陪孩子快樂學習認字

教材四: 小行星點讀系列中英雙語啟蒙寶盒

這套教材受到廣大家長的喜愛不是沒有原因的，它結合了中英文教育，也是一套完善的學習系統。裡面的書不只可用點讀筆聆聽故事內容，還有互動遊戲，猜謎語。點讀筆更可逐字點讀，幫助幼兒和學語文中的孩子認識每一個字的讀音，輕鬆認字和培養流利的語文能力。學得開心又有效。

學齡前的孩子精力旺盛，同時他們的求知慾及記憶力極佳。家長可為孩子打造一個合適的認字環境。多聽，多看，多講。如外出時指出街道上的字，在外用餐的菜單、中英文廣告傳單等等，都是隨處可得的教材。家中備有中文書籍，常常共讀也能激發孩子的語文興趣。海外孩子對中文的興趣，將是他們持續學習的關鍵。家長若能提供足夠的資源與耐心，帶領孩子領略文學之美，這將是陪伴孩子一生的寶藏。

Word Etymology:  Visualizing Chinese Language Learning in Creative Way

Child language development begins in the early childhood stage and continuously expands to acquire new knowledge every day.  Study has shown that a 3-year old can already achieve 90% of the adult’s cognitive development (Brown 2012).  The more the child is exposed to language literacy, the better he/she will display his/her executive control, learning capacity, and critical thinking.

How does a child become infatuated in learning a new language and new words? Many signs point to parental involvement in education, particularly in shared reading and collaborative gaming activities. This is particular important for Chinese word etymology, where Chinese words are stemmed from real world objects. Even if a child is not able to fully comprehend a word or story, by observing parents’ interaction with visuals (picture, card, storybook), abstraction of the words can be developed. Besides observation, child memorization skill can also be developed through visual cue, children song karaoke and storytelling, allowing child to recognize words through familiar sounds and stories. By combining words, pictures, and sounds together in a co-learning environment, child will become accustomed to learning.

Reading recommendation:  Food 超人My Child Learning Words Audiobook

Designed for child development through visual and audio cue, this book allows child to explore the world while learning daily use words in domains such as animal, insect, transportation, and food.

From three- to six-year-old, child cognitive development capacity is at its peak, learning words during this stage will be maximized with bonus benefit through child’s native desire to learn as well as improved memorization skill. How should a parent guide a child in learning new words? Here are three simple recommendations:

1. Imagine each word as a new friend to allow the child to correlate language learning as making new friends, generating positive reinforcement sentiment in learning.
2. Engage in character acting by allowing the child to be a teacher, encouraging him/her in teaching each word through visual and audio cues.
3. Have the right learning words material for visualizing Chinese language, perfect for oversea learning.

Our recommendation No. 1:  這樣認字超有趣

This learning material provides hundred words spanning six topics including natural science, animal, object, people, etc. Each topic is colored individually to allow quick retrieval.

The book introduces the evolution of word shape over time period, adding colorful graphics to engage association and memorization. Each word is also accompanied with daily sentence and Chinese idiom, allowing the child to learn the word usage beyond simple definition.

Our recommendation No. 2:  認字好好玩

Similar to our previous recommendation, with each page representing a word with relevant graphics. The book is easy to carry with eighty-eight-word cards, perfect for road trip and travel. We thought a fun game called fishing for this recommendation:

Put all the cards on the ground or flat surface, simulate a fishing motion to look for specific words, then simulate the action or object associated with the words to allow the child to indirectly study different pictures and words in repetition to train photographic memory. Example includes hugging the child while fishing out the word for “hug”.

Our recommendation No. 3: Combining Chinese Word visual flash cards with online learning

Another excellent kits of visual flash cards for learning words, but these kits include QR code to allow words to come out through the companion apps.

漢字會說畫(分成人事、物像 和自然三套) contains each visual flash cards with a QR code to turn each individual card into virtual learning experience, displaying not just the evolution of word structure, but also word usage.  Additionally, these words display tracing strokes, allowing child to practice Chinese strokes even while on travel.

認字圖畫卡 contains four different sets characterizing science learning, intuitive learning, word association, and creative learning.  Using the QR code on the cards will allow child to hear word pronunciation as well as observe the evolution of the word shape through history.

Our recommendation No. 4:  小行星 Reading pen series Chinese English Bilingual language learning Treasure Box

This learning material is one of the most popular without reason. It combines Chinese English learning, including storytelling, as well as collaborative learning activity such as guessing riddles. Accompanied reading pen allows the word to be pronounced, assisting child with audio learning. In terms of language pronunciation and word learning, this tool is very effective in doing both.

Children are very active during early childhood stage, as they are very open to learning and memorization. Parents should establish a consistent environment for word and language learning by persistently introducing them to listening, reading, and conversing. This is especially important in order to retain oversea children interest in learning Chinese language. This could be applied through day-to-day activities together, such as reading street sign, looking at food menu, or looking Chinese English advertisement, but having the right sets of learning material will improve tremendously by having the learning environment readily available when the children are actively looking for new things to learn. Don’t forget, as long as parents have the patience and resource to guide their children in understanding the beauty of the language, the mental acuity will provide the children a lifetime of rewards.