Parenting on Purpose

A story my boys have been asking me to tell them over and over again is the one in which my Chinese teacher threw my Spelling book out of the window and I had to sorrowfully go out to retrieve it at recess time. The story well encapsulates my subsequent experiences with the Chinese language. Let it be said that it was a hate-hate affair. I went on to fail my "AO" Levels twice before passing finally, I'm sure, due to my desperate prayers out of fear of having to attend Chinese Camp before my entrance to Uni. Fast-forward 30 years, and I find myself at home with two young boys who are looking to me to teach them the same language I struggled with for so many years. It soon became clear that I needed some help, especially when my older boy recently went into a phase of constantly asking, "What is ______ in Chinese?" and I was forced to Google translate most of the answers. I have been trying various approaches to our Chinese lessons. I use a lot of kinaest...

Over the past couple of weeks, our older son Z has been going around uttering interesting non-English phrases. While most of what he has been saying is of a creative nature, there are a couple of phrases that I can actually understand. For instance, our 4yo enjoys asking " 你好吗?"  or "How are you?". Then there is also the phrase " 开 门"  or "open the door", which he is comfortable saying. Interestingly, our little boy now recognises a number of words which he had previously had no knowledge of; words such as " 人" or "man", " 口" or "mouth", and " 水" or "water". I am so glad for the influence that his Chinese class has had on him! Our son Z is taking the learning of Chinese very seriously! Two weeks ago I decided to sit in the class. Due to work commitments, I have not had the opportunity to personally see for myself how the class is being conducted. But I am fortunate that there is a ...

As a homeschooling mother, I am most worried about teaching my children Maths and Mother Tongue, precisely because I fared so poorly in these two subjects when I was in school. I sometimes wonder how I will help them navigate through the challenges that these two subjects bring, when I seem to have developed innate phobias myself in these subjects over the years. Growing up in a purely English-speaking family, learning Chinese was (and still is!) a huge struggle for me. Let it be said that in our predominantly ACS/MGS family - local schools not known for having students who are proficient in Mandarin - anyone who even passed the subject got a huge pat on the back! I have stories to tell of how I called my teacher "mouse" instead of "teacher" for several months, because the Chinese words for both are similar, and how I wrote my Chinese name as "Uncle Cloud" for the whole of Primary One until someone realised I had written in wrongly!      Learning...