“Yīn cái shī jiào 因材施教” is a Chinese saying from Confucius and I share it as “personalized teaching” in English. Listen to your child and observe what she does. Add the teaching to what she is working on. Cater the learning toward her interest.
Homeschool parents often do this. But, you don’t need to be a homeschool parent to apply personalized teaching at home. Because you already have been doing it. It is before your child starts formal schooling. It is the time when your child comes home from school.
When my kids were little our fun Chinese learning space was the park, the playground, the backyard, the zoo, the aquarium, the library, the See’s Candy store… I even learned not to be afraid of lizards because of them.
Now, they are older, the places we go have shifted with their age. We’ve added a cafe, art studio, farmers market, museums, craft stores, and many more to the list. Learning Chinese is a part of their day. The key is still to keep it interesting and keep it moving forward.
It is easy to find teaching materials to start introducing Chinese to your child. There are resources you can find in a bookstore, a local language school, websites, podcasts, printables and many more.
What material do you pick? Where are you now?
Language learning needs time. How much time do you set aside every day for Chinese?
Playing is learning for children. Do you keep the Chinese language learning at a table or do you explore the learning opportunities with activities and outdoors?
Learning is interactive. Thinking about playing ping pong. It bounces back and forth. In the beginning, the game might be a lot of picking up and chasing after the ping pong ball. But, it is okay.
When the kids are little you play peekaboo with them. They might not talk yet but you keep playing with them. You watch them giggle, smile, and give their response to your peekaboo. It is fun and the kids want to play more.
What element can you add to teach Chinese to your child so she can keep learning?
If you are a parent whose native language is not Chinese you can consider “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” audio album – it is now streaming on Amazon, itune, and Spotify in addition to its CD and MP3 format.
This is an audio album designed for parents whose native language is not Mandarin Chinese and who want to introduce basic Mandarin Chinese to young kids (recommended for age 8 and under) in a playful, engaging, and interactive way. Miss Panda uses the Chinese English bilingual approach so you and your child can understand everything from the beginning. There is a companion learning guide to this album so you and your child can connect the spoken words with the written language.
Hope to see you and your little one in the program!
Image by Patricia Prudente
