Thanks to Deisi for posting these videos from BookBox.

I had a look on BookBox website and it looks great! The First Well is a free story (Flash application) that can be downloaded in many different languages.
http://bookbox.com/index.php

Apart from that there are a lot of free stories in various languages, in PDF, MP3, games and coloring books.
http://bookbox.com/free_stuff.php?cat=pdf
http://bookbox.com/free_stuff.php?cat=mp3
http://bookbox.com/free_stuff.php?cat=game
http://bookbox.com/free_stuff.php?cat=color

Enjoy!
Joan

The song sounds really nice. Thanks so much for sharing!

It's traditional Chinese. I remember seeing this long time ago but could not find it again. Thanks for sharing!

I saw one of these commercials on TV and was pretty blown away by these kids. They sound like they've lived in China for years. The pronunciation of these kids are much better than the average Singaporeans. I'm a native Chinese, but living in Singapore and surrounded by English speaking people, my son speaks Chinese with a heavy accent (like you would expect from a Non-Chinese). <Sigh>

Hi iyph28,

How old is your child? Do you live in China? Is your child learning these words? In school? At home?

I don't mean to offend you, but I'm not sure how useful these words are. They are not words people use on a regular basis. It's hard for a Chinese speaking child to understand, and hard for a parent to explain (if they understand it). This is probably for older kids. As for non-Chinese speakers, besides been exposed to Chinese sounds, I don't see how these words are going to be any use (with the exception of 川流不息).

While I teach my kids Chinese poems they may not understand, I know they will appreciate the beauty of the language. I can see that the poems are easily stored in their permanent memory, because couple of months after we've recited a poem, I can simply say, "白日", without thinking my son will complete the verse "依山尽". I believe teaching Chinese poems at a young age is in line with the right brain teaching. As he becomes familiar with a poem, I teach him its simple meaning. He associates this poem with going a step higher to see more things.

Joan

Hi Wanni08,

Thanks for the info. I missed that part. Great idea, now I just have to find another 5 parents...

Joan

Hi Wanni08,

Thanks I've just spoken with Eunice. It's a little pricey. I'll have to talk to my husband first.
Joan

Oh and one more thing. I made it a big deal about how he should treat boys and girls (it helps since I was having a girl). He can be as rough as he wants with daddy (and they do lots of rough play), but he must be gentle with mommy because mommy is a girl. This really helped when the baby was born, I didn't have to repeatedly tell my son to be gentle. In fact, he was gentle with all the babies.

I'm not sure if a younger child would be able to understand those things. My kids are exactly 3 years apart. I see  siblings who are two years apart tend to have a lot of jealousy issues.

Here's what we did:
- Bring him along to see the OBGYN. My son loved seeing his baby sister on the little "TV" and listening to her heartbeat.
- Tell stories about him, when I was pregnant with him, when he was born, when he was really little... He's excited to have a baby sister but didn't expect her to be playing with him right away (because little babies cry and sleep a lot).
- We bought a really nice present (from baby to big brother) and brought it to the hospital and gave it to him when he came to visit.
- Talk to the baby inside mommy's womb. My son loved to update the baby on whatever he was doing.
- Never use baby as an excuse or reason you can't accommodate his requests. If you can't carry him, it's because you are tired, don't tell him it's the pregnancy.
- My son proudly tells people it's "his" baby. At first my husband was uncomfortable with that, but it's ok, let him claim ownership.

Now my little one is one. My son has been so loving and tender toward her from birth.

Hi Wanni08,
 
Thanks! How many classes did your child take? How much is it? I teach manners to my son everyday. In some areas he has improved greatly, however other areas there seems to be no improvements.

Joan

Hi Cristina,

Welcome! Actually my kids did not like YBCR either for a long time and I was wondering if they were the only ones. My little one has recently pickup some interest but I don't force it (we don't show it everyday). There are so many ways of teaching kids. Look around the forum, you'll find so many great ideas.

 

Count me in!

Hi Nikita,

I have been wondering about the same thing. I was thinking you or THen would be in a good position to answer that! How did you even manage with FOUR with no support?! I have two. It's hard to balance work, home and spending enough time with each of them. Sometimes I spent so much time with my older one that I feel like I'm neglecting the little one; other times I'm teaching the little one and worry that she might get too far ahead of her brother since I didn't know much about early education till recently.

Congratulation on number 5! Very brave!

Joan

I'm doing the same with my kids, but I am learning French with them together. I found a lots of great resources, such as Babbel and LiveMocha, but I use these for myself. I just found Coffee Break French on www.podcast.com which is very good for non-French speakers like me. The same network recently launched School Run French which is meant to play for older kids on their car ride to school. You can definitely use this for little ones, whether they are asleep or awake!

http://schoolrunfrench.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=podcasts

Ok this is what I think:

You can print the pattern with no colors. Flash one with colors for a few seconds and ask your child to color the blank pattern just like the one she was shown.

You can also cut the pieces and ask her to arrange.