Been meaning to start but feeling daunted or not sure where to begin?
We know the feeling well -- it took many attempts in our household and moved in fits and starts for a long time, before finally taking flight. Once ambivalent or even actively disinterested, the kids now make a regular pitstop at the Chinese section of our bookshelf before bedtime. That is also where they are often found curled up with their favourites on a lazy afternoon. I am thankful we stuck with it through the difficult early days, and amazed how quickly the kids have taken the lead once they started to enjoy it.
If our Potato-Eating family can make it happen, then it is all within your reach too. Sharing some words of encouragement based on our own journey.
Who says you have to be perfect at something in order to begin teaching it? It can be a big psychological challenge to read in a foreign language. I don’t know all the words! I sound terrible! Rest assured things will start getting easier with consistency over time. And more importantly, you’ll be setting the stage for your kids to develop good reading habits early on. So perfection be damned. Pick something on the easier end (we got our start with the Little Brother Mouse Series), grow a thick skin, take a deep breath and dive in. You got this!
Making learning fun is the big hairy goal here. So if you’re sweating buckets on the inside, a few simple tools can help remove some of the edge. An online dictionary app (we like Pleco with its scan and handwriting recognition functionality but that are plenty out there that are free, and easy to use) is a useful crutch. We have also made complementary pinyin guides for some of our books so you can sound like a pro from the get-go. And when you’ve built up some confidence, don’t be afraid to just wing it! The illustrations provide lots of cues, so take creative license wherever you need to. It’ll give you a better flow, and help make story-time more engaging and interactive.
All kids have things they gravitate towards. But that doesn’t mean you have to read only Princess or Dinosaur books forever. Who wants that? Gently push their boundaries to help diversify things, it’ll also do wonders for your sanity. These are some of our tried and tested:
- Funny stories: a great boon -- they do all the work for us in capturing and holding the attention. Our LoL and toilet humour books are super popular
- Game elements: game books or stories that incorporate game elements -- creating dialogue and fun in the spaces between the actual reading of text
- Beautiful illustrations: immediately captivating -- good illustrations breathe life into a story and help build that emotional connection. They also allow children to leapfrog past their current linguistic ability to enjoy more complex and interesting stories
If you are reading to more than one child, and there are significant differences by age, ability or interest, it may be a tough ask to find something that can work for all. Some stories are able to appeal to a wider age range – check out recommended age range in the details on our product pages. That said, you might want to consider splitting up the task if the differences are too wide. In my household, we find story time works well with the 4yo and 6yo together, while my 9yo and I have a separate 10 minutes pre-bedtime to tackle a couple chapters of the mystery series we are working our way through.
There’s no way around this one, I’m afraid! Find a bite-sized chunk that you have appetite for (even 10 minutes makes a good start!), work it into your routine and try to hold the line as best you can. Cheat when you need to – pick a shorter book, skip to the best part, do one page of a game book, ask the kids to re-tell their favourites to you in their own words… all are methods we have used flexibly when we are short on time and energy.
Good luck on your reading journey! Send us a postcard along the way – let us know how you’re doing on the comments below or tag us on Instagram or facebook.
