Chinese: 学前阅读计划 – 拍球
I’ve been struggling to keep up with a routine that I can stick to in coaching my 2 kids on Chinese. English is still our primary spoken language at home and in order to fix the problem in helping my children be more confident and comfortable in speaking in mandarin, we’ve decided to revert to our original habit of speaking mandarin on alternate days (we got complacent when the kids started going to school since beginning of last year; have noticed the reluctance in our kids when using mandarin to converse).
This reading program, 学前阅读计划, by Odonata Publishing makes a good lead-in to guide my children as it’s easy to follow and with very minimal preparation if you purchase the entire reading program that includes, 8-readers, box flash-cards consisting of 100 words, CD ROM game, accompanying story books and the workbooks. However, most of the items (besides the 8-readers pack) are not available readily here, it could be purchased through Odonata Publishing’s website though. Within the box of flash-cards, there is a list of great fun learning card game ideas for the teacher/parent to make word recognition more appealing to the learner. Rote learning need not be mundane and dry if it’s done in a meaningful and fun way.
I have worked out a plan to use these books – one reader at a time on a weekly basis. This set of books will introduce the first 100 words; by the end of 8 weeks, I’d envision that my children would have learned 100 words. To aid my kids in familiarizing and internalizing the words learned, reading practice, writing and card games will be done daily throughout the week. Each revision will be 15mins or less depending on the children’s interest. Drilling is not my cup of tea, what I want to create is a positive learning atmosphere in addition, it’s crucial not to force/push the children beyond what they can handle at this age, lest we build a resentment in learning.
Here are the various materials I’ve used and some printables made available for your use with your child/children.
Combining various resources to enrich the learning experience beyond just word recognition. We will be using “10小时教会孩子1000个常用字” to learn how chinese characters were formed through pictograph. This resource can be purchased from here.
Learning aids I’ve created are Word Formation board, additional word cards, picture cards. These can be laminated for durability purpose. You may download the resources and print for your personal use from here.
Worksheets to enhance the learning with additional word recognition activities and hand writing practice. You may print it from here.
To supplement the learning, I’ve picked out a book containing majority of the words we have just learned in the reader “拍球” so that the kids could learn to identify the words outside of the reader and not form a reliance on memorizing through the reader. You may pull out any books you might have in your home library that consist of the words your child has learned from the Odonata’s readers.
I’ve created a video with all the card game ideas and how you might be able to deliver the lesson. You may view the video here. Do check back again later for updates on lesson 2 and more.
Have fun with your little ones and more importantly, I hope that your chinese home learning will be a great and fruitful time of bonding! 
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hi pauline
Appreciate ur effort greatly on giving us such a detailed sharing
Can i check with u the price of this entire reading programme?
Also what is the age suitability?
Do u also use 四五快读 ， 基础汉字500 (sage formula) resources?
There are so many resources.. Jus thinking which is most suitable. Thks
I thought you were using 四五快读 before? Why not stick to the same series?
Hi Karen,
You are most welcome
About your queries -
The books are now available for purchase via Odonata’s website http://www.odonatabooks.com/webshaper/store/viewCat.asp?catID=17 for Level 1 with 8 readers it’s RM40 (approx S$18+). You might want to go down to a Popular bookstore that’s nearest to you to check if they still carry this set of books (if I am not wrong, the 8 readers + 1 Audio CD is about S$25 – sold in Popular). Level 1 is design for children 3+
As for the 四五快读, 基础汉字500 (sage formula) I have bought both, I personally like these programs because it is quite easy for the parent/teacher to execute the lesson. However, my kids aren’t very attentive when I make them sit down to read through the words. After awhile, it becomes tedious having to keep them still and the learning experience became unpleasant. Hence I’ve decided to shelf these programs for the time being and try out the Odonata readers that I’ve bought 3 years ago.
I will revisit the 四五快读, 基础汉字500 (sage formula) programs perhaps later after I’m done with Level 1 of the Odonata readers.
Hi Debbie,
Yes I have the 四五快读 program. For your question, I’ve answered in the previous comment
oh, i undstd… it’s gd to hv a variety of resources & incorporating fun elements to the learning is impt to sustain their interest.
What attracted me to this set is the ‘games’ part & CDROM.. Popular’s set only has the bks & audio CD. i havent checked out odonata’s site… So dunno if they sell the entire set.
I’ve also yet to see ur video on how the game is like.. Will check it out soon!
Thks
Hi Karen,
I’ve recently placed an order of the CD ROM and accompanying story books for Level 1, through the Odonata’s website. It’s in transition right now. Once I’ve received my set, I’ll share it here in this website
Beyond that, yeah, do check out the video I’ve made recording the card games we’ve played at home while learning
Hi, I have a 3yo son who is in English-speaking preschool and only has Chinese once a week. Lately, he told me he doesn’t like to learn chinese because it is difficult. Both my hubby and myself speak English at home too. Does this CD-ROM and books really helps the little ones to speak and understand better? My son also cannot sit still to finish the entire story book too. I’m looking for more action-packed and lively teaching material at home to improve his Mandarin.
Hi Evelyn, yours is quite a common situation we see here in S’pore. The best way to pick up a language is to have an environment where the child has the opportunity to be exposed to the language more often. An opportunity to listen to, would definitely be the fundamental to learning the language. I identify with your situation as in your child hasn’t been given much exposure to the language at home and in school therefore has grown to develop a resentment to the language bec he doesn’t quite understand it.
Here’s a great article you might want to draw some insights from.
I’d suggest, that you try to get more chinese children’s literature and start reading to your child at home more regularly first. You can start with short simple books that has very minimal words in it but able to teach your child some basic concepts such as things around him, colours, parts of his body etc I feel at this stage it might not be a good idea to do word recognition. Starting him on a reading program might invite adverse effect at this point in time.
Make it a point to use a few chinese words/phrases at home as you describe things that you are doing with him. Get him use to the language on a casual and gentle basis to develop that interest, he might resist initially but just persist on. My son was also reluctant to speak mandarin with me when we first started and even though he’s still not very fluent with the language, he’s more used to speaking with us in mandarin (we speak mandarin on alternate days of the week). What we wanted to do is to get him comfortable with the language then try to slip in new things to learn on a gradual basis.
Sing some chinese nursery rhymes and work on some art & craft that’s based on the nursery rhymes or the theme of a chinese literature. I know a friend who sends her daughter to a full chinese language playgroup that’s run by Julia Gabriels, while she homeschools her daughter in English at home in the evening. Not sure if this option is viable for you. You might want to find out more about it if it’s an option for you.
I hope what I’ve shared will be useful to you. Sorry for this super late response as I haven’t been checking into the website for a while.
My daughter does this series of books in her nursery!! They do 8 books for a year and in half a year she manages to read 4 books. I think they read it everyday and listen to the cd too. Plus she loves it so much she brings the books home and it is bedtime reading. Now that she is not in nursery (we moved to australia), i’m trying to catch up with the reading. at 4 years old they are like sponges…as long as they love it they’ll learn it really quickly
Hi Pauline, thanks so much for sharing your wonderful blog. I have use your worksheet to teach my daughter, and it is more fun and interesting for her to remember and master her recogntion. Hope to see your more sharing on lesson 2 and so on.