Hawaiian Birthday Theme DIY - My baby girl just turned four. Check out our Hawaiian birthday theme including a tiki hut made out of recycled materials. Continue Reading
Create a Homeschool Space for Free - Learn how I created our homeschool space for practically free. We will be spending a lot of time here playing, creating, building, learning, laughing, and making happy memories. Continue Reading
Reading Strip DIY and Sagebooks Update - If your child is reading the Pinyin in Sagebooks instead of the Chinese characters, you may want to try a reading strip. Reading strips can make reading easier by reducing visual stress. Cover up the Pinyin and English translation to help focus on the Chinese characters. Continue Reading
The Problem With Chinese Schools - I should be clear that I am referring to preschools, after school programs, weekend language schools that follow different regulations than primary schools. So what’s the problem with Chinese schools? Below I share my negative experiences with two of the Chinese schools my son has attended. The first incident was at a Mandarin Immersion preschool. What they did to my son and his friend is considered cruel and unusual punishment. The second incident, my son’s after school program failed to… Continue Reading
Growing Activities and Vocabulary - My son’s teacher mentioned that he spends most of recess digging in the dirt and pretending to grow things. It’s July and the weather is FINALLY warming up where we live. We have been working on growing activities and vocabulary in Chinese. What a great opportunity to make learning fun by incorporating a child’s interests. We recently had a playdate at the park on the same day the city was building a community garden. He forgot all about his playdate… Continue Reading
Done with Sagebooks 1.1 - My first Sagebooks blog post was exactly 1 month ago! I am happy to share that we are FINALLY done with Sagebooks 1.1. This is the first book of 25 books and we have a long way to go. 臭雞蛋’s Progress My 2 year old daughter is our little bookworm. Her brain has an amazing ability to retain everything. Another mom taught us 瓢蟲 (ladybug) when we saw one at the park a few weeks ago. She still remembers even… Continue Reading
Taipei Preschool Short-term Experience - How we found a preschool in Taipei that allowed short-term enrollment. Our Taiwan preschool experience and what they learned in school. Continue Reading
All The Moms - Every Mother’s Day since I became a mom I think about all the moms that have influenced the person I’ve become. We didn’t celebrate Mother’s Day growing up so now I want to thank the moms in my life for the lesson’s they’ve taught me. Here are my reflections and some photos of us then and now. Happy Mother’s Day to My First Mom When I was younger my mother always wore a skirt and heels. ALWAYS. Well, except when… Continue Reading
Reasons to Learn Chinese Infographic - Why I Stopped Learning Chinese There are so many reasons to learn Chinese but let’s start with why I STOPPED learning Chinese when I was a kid. I didn’t have a supportive learning environment. Chinese class was uncool. I was scared of the bullies that made fun of the “FOB” kids. There was a girl, Shelby, who seemed to always be waiting for me at recess. One day she had me in a headlock and I struggled to break free.… Continue Reading
30 in 30: First Chinese Characters - This past month has been especially busy. With Halloween festivities and end of the year work projects, I’ve had little time to focus on teaching Chinese. Then tonight while tidying up after dinner I noticed my messy pile of learning materials. Feeling disappointed in myself for not having time for my own Mandarin learning, I picked up a stack of flashcards and started reviewing them. I was sitting on the floor behind my son’s play tent, trying to get a… Continue Reading