In English and Chinese
I’ve been on so many paths with this one. I started with what everyone wants in a perfect world: What a beautifully perfect world! Ha! Basically no rewards should be given. All achievements should come from the heart right? This generally works and but takes a lot of effort – from BIRTH. My husband and…
Age: 8+ Independent Reader or with Parent (reading level grade 4+) Purchase Links: Series of 5: 漫畫昆蟲記──酷蟲學校甲蟲這一班:爆笑全集(共5冊) I rarely find a series where I find the pictures to be interesting, ugly and cute at the same time. This series looks cute, grotesque, interesting, and educational all at once. How genius. It’s for both boys and…
Many moms have shared their daily schedules or activities on our Facebook Group: Motherly Notes and it’s a common question that parents have because children like to: Procrastinate Procrastinate Procrastinate Moms like to maximize their kids study schedule as well as their own times. How in the world do other kids study 5-6 things in…
Learn the story behind Mother’s Day. Ann Jarvis, Anna Jarvis.
我想聽你說 Popcorn Talks 桌遊來了!
Age:6+ Purchase link: 妖怪出租 套書 1-4 This is a set by the same author as 神奇柑仔店 series. The stories are very fun and finished by my kids in record time. We love lighthearted reading. My kids alternate between these fun books as well as the heavier books for balance. Maturity wise, if your kid isn’t…
Using karaoke to teach Chinese is very powerful. It’s how many adults learned Chinese and it’s how older children learn Chinese. I have countless friends who have learned Chinese through singing with friends. I’ve learned so many phrases in other languages from singing as well. Not only are there hard phrases and idioms in Chinese…
Age: 5-7 with parent, 7+ independent This is a neat set of science magazines fit for first to third grade level in Chinese. 99% of the magazine has zhuyin but there are a couple lines in their comics section that don’t but it won’t deter your budding reader from reading this because it’s FULL of…
I wanted to continue discussing commonly asked topics about the Chinese journey. I’ve noticed many many many kids in my class able to speak in Chinese and some very fluently but yet do not have the proper tones down or have picked up that “ABC” accent. This may be okay for most but there are…
Age 8+ Purchase Link: 西方經典童話套書(1~20冊) I’ve been tracking down sets of classics for a while now. One that has detailed stories and close to the original zhuyin colorful illustrations excitingly written for the 3rd to 5th grade child comprehension questions in the back has 20,000 to 30,000 characters a book (Little Prince and Midsummer Night’s…
Age 5-9 I really really really like this set of 100 little books. It’s out of print but I still felt the need to share it. It’s portable and it’s oh so cute… There are 100 little books from easy to hard. The first 50 books have zhuyin while starting book 60, there isn’t. The…
Book Purchase Links: 跑跑薑餅人城市大逃亡1:倫敦 跑跑薑餅人城市大逃亡2:北京 跑跑薑餅人1:無限爆笑的科學 跑跑薑餅人2:不可思議的科學 Age 6+ At the start of first grade or a mature kindergartner, you can start with some comics to develop confidence in non-zhuyin reading. This is a new set published starting in 2019 and my kids ARE IN LOVE WITH THIS. It’s got weird story lines, monsters, adventure,…
Book Review: 我愛瑪婷 52 本, 26張 CD. I Love Martine Series Chinese Version Age 3-6 This is totally 1970’s style set of 52 picture books with 26 CDs. The CDs are read verbatim with the book! Those that don’t want to read with your children? Great! Have them listen to the CDs! LOL! The CDs…
Age 3-6 Although the set calls itself a “bridge book” set, I find it better to call it a picture book set. It’s part of the Christian Andersen Awards series of books. Their awarded books are a hit and miss for me sometimes. Some stories are great. Others leave me with a question mark. However,…
Age: 3-7 This is a set to read to your toddlers or have the early readers go at it themselves. It has pinyin and also has great warm stories about a bear and a tiger and their adventures together. The pages are thick and glossy. It was translated from a German set and I think…
I don’t usually eat sweets or bread. I don’t really care for bread for that matter. Usually it’s easy for me to take a bite and say “bye bye” real fast since it doesn’t do well for my weight anyway. HOWEVER… these are pretty irresistible !!!!! These are located on top of Taipei Main Station…
I found this in 新光三越 (Shin Kong Mitsukoshi) A11 美食街 (food court basement level) … um… with a crazy line during the weekend. I vowed to come try it when it’s not as busy during the week. There’s still a line during the week! But manageable! It’s spicy but not too spicy. I don’t find…
This place is supposed to be known for their spicy noodles but the GEM I found is their Hainan Chicken RICE!!!!!!!!!! Their rice has a lemongrass flavor scented through and not oily. The chicken was better than what I remembered in Singapore… chicken was warm and tender and the bones were still red inside but…
This place won championship in beef noodle competition in 2015. It may or may not fit your taste depending on what type of beef noodles you like. I found it kind of cheesy they have “Champion Beef Noodles” right smack on the outside but I guess it does help people realize who they while walking…
Noodles were great. Soup was great. Extra plate of meat wasn’t so great. Just get their traditional Char Siu. Don’t get the extra $148 plate of 燒肉. It wasn’t tender. Didn’t love that. Otherwise, everything was great! I ordered 10 times the spicy and then ordered slightly harder noodles which I thought was smart. The…
This is an “indoor” … “a/c filled”… “pretty place”… “with lots to do”… for kids age 3-8ish. There are easy things like go fish and harder stuff like Chinese checkers in a gated area within Wooderful Life located in 華山1914… go when they open on the weekends and wait at the door about 15 minutes…
This place was awarded Michelin one star last year. It’s very very traditional cuisine and has a Cantonese flair …. but is it really Cantonese? Not really. The taste is more like Taiwanese Cantonese fusion? The duck is crispy on the outside and I like the wrap that it came with. It’s got grains but…
This is an activity we did in Yilan. We went to a green scallions farm and pulled out long scallions called 三星葱. Then we made scallion pancakes. They have: rainboots so your feet don’t get dirty in the farm while stepping in mud to get the scallions. You wash the scallions in the water pool…
We were craving something that’s not mud but yet cultural and fun to shop and walk and clean and pretty for our last stop in Yilan and we went here. There are a LOT … A LOT OF DIY here but we didn’t have enough time!! We thought it’s a 40 minute visit sort of…
We went to 宜蘭 and this was one of the activities that the driver had planned for us. We went to the Crayon factory (there’s only two there and this is the one that most people with kids go to since the other one is for “better quality” art supplies). It’s a very streamlined DIY…
If you love beef and love marbled melt in your mouth beef from Japan (Omi beef)….Come here. Highly recommended. It’s about ten courses of amazing. There’s only space for about ten guests per dinner sitting. Menu is fixed but you can tell them about allergies and preferences for substitution, etc. Service is friendly and nice.…
This is a chain opened by 藍心湄. It’s not like something that’s ultra ultra special but the taste is so good! For those that like spicy food, this is the place to come. The menu is expansive and the food is super well cooked. I really suggest 蒼蠅頭 as a must order if you like…
This place was sooooooooooo freagin beautiful. However, it was SOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!!!! OMG, I was melting!!!! Yes, I did the whole Taiwan thing and was carrying an umbrella the whole time because my skin was burning. Kids were whining one minute into the park on how hot they were and how they feel tired cuz they’re…
If you love shopping for local items and walking through old styled streets, this is the place for you. This place as been used as the background for movies like “A City of Sadness” and “Spirited Away” so it’s popular for a lot of Asian to come see this place. It’s very “steep”… it was…
This is the famous place where you can light up paper lanterns and let them float into the sky like the Taiwan idol dramas. The strip of shopping is about only half a mile long. You will find lantern shops all along the shopping strip with similar prices. $150 for one color and $200 for…
Seems like I’m always eating… but this one is a must go and repeat! Must go and repeat! Must go and repeat! Chinese Site: https://www.palaisdechinehotel.com/tw/restaurant.php English Site: https://www.palaisdechinehotel.com/en/restaurant.php Couple things to note: It’s Dim Sum on steroids. Reservations are hard… hard… did I say hard? Call in the FIRST of the month to get a…
We went on the Maokong Gondola. Some things to note: It’s a 25 minute ride up and 25 minute ride down if you want to ride down. You can take a taxi down for 75 nt a person or negotiate. There are taxis at the top of the mountain. There’s a tour shuttle to take…
I love hotpot and Taiwan has the best hot pot places. This particular chain though is from China and I can’t say enough good stuff about it. First of all, the meat is delicious. Second, they have a bagillion sauces for you to choose from. Third, their service is top notch. We sat down, immediately…
Age: 0-3 with parent Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Purchase Link: 棕色的熊、棕色的熊,你在看什麼 從頭動到腳 變色龍捉迷藏 Everyone in the states has Eric Carle. Case closed. Ha ha… just listing a few that I found in my storage. We have the English versions too. The only thing I don’t love in these is the…
Age: 0-2 Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Purchase Link: 蔬菜躲貓貓 Tupera Tupera is an author we’ve been attracted to. For babies, the books are direct and simple and great for babies. There’s humor and cuteness. This is a lift the flap book. The only thing I wished for is for the…
Age: 0-2 Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Purchase Link: 誰吃掉了 This is by a really famous Japanese author and both my kids just loved this book because they loved finding the fruit or vegetable or food that each page introduces. The way they incorporated the look and find is super sweet…
Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Age: 0-2 Purchase Link: 親愛的動物園 This is a popular book in English. Lift the flaps and voila! I haven’t seen any kids not like this in English or Chinese so I recommend this book for babies to two years old. It’s great to learn some words…
To learn more, join our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ The following is a post from our group member in our Facebook Group. She’s ONE AMAZING MOM but as all Chinese mothers are, she fails to ADMIT THAT. I will try to translate the best that I can her journey. Down below she’ll say she’s lazy and…
Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Ages: 2-Adult Having Chinese New Years being known to my kids is something I will start working hard on because in the last few years, we haven’t done enough or nearly as much as I had experienced growing up. Therefore, I have purchased books about Chinese…
There’s a lot of talk about the use of Taobao Agents and it was brought to many people’s attention that TaoBaoRing or (recent name change to 42 Agent) has been the best one to use. Let’s talk about what is a Taobao Agent. There are many types of TaoBao Agents and usually, you go to…
This article is written to help people navigate buying from Taobao directly to avoid using Agent Fees. The site will always be in Chinese only but if you follow the below screens, you may be able to save yourself a few hundred dollars in agent fees. Hopefully this will demystify all the Taobao madness. To…
Here’s my introduction video: I recently started using this backpack for my older child (6 years old) and she just absolutely loves it! The straps and back are researched and designed to be ergonomic for kids so it redistributes the weight for the child and they don’t feel any pressure points even after long hours…
Age: 2+ with parent, 5+ independent http://www.MotherlyNotes.com Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Puchase Link: 還要睡幾個晚上才到聖誕節? – How Many Sleeps Till Christmas This is a story about a little bear who can’t wait til Christmas and wakes up Papa bear every morning for the four nights before Christmas. Every day they have…
Age 6+ Purchase links: 奇幻蛇郎與紅花 – Snake Lord and the Red Flower 一個傻蛋賣香屁 – The Dummy Who Sold Farts 機智白賊闖通關 – The Smart Liar 黑洞裡的神祕烏金 – The Treasure in the Dark Hole This is a set from 閲讀123, Reading 123. Previous posts on other sets are: Book Review: 閱讀123 / Reading 123 換換書 Change Change Change! , Book Review: 閱讀123 / Reading…
I received C-Pen’s NEW product recently and have been holding off a review until I’ve played with it a little. Uh WOW. First of all, my daughters flipped through every page with 尖叫聲 because it’s well…. HELLO KITTY Even my very ungirly girls like Hello Kitty… so… this was a hit. There were a few…
Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent http://www.MotherlyNotes.com Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Purchase Link: 寫信給耶誕老公公 – My Penpal, Santa This isn’t a book about adventures of Santa but a book about a little girl who writes to Santa monthly. You’ll get a feel for holidays that occur in the year and…
I’m getting this question so often now. Somehow people like to gauge reading level by speed. So many parents are so in a rush to have their child reading faster. You can’t just force them to read faster. You can’t just force them to read faster. You can’t just force them to read faster. I’m…
Age: 2+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ Purchase links: 瑪德琳、瑪德琳的親愛小狗、瑪德琳的耶誕節 – Madeline series of 3 books 瑪德琳+大象巴巴 Madeline and Barbar the Elephant Who doesn’t love Madeline? I don’t think I need to convince any Madeline lovers that these books are true classics. I struggled a bit to…
Hi Members of Motherly Notes! Once in a while I find a gem in the group and I pester invite them to share their teaching methods with us because I find it truly valuable to the community to know how miracles happen. Actually, miracles don’t just “happen”… they were created by mothers who put in an…
Age: 4+ with parent or independent if they know zhuyin, 5+ independent Where to Puchase: 魔數小子 – Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Collection This is a set of math picture books great for smaller kids to an introduction of “concept” of different topics in math. There’s everything from counting, addition, subtraction, to multiplication, division, measuring, time,…