Recommendations for Learning Chinese Textbooks for Kids
I just got a question this morning on which Learning Chinese Textbook's do I recommend. There are good points and bad points to each textbook series. Some of my favorites.
I like the Better Chinese products a lot. There is a huge amount of supplementary material available, including teacher guides, CD Roms, Flash Cards, Games, Singing for each product family.
They have four families:
My First Chinese Words Learning Chinese Curriculum by Better Chinese is for ages 2-7, and is a great introduction. It's made up of 36 books and a CD. What is nice about the series is its great for those with short attention spans.
.My First Chinese Reader Curriculum by Better Chinese for ages 7 to 11, grades 2 to 6. Available in both Simplified and Traditional Characters.
Discovering Chinese - Learn Chinese through Stories By Better Chinese. I like the focus on learning through stories, which all Better Chinese products have.
Magical Tour of China by Better Chinese is for midddle school and high school, and has 6 levels. The series builds upon Discovering Chinese or My First Chinese Reader.
Another series that is lower cost, is Chinese Made Easy for Kids. No Teacher Guides unfortunately. Uses Pinyin with either traditional or Simplified Chinese Characters. The Textbook includes a CD.
And for learning Characters, sames authors, is Chinese Made Easy. A Teaching Guide is also available, but this is more of a list of answers.
Chinese Made Easy and Chinese Made Easy for Kids are very popular with schools. I have some teachers who use both in the same class, since the Chinese Made Easy for Kids has more activities in it. One teacher's only complaint about Chinese Made Easy for Kids was the use of kids in the title (she teaches middle school).
For a down to earth style of teaching, I like Practical Chinese. Created by a Taiwanese Mother, who is also a Chinese Teacher in the US, who was frustrated her two US born kids (ABC's) were having challenges learning Chinese.
I suggest look at the sample pages and find out which one is the best fit for your teaching style.
Labels: Learning Chinese Textbook
posted by Ray Ritchey at
1:46 PM
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