Learning should be fun. 

Learning should be enjoyable.

Learning should be functional. 

Learning should be progressive. 

Learning should be differentiated.

This is my personal belief about a child’s learning of anything. There is nothing a child can’t learn if it is taught to their level, and taught skilfully.

Hence for my Mandarin Homeschool, I personally teach according to a monthly theme, instead of using workbooks and textbooks which is the traditional school approach. Why? You might ask. Because sitting down and learning all the time can be very BORING! I know because that was how I learnt in school. And now that I have a chance to teach my children at home, I would prefer to teach through games, activities, excursions and all that fun stuff. 

Each month, I select a theme for my Mandarin homeschooling. (FYI my three children are currently 6, 4 and 2.5 years old.)

With each theme, I will select twenty Mandarin Chinese vocabulary words for them to learn. With my oldest, I will work on his reading, writing and labelling. With my youngest, I am happy for her to be able to match, copy, recognise and label those items.  

Building around the monthly theme, I then create realistic picture flashcards, vocabulary workbooks and word building workbooks. All these materials focus on the same theme, and same twenty words, to optimise their learning.