Bears and "Big" Writing

     My son is really learning a lot in our Parents and Tots Language Stars* class.  He's bringing more and more words home every week.   I heard him saying "wash hands" in Chinese yesterday as he was playing.  He also repeats phrases used in class and likes saying that things are big or small in Mandarin.

      

     He especially enjoyed this week's activities.  The theme was dressing for winter.  You should have seen his eyes light up when the teacher pulled teddy bears from her bag!  He pays absolutely no attention to any stuffed animals at home, but in class you would have thought it was his favorite toy ever!  Other kids evidently felt the same.  One little girl even carried her bear around for the whole class period!  

      The teacher had the cutest little outfits for the bears.  Each piece of clothing corresponded to a winter clothing word we were working on for the week.  Here's a picture of my son's bear with his shoes and gloves on:  

Bear with his xuē zi (boots) and shǒu tào (gloves)

                                                                Giving his bear a hug!

        After dressing the bears, we then took the clothes off and put them on a clothesline.  It seems simple, but the little ones liked the tiny clothespins.  They are just hard enough for little hands to be novel and interesting!  Plus, it provided students with yet another opportunity to hear and use their new clothing words.  I think this is what I found most impressive:  Class is arranged to provide children with the chance to practice the vocabulary words as many times as possible.  I didn't count, but I am sure that each new word was presented at least 20 to 30 times--even enough for me to catch on!

A cute little clothesline with tiny bear clothes

      Not only am I hearing my son bring many of the words he is learning home, but he is also showing interest in writing Chinese.  Class is only part of the influence;  watching his big sister is the rest.  When it was time for her to write her one character for the day, he insisted on doing a page, as well.  I have to admit that I didn't think he could do it.  Boy did he surprise me!  He can't hold the pen quite right yet, but he did an amazing job.  

My son does some big boy writing.

Appropriately, the word is dà, or BIG!

     I am so proud of my son and his progress.   I am so thankful that my children are able to go to classes at Language Stars and get an early start on their Mandarin!  

Thanks for reading!

Tammy  

*We receive 50% off our tuition for blogging about our experiences in class.  

Mom Drops the Ball--Or, Circle

My son knows his shapes in English, but not in Mandarin.  And I have to admit that it's all my fault.  My parents visited from Kentucky, we had a family birthday, I've been busy working on my "teacher stuff" . . .  I could go on and on with the excuses, but you get the idea.  Mom has officially dropped the ball when it comes to Mandarin class.

But I have to say that Language Stars* makes me lazy!  I know that the kids will get a great lesson (both new material and review) every time we go, so I don't worry so much about our "homework." I know, I know.  That's not the right attitude to take.  No matter how good the lesson is, I know that review and work at home is essential if we are going to see real progress in the language.  (For them AND for me.)

This week's lesson in the parents and tots class focused on shapes.   It was so well-prepared and engaging that I have to tell you about it.  The teacher had 3 different shape games:  1) shape boxes, 2) finish the house, and 3) fill in the picture.  (We did all 3 of these activities on Thursday because there are fewer children in the class.  On Saturday, we only had time for the shape boxes.)  

The teacher brought out boxes of 4 different shapes.  They were filled with pretend objects in that shape.   My son really loved the rectangular piece of "chocolate"!  The children practiced the words by asking for objects of each shape.

There were boxes of 4 different shapes filled with objects.

My son loves chocolate!

Then, she brought out a picture of a house for them to complete.

The students found the correct spaces for the shapes.

Last, students finished pictures of a caterpillar and a truck by attaching the correct shapes.

Circles and rectangles complete the pictures.

 With so many activities, you can see why I get lazy about our practice at home!  But, as I have said before, I know that if a word doesn't get practiced and used at home, the children do not learn it.  So I'll try harder this week to fit some shape practice in somewhere between turkey dinner and Black Friday sales!

*I get 50% off of our tuition for blogging about our experience.  Yet all the opinions expressed here are in no way influenced by it.  

My Mandarin Obsession

     Some parents are obsessed with football.  I see them painting their minivans with "Go Bears!" or, better yet, listing the name of their son or daughter and other teammates ALL over the windows.  (How is it even possible to drive that way?!) Some are obsessed with karate, taking off early from work to chauffeur them to class, rushing them out the school door dressed in a disheveled gi.  But, least I think for one second that I'm better than any of these parents, I must take a long, hard look in the mirror.  I'm obsessed with Mandarin class.

     This morning, I got the dreaded call.  Our classes at Language Stars* were cancelled.  BOTH teachers were sick!  This would be no big deal except that my kids are already signed up for classes 2 times a week, the most that our site offers.  And, even though they have a great make-up policy,  I don't want a make-up class in Spanish or Italian.  How would that possibly help a Mandarin-obsessed mom?!  So I got online and found two other classes at another center--one of which started in 20 minutes.  Could we even make it in time?

     Out the door we ran, carrying my daughter to the car with no shoes.  And my son was just thrilled with being rushed out the door because 2 1/2-year-olds just love a frenzied pace.  Not.  By the time we made it to class (relatively on time, thanks to my husband's amazing mental map of Chicago), I was exhausted.  But, my Mandarin obsession was safe.  Everyone was in class, including my reluctant, speaks-not-a-word of Mandarin husband.

     It might be difficult at times (obviously), but my obsession is paying off.  Every now and again, just when I get discouraged that all my effort is for naught, something happens to remind me that my children are learning.  This week, it was my daughter who showed me that she is making progress.  I bought her a wipe-off board to practice writing her numbers and letters (in English).  I just opened it and gave it to her, disappointed as I watched my art-obsessed, handwriting-avoiding daughter flip it over to the "plain" side.  Better luck next time, mom.

     Yet, when I looked again, it was a sight to make a Mandarin-obsessed mom proud.  She had used the "plain" side to practice her Chinese!

Working on her Chinese writing

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Teacher Tam

*I get 50% off classes at Language Stars for blogging.  But, all the opinions expressed are my own.  

Here's my latest product, on sale for 50% off for the next 3 days.  I made the princess set for my daughter.  While she can count in Chinese, she can't match the character to the quantity.  So . . . Check it out by clicking on the picture.