results in fine work is a Chinese saying. The original expression in Chinese is 慢工出細活 màn gōng chū xì huó 慢工出细活 literally means slow work produces fine products. I was finishing up a class with first graders and I started singing the Goodbye song. That was probably the 68th time they heard me singing it. I stopped two sentences in, they looked at me and thought maybe I forgot the lyrics so the kids continued
Read more →“Long long time ago…” is the beginning of a story. It is a signal to kids. “Hi, It’s time for a book or a story.” They are inviting words. Hěnjiǔ hěnjiǔ yǐqián 很久 很久 以前 is Long Long Time Ago in Chinese. It is a universal way to begin a story. “It is story time! Are you ready? Long long time ago, …” as soon as I said it, kids started to giggle and they repeated “long
Read more →Be like water Be like water. It is a Chinese saying 滴水穿石 “dī shuǐ chuān shí.” It literally means dripping water penetrates the stone. Four simple words with a powerful message. It is persistent and it is perseverance. Drip, drip, drip. Little by little. Remember when your child spoke her first word? It usually takes about a year for us to hear our babies’ first word. Remember the excitement? First word! Then, one word after another. One
Read more →Start and Bond with Your Child Today is a good time to look at what you have worked on for the past several days, in the previous weeks or months. Then, have a simple plan for the remaining of the week or for next week. What do you want to add to your child’s Chinese language learning? Do you want to add more Chinese children’s songs, craft activities, or simple Chinese stories to the daily Chinese routine?
Read more →Lantern Festival Paper Cutting Lantern Culture Craft! Culture craft helps children engage in hands-on creation. There are the “what” and the “why” questions popping out when they work on craft projects like paper cutting. Curiosity leads to exploration and learning! We are looking at Lantern Festival paper cutting lanterns culture craft, and this is a project that kids really enjoy. They can even come up with their design with the English alphabet and other languages. Taipei Confucius
Read more →Lunar New Year Story Videos that facilitate children big and small to see and experience Spring Festival and Chinese culture from a different perspective. These videos and the bonus videos (2021 update) are short stories in different formats. A story about the Lunar New Year for children. A story about the color RED. A story about Gratitude. A music video that many people love about firecrackers and more. A story about a Bucket, a Mother and a
Read more →Chinese New Year 12 Animal Signs Party! Chinese New Year is called Lunar New Year 農曆年|农历年liand Spring Festival春節|春节 in Mandarin Chinese. We are officially entering the Year of the PIG (Feb. 5, 2019). PIG is the last animal of the 12-year cycle on the Chinese calendar. So, what animal comes next? The one comes next will be the first and the beginning of a brand new 12-year Chinese animal sign cycle. Have you heard the story of
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