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Though Mandarin Chinese was not taught in Charlotte Mason’s schools, I have listed below resources that could be used in teaching according to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. Be sure to check back as more are added!
Vocabulary
In the early years, vocabulary is developed through pictures and objects around the student’s environment. Below are resources you could use for vocabulary. The key here is to remember that the students are not to see the words. In some cases, you may need to find a way to cover the words.
- Teach Me…Chinese and More Chinese
- Tuttle Chinese For Kids Flash Card Kit, Vol. 1-like many choices out there, these are not a perfect choice because they show the words in print with the picture. From what I could see however, the words could easily be covered up. The rear side of the card includes sentences. It also includes an audio CD. Use this resource with discretion.
- Chinese Made Easy for Kids Vol. 2 Flash Cards-it appears these are out of print, but they do not have the print with the pictures!
- Mandarin Picture Word Book-this book has small print over the pictures, so one would want to cover the words initially.
Songs
- Mama Lisa’s World has a wealth of songs and rhymes for free, with audio!
- Chinese Kids Songs-Favorite Nursery Rhymes in Mandarin and English
- Sing with Me in Mandarin
- Mandarin For Me has a collection of songs and rhymes with audio here!
Stories
- The Beelinguapp is a new app that reads aloud stories in a variety of languages along with side by side text of the native and target language!
- The Bible in Chinese with audio
- Mandarin For Me has a number of free resources available for you! Stories, songs, videos, etc!
- The Mandy Pandy Series are a collection of board books that come with a CD for the audio!
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Chinese) audio can be found on YouTube, here
- Brown Bear,Brown Bear,What Do You See?, audio can be found on YouTube, here
- Short Stories in Chinese, English/Chinese-this book is ideally for older students
- Cherished Chinese Proverbs: A Bilingual Retelling of Ancient Tales-this audio book would ideal for intermediate students
Poetry
- Yi Er San: My First Chinese Rhymes
- Chinese and English Nursery Rhymes: Share and Sing in Two Languages
- Mandarin For Me has a collection of songs and rhymes with audio here!
Formal Lessons-Online
There a lot of online options for learning Chinese. I hesitate to include them here because many do not fit perfectly within the CM model, but we could certainly adapt some of them. Families who are not comfortable with lots of screen time could use these resources sparingly.
- Skritter.com is an onine/app tool which aims at teaching the Chinese characters.
- Chineasy.com is a newer program developed to make Chinese easy for children. Adults could also learn alongside their children. There are some audio lessons and a podcast. Most intriguing to me are the “tiles,” (similar to flashcards) which can be used to play a variety of games. The only down side is printed words on each card. Alternatively, one could use the flash cards from Chinese Made Easy (referenced above) and play games with those.
- The Learnables-an immersion-based program for older students that begins with listening and speaking before moving on to reading and writing