While I have exposed my child to foreign languages for a couple years now I’m starting to become a little structured in her learning of Arabic and Mandarin.
The Arabic focus for her K4 year is to learn the Arabic alphabet and have more exposure to the language. For Mandarin I’m focusing on exposure and learning vocabulary (oral and written characters) for the first two chapters in My First Chinese Reader.
I will have foreign language time with her twice a week for an hour each time. So basically she will be getting an hour of Arabic and an hour of Mandarin each week.
Each school day all three of my kids watch a kid’s show in one of their target languages while they are eating lunch so she will continue to get exposure there too.
She already loves singing the Arabic alphabet and has enjoyed dancing and imitating Mandarin since toddlerhood so these activities should be fun for her.
I’m doing a loop set-up. Basically for 30 minutes we will work through the Arabic loop and probably do 1-2 things. Then we will work through the Mandarin loop and do 1-2 things until the hour is up. The next time we cover Arabic and Mandarin we will go to the next item in the list. When we have reached the bottom we will go back to the top again.
Arabic Loop
- Sing alphabet (Youtube)
- Color Arabic letters http://www.yemenlinks.com/contentdisplay/displaydoc.aspx?name=alphabet_coloring
- Play on Arabian Sinbad
- Play Arabic Hopscotch http://www.yemenlinks.com/contentdisplay/displaydoc.aspx?name=number_hopscotch
- Play with Arabic magnetic connecting letters
- Play number bowling game http://www.yemenlinks.com/contentdisplay/displaydoc.aspx?name=number_bowling_game
- Alphabet Train – color letters and glue on cardboard. When complete put together in alphabetical order http://www.yemenlinks.com/contentdisplay/displaydoc.aspx?name=alphabet_train_game
- Play on http://www.baraem.tv/fun-and-games
Mandarin Loop
- My First Chinese Reader
- Play on http://www.poissonrouge.com/schoolofchinese/
- Mei Mei video
- My First Chinese Reader
- Play on http://www.mandarama.com/guest-tour/free+game+demonstration
- Ni Hao, Little Friends video
- My First Chinese Reader
- Print counting cards, color and practice http://www.nickjr.com/printables/kai-lan-counting-cards.jhtml
- Print and color greetings http://www.nickjr.com/printables/kai-lan-chinese-greetings-cards.jhtml?path=/printables/ni-hao-kai-lan/all-themes/all-ages/index.jhtml
- Bao Bei The Panda video
- My First Chinese Reader
- Play on http://www.mandarama.com/guest-tour/free+game+demonstration
- Follow Jade video
Ni Hao Little Friends on DVD is found at our local library. They have two volumes. I think we would make great progress if my daughter was midway through the first book by the time she starts first grade. Good progress would be 1/4 of the way through the book.
Love seeing other people exposing their kids to multiple languages. Spanish and Chinese are our target languages at home. We use “My First Chinese Reader” and Little Reader’s Chinese curriculum (more of a flash card method). I am very interested in the “Ni Hao Little Friends” but I only saw it as a VHS. ??? My three year old counts to ten better in Chinese than in English. I found it hard to keep consistent with the “My First Chinese Reader.” I would love to know more about where you want to be in the next few years.
since childhood, it is good to be familiar with foreign language feature