One method for those households that don’t possess a native speaker may be the hiring of a nanny who speaks Chinese. The NY Times had articles noting the increase in au pairs from China. Additionally it is possible to arrange play dates with other children that are learning Chinese in addition to finding a Chinese speaking babysitter. Local universities typically have spouses of Chinese working on Masters and PhD’s that are looking for extra income. Another option is finding a local nanny, and there are a variety around. If you are in public service, please remember Zoe Baird on certain requirements for legally hiring a nanny. Truth to find out, there exists a large population of people in the US from China who don’t possess papers who work as nannies, so be careful. Nannies are also looking after your children, so picking the proper person is extremely important, particularly if they live with you. Friends of ours have been through multiple nannies and it was not a good experience.

Private Chinese Schools

Traditionally non-public Chinese Schools in the US start teaching children when they are old to sit still and copy characters. Most schools are still using traditional teaching rote teaching methods still found in Taiwan and China. Generally with children in america, it does not work due to culture classes. You will find a huge amount of independence in children in america and using boring teaching methods that not capture the interest of the kid so they want to go to school without a large amount of parental pushing find yourself in failure. With the kid being forced to visit school and often treating it as just babysitting, and not learning Chinese.

An alternative is finding a school that uses more of a Montessori Method or what is used in ESL where there’s lots of conversation. I was amazed by my daughter’s public school language teacher who spoke of like this in the classroom, rather than the traditional concentrate on grammar in learning many foreign languages. At a young age, I would suggest programs that teach using a lot of singing and other fun activities.

Chinese Learning Products

CD’s for Learning Chinese

CD’s come in two different types. One is products that are 100% Chinese of Chinese Children Songs or stories only in Chinese. Some products include a book of lyrics in Chinese, and other’s don’t. Other products are made to teach Chinese and have a booklet with lyrics in English, Pinyin, and Chinese Characters. The teaching Chinese products are both from from the united states (the majority) and a series from Singapore. learn Chinese for Teaching Chinese are bilingual, so the songs are sung in both Chinese and English. What I like about the CD’s is they give a parent a chance to be part of the process where they are able to Sing Happy Birthday in the Teach Me Chinese CD and Book in both English and Chinese (this series focuses on popular songs in Chinese and English). The other series have specially written songs for Teaching Chinese. The Teach Me Chinese Series has Teacher Guides available. The Sing & Learn Chinese CD & Book carries a an eye on the songs without words (like Karoke). Let’s Sing Chinese is really a 3 product series from Singapore which has both familiar songs and new ones. 3 may be the most I have seen of any group of Cd’s for Teaching Chinese to Children.

Video’s for Learning Chinese

Video’s such as from Mei Mei use more of a hands on approach teaching basic vocabulary and she currently has five video’s in her series. From the first one that teaches counting and parts of the body with songs through an approach that children want to later ones that progress such as for example her Play and Learn Chinese with Mei Mei where a genuine Chinese Kindergarten is visited. What is great about this video is it gives your Child the chance to compare their experience and see the differences between their school and the main one in the video. From lunch to PE to naps. To choose the right video for the child, I recommend reading the reviews (both bad and the good).

Books for Learning Chinese

A great book for all those just starting to Learn Chinese is I Won’t Bite. It’s a touch and feel book which has Pinyin, Chinese Characters, and English. The task of using a book is often you need to know how to read Chinese, as a way to teach from it. A fun book for exposing Children to Chinese Characters is Long Is A Dragon by Peggy Goldstein An array of books for Learning Chinese Character