We are slowly learning Mandarin in our homes school using My First Chinese Reader. My kids have been making their way through at a slow and steady pace. We work toward mastery so we remain on a task until the child knows the material. I work one-on-one with each child.
My 8 year old is finishing second grade and is working on mastery of chapter 4 of My First Chinese Reader book 1. Here is a video of him reading the dialogue from that chapter.
My 10 year old is nearly finished with chapter 7 of My First Chinese Reader. Here is a video of her reading the challenge exercise toward the end of the chapter.
Next year we plan to continue using My First Chinese Reader and my oldest will move onto Discovering Chinese 2 when she has completed My First Chinese Reader book 1.
I’m just curious what you’re currently using and whether you are still using My First Chinese Reader. I haven’t formally started teaching Chinese to my kids, but I’m a native speaker(but married to a non-Chinese speaker, so I don’t use it much) and would like them to eventually learn Chinese. So far, it’s just me giving them words and sentence structure, and some iPad apps for review. It’s hard to know what to buy. I recently reviewed a bunch of iPad apps for kids (with younger kids in mind, maybe too young for your older 2 kids) at my blog: http://biculturalhomeschool.blogspot.com . (Also mentioned your blog, because I love following your blog). Anyway, it seems you’ve tried a few different options for teaching Chinese, do you have an opinion about which you’d recommend for a 10 year old? I know every kid is different, but since you’ve tried them out at least, with a similarly-aged kid.
Hi Ecletic Homeschooling,
Wow, I love hearing how kids are learning Chinese. You must be so proud.
I work for Better Chinese and was wondering if you might be willing to do a blogpost for us with tips on how to homeschool your kids in Chinese. I know that homeschooling moms are pretty busy, but if you’re interested, please email me at esther.lee (at) betterchinese.com
Thanks,
Esther
Good Article About Foreign Language Progress – Mandarin
HI! I’m visiting from Circle of Moms =-) I think my favorite thing about the contest has been finding other homeschool families and getting to get a peak at their journey!!!
Wow – what an undertaking!! What an incredible gift you are giving your kids!!
I blog at Living Life Intentionally (currently #27 on the list) and would really like to get into the top 25!!! I would appreciate it so much if you would give me a vote!! Thanks for considering and Happy Homeschooling =-)
Beth
http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/Top-25-Homeschooling-Moms-2012