Montessori Activity: Tracing Chinese Character with Stamps

Age: From 3.5 years old

Objectives:

1. To provide a fun way to teach writing Chinese characters

2. To train the child's fine motor skills

Materials:

1. 1 stamp and stamp pad

2. 1 Chinese Character
3. 1 toy horse (optional)

4. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to trace the Chinese character using stamp, taking care to show her the correct sequence of strokes.

2. As you trace, read the Chinese character clearly to your child.

3. Invite your child to try.

4. As her to say out loud the Chinese character that she is tracing.

Additional Information:

I tried this activity with C today 19 November 2019 (3Y6M3D). I use this activity to revise the Chinese character "horse" that she learned during the Chinese enrichment class last Sunday. She preferred other tracing activities better, especially the one with gel crayon. She wasn't so fond of tracing out Chinese character by stamping. She had fun stamping all over the paper instead, which was also fine :-)

19 November 2019 (3Y6M3D)

Montessori Activity: Tracing Chinese Character with Stickers

Age: From 3.5 years old

Objectives:

1. To provide a fun way to teach writing Chinese characters

2. To train the child's fine motor skills

Materials:

1. 1 sheet of stickers

2. 1 Chinese Character written on a piece of paper

3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to trace the Chinese character by pasting the stickers.

2. As you paste the stickers, say the stroke of the Chinese character clearly to your child.

3. Invite your child to try.

4. As her to say out loud the stroke of the Chinese character that she is tracing.

Additional Information:

C tried this today 18 November 2019 (3Y6M2D) and really enjoyed it. I think it also helped her to learn to recognize the Chinese character for cow well.

18 Nov 2019 (3Y6M2D)

Montessori Activity: Tracing Chinese Character with Play Dough

Age: From 3.5 years old

Duration: 30 minutes

Objectives:

1. To provide a fun way to teach writing Chinese characters
2. To train the child's fine motor skills

Materials:

1. 1 container of play dough
2. 1 Chinese Character
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to trace the Chinese character using play dough, taking care to show her the correct sequence of strokes.
2. As you trace, read the Chinese character clearly to your child.
3. Invite your child to try.
4. As her to say out loud the Chinese character that she is tracing.

Additional Information:

I tried this activity with C today 15 November 2019 (3Y5M30D). I use this activity to revise the Chinese character "lamb" that she learned during the Chinese enrichment class last Sunday. She could remember the character, and was able to say it out loud. She enjoyed this activity very much, more than J did at this age. She was able to concentrate and play much longer than J. It could be development difference between boy and girl. If you wish to make your own play dough, you can follow this recipe:

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup water cup hot water
- 1 TBS cooking oil
- 1 cup salt
- a couple drops of food colouring (optional)

Directions:

1. Dissolve the salt in the water first to reduce the lumpiness due to undissolved salt in the dough later on.

2. Mix together and knead into a dough.

3. Divide it into 4 doughs, dip a hole and add food colouring to it (make sure to wear gloves to prevent staining. Then knead and blend well.

15 November 2019 (3Y5M30D)

Montessori Activity: Folding Clothes

Age: From 3.5 years old

Duration: 5 - 15 minutes

Materials:

1. 3-5 t-shirts
2. 1 mat

Directions:

1. Start with a simpler article of clothing, for example a short sleeve t-shirt.

2. Demonstrate to your child your choice of folding but be consistent with your choice.

3. Explain to your child why we need to fold clothes.

4. Teach your child to lay them out in a line according to the type of clothes folded

5. Direct your child to where the folded clothes shall be stored.

Video Demonstration:

Here is a video demonstration from another Montessori mom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJztVoHk3B4

Additional Information:

As a Singaporean, I must admit that I am not so good in remembering to teach J how to do housework.But I remember that I have learned that by including our children to whatever extent possible given their age, in helping to secure the welfare of your family, it will teach them to be sensitive to the feelings of others.

I made a post here:
http://elainengfriis.blogspot.dk/2013/07/moral-education-how-do-you-teach-your.html

So I have determined in my heart to remember to include him more in the housework, instead of just focusing on the academics.

Initially, he wasn't so keen on the folding clothes activity, finding it boring. But as his attention span increases, and as his discipline increases, he is willing to do it, and persevere on it.

Furthermore, it was frustratingly slow with the folding clothes initially, more for me than for him!!! I am a perfectionist, and it made me cringed, when the clothes were badly folded, but we persevered on, as long as J was willing.

This summer, we had a few rounds of folding clothes, and today 3 August 2013 (4Y4M28D) was the third or fourth round. And finally our patience paid off, and he is now getting better at folding clothes, at a standard that I can accept and live with.

School Time: Letter "D"

J (3Y10M25D). We matched the "d" mini figurines with the "d" pictures in the flash card:

We picked out the letter "d" magnet and listened to its sound on the Leap Frog Letter Factory

We picked out the letter "d" card from among others

We read the book on "My "d" Sound Box

We matched the "d" figurines from our own "Sound box" with the pictures in the "Sound Box" book:

We counted the number of letter "d" found in the book:

We practiced tracing small letter "d" from the workbook we bought from Singapore:

We practiced tracing capital letter "D" from the workbook we bought from Singapore:

Others:

We did the Addition with Number Rods.

We read an English Bible story.

We revised the Chinese characters for household objects.

We revised the piano letters and did piano finger exercise.

References: