Category: Products

Products, Teaching

Tiny Chinese Preschool Vol. 1 Book Release!

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Tiny Chinese Preschool was a concept I came up with while trying to teach 3 children Chinese over their summer break. I felt the material I had was too hard for my 2 year old, who could barely hold a crayon, so I wanted to create something more simple for his age group.

I started with some simple characters and used those characters over and over in simple worksheets. I made flashcards of those characters and played games with my child. Tracing and writing characters was especially problematic, but after some testing, I finessed a way that my child could color in parts of the character a stroke at a time to help him better recognize the character later. I could see real improvement in his reading, and he was even using the characters to talk to me in day to day life! And after nearly two years of hard work, I’m proud to present my best Chinese learning book ever!

It is now available on Amazon! You can buy it here.

This is a book of worksheets and games for preschool children ages 2-5. The first chapter focuses on preschool skills like cut, color, circle, mazes, tracing, and hidden pictures. The following 8 chapters integrates those preschool skills in learning two opposing or matching character pairs, like big and small, fast and slow, sleep and play. While learning these characters, online audio (now available through QR code scanning for convenience) can help guide pronunciation. The last two chapters are a review chapter and an easy reader mini-book, where every character learned is now integrated into a fun story. This is an excellent entry level workbook for children and their parents just beginning to learn Chinese.

Here is a peek to the inside pages. Each page is full-color, bright illustrations, and appealing to children.

As part of Tiny Chinese Preschool’s book release, I will hold a live video of Tiny Chinese Homeschool’s Facebook page on September 26th, 2023 at 11:00 am ET. I will let you see the inside of the book and demonstrate how the it works. I’ll be there to answer any questions. I hope to see you there!

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Tiny Chinese Preschool Book Launch!

Events, Products

Tiny Chinese Homeschool Vol. 2 Book Launch!

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It is finally here! I think I learned a lot from making the first book, so this second instructional installment is even better! More creative and colorful worksheets, more cut-outs, addition of short stories to review all the vocabulary–you’ll just have to see it for yourself.

If you need a sneak peak, the book launch is a perfect way to see the book, to ask questions, and to win a free copy. Here is how you can join:

Tiny Chinese Homeschool Vol. 2 Book Launch

I have 3 free copies I want to giveaway and it’s really easy to enter if you have Facebook. All you need to do is share our book giveaway post and write one Chinese-learning goal you have. If I can see that you shared and commented, I will add your name to the drawing! Here is the link to the giveaway post:

https://fb.watch/8M0NpmumGc/

Thank you!

I realize there was a lot of people that helped me with this book. I had my friend from Taiwan and her perfectly fluent kids do most of the audio. My cousin, who has a hidden talent for character voices, did the recordings for the short stories. My niece expressed continual excitement for the next volume. And complete strangers would offer encouragement and share their interest in future publications. Every bit of it was essential for me. Lately I’d like to share a huge accomplishment. Just a few days before the book launch, the book has achieved the #1 new release badge in Chinese Children’s Literature category on Amazon.

That’s something that I’ve only achieved on a couple of my other releases, and that happened after the launch, so this is a big deal to me. So thank you for your support and for teaching your children Chinese. I hope you feel it’s already worth it!

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Tiny Chinese Homeschool Book Launch Countdown

See you at the book launch!

Products

Vol. 2 is Just Around the Corner!

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With the start of a new school year, I promised a new volume of Tiny Chinese Homeschool. And now the release is just a few weeks away! You’ve helped me with feedback on the cover and now I am happy to review a sneak peak of the final product:

This volume focuses on speaking Chinese in the community: at school, with your neighbors, while taking a walk, at the grocery store, and more! It uses the same methodology as Vol. 1: each chapter teaches 7-12 vocabulary words and 1-2 target phrases. But this volume is different because now there are more worksheets and games to reinforce learning in a fun way. Here is an example of some of the games:

Like the last volume, after every 3 chapters is a review chapter. Each review chapter contains a short test, and now introducing short stories! This is exciting because the short story uses words almost exclusively learned in the previous 3 chapters so it is simple to read. At the end of each story is a reading comprehension test. In short, it is a fun treat to reward the learner and showcase their improvement. Here is an example of one of the short stories:

Character practice is also included. This volume chooses two characters from the whole chapter to learn. Now, stroke order is taught. Here is an example of a character writing practice:

These are just a few key differences that you will notice in this volume. Like the previous volume, dialogues and corresponding audio are provided so you can hear the language in context. Each chapter glossary provides grammar tips and cultural insights. This is a great resource for those who want to learn Chinese but need small steps to do so.

Keep your eyes peeled because it is just around the corner. See you at the book release!

Products

Let’s Vote: A New Cover for Vol. 2

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Vol. 2 is set to be released this fall (September 2021). It is still centered on every day vocabulary within the family, but it takes the learner outside the home to their community. You will learn to introduce your classmates, to ask your neighbors where they are going, to order food, to buy groceries with a grocery list, to tell time, and more! So a new and exciting cover is in order–one that shows a child exploring their world.

I created a couple options for covers, and now I need your help! I’ve decided to publish the cover the receives the most votes. Look at the options below, and see which one gets you most interested in the book.

Option 1 shows my daughter laughing at some bugs in the air. It is very simple graphically. There are some drawings in the corner of some vocabulary they will learn in the book, but no explanation. Just a taste.

Option 2 shows my daughter and son together looking at bugs. I thought it might be better representation to show both a boy and girl on the cover. I also put more technical detail in the corner of the page.

So which option should be the official book cover? Time to vote! Comment on this post if you have an account, or visit Tiny Chinese Homeschool on Facebook or Instagram to see our post about the cover and comment on which cover works best for you.

Thank you so much for everyone who has helped support this endeavor. I can’t wait for you to have Tiny Chinese Homeschool Vol. 2 come September!

Products

New Book! Dinosaurs Bam Bam! 恐龍碰碰！

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I love rhyming books, and there aren’t many Chinese books that lean into the great possibilities of Chinese rhyme. So I created this book, and my kids thought it was so fun to read out loud. Here is a short clip showing how much fun they had reading it:

紅紅恐龍 – Red Dinosaur

重重恐龍 – Heavy Dinosaur

嗡嗡嗡嗡 – Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz

恐龍蟲蟲 – Dinosaur Bug

A dinosaur bug causes one dinosaur to fall into another. This little misunderstanding turns into a jurassic mess! How can two very different dinosaurs bridge the gap and feel what the other feels? It’s a simple story with a big message, and your kids will learn to apply empathy in their lives.

Here are some previews of the interior of the book:

The book has simple, colorful illustrations that help explore their dinosaur world. Each page has both Traditional Chinese characters and pinyin romanization–with English translation in the back. After the story, the book includes discussion questions for both old and young to explore how to apply empathy in real life. For those just beginning Chinese, online audio (complete with music and sound effects) are available on this website.

I’m so excited to share this book with you, as part of the book launch, I am giving away 3 free copies! If you would like a free copy, here are the instructions to enter:

  • Check out the book launch post on Tiny Chinese Homeschool’s Facebook page.
  • Like the post and in the comments, write one sentence answering this question: What does empathy look like to you? Insightful/creative definitions are more likely to win!
  • Check back onto Tiny Chinese Homeschool’s Facebook page on Friday, January 15th, at 12:00 p.m. EST for the live video Book Launch.
  • I will announce the winners that will receive a free copy of the book on the live video. (I will private message you after for shipping information).

I hope you are able to enjoy this book. It’s about a subject that is dear to my heart. Dinosaurs? Well, that too. But reaching out to someone who is different than you and trying understand them. That is something that will make the world a better place.

Ready to buy the book? It’s up on Amazon, ready to ship to you! For just a limited amount of time, I am selling the book at 7.99 (20% off). Catch it while it is on sale!

Thank you! I wish you and yours some happy learning.

Update: Thank you for everyone’s participation in our book launch! Here is the live video where we had a book reading and a prize drawing: