Motherly Notes Methods – Nurture Love Educate

In English and Chinese

  • Book Review: 12歲之前一定要學的生活大小事 Things you should know about life before you’re 12!

    Book Review: 12歲之前一定要學的生活大小事 Things you should know about life before you’re 12!

    Age: 9+ with parent or independent Purchase Link: 12歲之前一定要學的生活大小事 I love books that teach my kids on how to be a good person… because… what’s the point of life if you don’t know how to get along with others? You’ll have no friends and be very unsuccessful in life. This set of books is very […]

  • Book Review: 每天一篇故事，10天學會150個成語 (10 Days, 150 Idioms)

    Book Review: 每天一篇故事，10天學會150個成語 (10 Days, 150 Idioms)

    Age: 8+ (third grade reading level) 每天一篇故事，10天學會150個成語 (1)  每天一篇故事，10天學會150個成語 (2)  Please visit our Facebook group for more information! https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ I listed this book as age 8+ (second grade) and stated third grade reading level due to the content of the books but that doesn’t mean younger children cannot do it. With parent guidance, younger children […]

  • Book Review: 好忙好忙的耶誕老公公 – The Very Busy Santa

    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: 好忙好忙的耶誕老公公  The Very Busy Santa This is a cute book about what Santa Claus does on a monthly basis. Children can learn the months of the year, how it correlates to weather, some holidays and the most interesting […]

  • Chinese Teaching Systems: 樂樂文化 聽讀套書 Le Le Chinese 300 Books, 1000 Characters (Traditional & Simplified)

    Introduction Video This is a set of 300 little books ranging from 8 to 12 pages. There are three levels with 100 books a level. You can do them in any order you wish when you’re within the level and pick up characters from each book. Each level introduces a few hundred new characters as […]

  • Book Review:刷牙小小兵勇闖蛀牙王國 & 把飯吃光光好棒！Tooth Kingdom Invasion, Finish Your Food!

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Although there isn’t a whole bunch of technical terms, the message is very strong and clear through the crazy pictures. You should brush your teeth. This book is full of cuteness and at the same time presents disgusting facts about cavities. The illustration is to die for though. My […]

  • Book Review: 小小兵有絕招(一套12本+2CD) Little Soldiers’ Smart Tricks (12 Books, 2CD)

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  You can purchase this at Books.com.tw: 小小兵有絕招 -Little Solders’ Smart Tricks This is a really neat set of books. There are 12 books and 2 CDs. The CDs follow the book verbatim! Yay! Each book is roughly 1000 characters and is […]

  • Book Review: 冰箱放暑假 Refrigerator Takes a Summer Vacation

    Age: 6+ Independent Join our Facebook Group for more information and worksheets on this book! You can buy on 博客來： 冰箱放暑假 Refrigerator Takes a Summer Vacation  This is a book about a refrigerator who decided not to be cold because it’s summer and it wants to take a vacation. The family was surprised to see […]

  • Book Review: 直映认字教材 Picture Guided 1500 Character Learning Set (Simplified,简体）

    Age: 2+ Join our Facebook Group to learn more from other crazy parents! This is a very very affordable set and teaches a lot of characters. It has 6 books with 11-13 lessons in there and for each lesson there are “black” characters and “red” characters. Red characters are for the kids to learn and […]

  • We Finally Graduated from 注音 (Zhuyin)

    歡迎來加入我們的瘋狂虎爸虎媽團，一起分享教小朋友中文的心得呦！ Join our Facebook group to know more about how more moms and dads are teaching their children Chinese! I never knew how many characters my big one knew. After she was born, I went with the flow of what I thought was an efficient teaching method for learning to read in both English and […]

  • Book Review: Magic Math Stories Set 數學故事魔法盒

    Age: 2-5 Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  數學故事魔法盒  Magic Math Stories Set This is a cute set of 8 books with CD. Note that the CDs do not follow the book. If you are native, then I think the math inside is really fit for kids under five but the reading could be […]

  • Book Review: 小小地球人 Little Earth 36 Book Set

    Age: 5-10 Please join our Facebook Group for more information!!! I want to mention that I said this is for age five and up because I feel that children can still benefit from looking at the photos and absorb a lot of science related information from this set. However, the information in this set of […]

  • Book Review: 新小小牛頓 高幼版 + 南門書局寄到美國 unboxing of Nanmen Bookstore Package

    Age: 5+ So I finally got my magazines!!!! These are one step harder than 小幼 version of the magazines and they are all science related!!! YES!!! I have a lot that includes stories coupled in with science but these are all about science topics and they have workbooks along with game items with each magazine. […]

  • Reading “Short” Essays with Kids Daily to Develop Confidence, Patience, and Comprehension

    I’ve heard it many times before. Bridge books are scary. They’re long. They have less pictures, etc. There’s a constant issue of kids not wanting to read with their parents or do not want to move on to the next level. They see a thick book and they run. I’ve found that it’s not the […]

  • Book Review: 花園裡有一隻老虎 There’s a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  花園裡有一隻老虎 There’s a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart  There’s an Amazon English Version: There’s a Tiger in the Garden  This is a book about a girl’s imagination. Starts off with her being bored at grandma’s and then grandma suggests […]

  • Book Review: 14隻老鼠系列套書 — 14 Mice (12 books)

      Age: 3+ with parent or independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  14隻老鼠系列套書  14 Mice Book Set I love this set of picture books. The words are simple and I am intrigued every time I flip through it since there’s always a new detail that I’ve missed before. It’s a set of picture […]

  • Book Review: 阿文的小毯子 Owen

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  阿文的小毯子 Owen  This one is a Caldecott winner and it’s super cute. Everyone know a kid always has his or her lovey and this is the story about a little mouse and his lovey. He doesn’t want to let it go […]

  • How to Elevate Reading Comprehension in Chinese (Age 5+) 如何提升閱讀理解能力

    My biggest issue in having my girls advance in reading comprehension is … “comprehension.” Ok, that sounds dumb. It’s a pain explaining a phrase every single sentence and you really want to give up sometimes. It’s tedious during reading and the truth is, you’ve already lost the excitement of the story since you’re reading so […]

  • Book Review: 大人不知道的小秘密 Secrets Adults Do Not Know Series (简体书，Simplified)

    Age: 5+ independent I’ve finally found an easy reader set in simplified and where the stories are not dead boring. You can read this after you know about 200+ words. Sentence structure is easy and only a few lines on a page. There are 12 books in the series and they all look somewhat similar. […]

  • Book Review: 外公的大衣 My Grandfather’s Coat

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  外公的大衣  My Grandfather’s Coat This book has a no fail crying spell on me every time I read it so I apologize for the bad read in the in end. It’s yet again another book I was afraid to review for you […]

  • Book Review: 阿摩的聰明藥 Gorilla’s Smart Pill

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  阿摩的聰明藥 Gorilla’s Smart Pill Yet another booger book! This is the story of the Gorilla who secretly ate a booger which he likes to do but the owl saw it. Scared that the owl would find out he ate his own booger, […]

  • Book Review: YES！也算是小超人 Yes, Supergirl!

      Age: 6+ independent This is such an interesting bridge book. They got me right on the first page. It’s another monster’s book. There are monsters at the school and in this city. The cute monster looks cute but then spit out a huge bubble to trap the teacher and the girl’s dad! They are […]

  • Book Review: 小秋與小根 Kon and Aki

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  小秋與小根  Kon and Aki This is the story of a cute her and her stuffed doll. The stuffed doll fox has always been with her even before birth. As she grew older, the doll grew older as well until his arm is […]

  • Zoob to the Rescue on a Winter Storm Day

    We are snowed in today and the kids are home. This means I have from 6:30am in the morning until about 8:30pm. That’s a long time with the kids at home! I always take out open ended toys when they are home like this so it kills about 1-2 hours by themselves in the morning. […]

  • Use This To Practice Reading Characters When You Can’t Find Better Books

     When you cannot find the right books for your kids to read in Chinese without phonetic help, you can try using Post Its! Post It’s has a “Labeling and Cover Up Tape.” It doesn’t harm the book, perfectly removable and it’s a good way to just cover up the zhuyin so your child can practice […]

  • Book Review: 鼻屎大冒險 Adventures of Booger 鼻屎大冒險2：鼻屎總動員 Adventures of Booger 2

    Age 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  鼻屎大冒險 Adventures of Boogers 鼻屎大冒險2：鼻屎總動員 This is the story about a booger who has never left the nostril until one day, he met with the booger from the other nostril that told him the outside world is wonderful. Then they think of […]

  • Book Review: 子兒吐吐 (中英雙語書+CD) Spit Out The Seeds!

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  子兒吐吐 (中英雙語書+CD) Spit Out The Seeds!  This is a very creative book. It’s about a big faced pig who loved to eat and one day, he ate all the papaya and even the seeds. All the other little pigs whispered and […]

  • Book Review: 永遠愛你 Love You Forever

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  永遠愛你 Love You Forever I had waited a while before I was brave enough to read and recommend this book. We’ve had this book for years and I’m always too scared to take it out because I end up tearing in the […]

  • Using Little Flashcards For Games and Phrases

      Here I printed the most frequently used 500 words on cardstock paper and then used a paper slicer and cut them up into little cube cards (not all perfect cubes but that’s okay because I wanted to do it fast). I originally wanted to let them make sentences and phrases but ended up doing […]

  • Using Reusable Sheets to Learn Chinese Phonetics ㄅㄆㄇ

    Many friends have asked me when to start writing or learning the phonetic system in Chinese and in my article My Journey in Teaching My Children Chinese, I mentioned that I always started them early. Toddlers have very less refined motor skills but if they try, they’ll be able to trace anything big. I made these ㄅㄆㄇ […]

  • Book Review: 老鼠郵差來了! , 老鼠郵差去度假 The Mouse Postman is Here!, The Mouse Postman Goes on Vacation

    Age: 3+ with parent, 5+ independent Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  老鼠郵差來了!  The Mouse Postman Is Here! 老鼠郵差去度假  The Mouse Postman Goes on Vacation This is an insanely cute set of books and the size of it is huge. It’s about a foot tall and maybe 7-8 inches across but that’s because it has […]

  • Book Review: 工藤紀子 系列 小雞，野貓軍團，企鵝 Little Chicken, Wild Cats, Penguin Series

    Please visit our Facebook group for more information!  Age: 3+ (with parent or independent) Everyone loves the Little Chicken Series. This author is known for being very random! The stories are super cute and it’s told through pictures. Because this series was so popular, the author came out with an extra book of Little Chicken […]

  • Book Review: 紅豆綠豆碰 系列 Red Bean Green Bean Series

    Age: 5+ independent I’m so excited to find this series of comics with zhuyin! It teaches good behavior and whatever your child has come across at school, it’ll probably have a story that goes with it. It has topics on how to make friends, why studying is great, things about the earth, school, EQ, etc. […]

  • Interviews With Parents Who Have Successfully Taught Their Children Chinese

    We frequently get asked the questions of how to teach our children Chinese in the states and there’s a lot of resistance from children here in the states. All sorts of problems come up and every family has a different situation. In all differing situations, how do parents set up their children for success in […]

  • Doodle the Day Away & Improve Motor Skills While You’re At It!

    We love this pen. We love this pen. It’s not some new product but we love it. I forgot about this until I looked at our old photos. You melt plastic from a pen and they stick together to form anything you’d like. Of course my girls opted to do “rings” with their initials on […]

  • Book Review: 閱讀123 / Reading 123 小東西系列 Little Things Series

    Age: 6+ This is one of the really cute series. It talks about the little things we have in life like cups and spoons, etc. and what their lives and viewpoints are. Whimsical stories about the lives of little things. I show pages of the stories inside. It’s divided by one chapter per item. The […]

  • Book Review: 閱讀123 / Reading 123 我家有系列 Our House Has Series

    Visit our Facebook Page for more information! Age 6+ This is a really educational series where they embed all sorts of science like knowledge in cute stories and in forms that’s easy to understand. The series consists of a Turtles, Plants, Backyard Discoveries, and Building Homes. In each book, there’s a topic that they cover. […]

  • Book Review: 閱讀123 / Reading 123 – 屁屁超人系列 Fart Superhero Series

    Join our Facebook Group for more information! Age: 6+ Yes, I know I’ve mentioned this many times that my kids like all the stuff that’s not high level intellectual material. Anything to do with fart, butt, nose holes, boogers, it’s fascinating. Yes, even for my girls who think they are total princesses! Here’s a set […]

  • Learn Your First 2400 Chinese Characters

    In efforts to help everyone in my Facebook Group track their progress of their children’s Chinese study, I’ve compiled the most frequently used 2400 characters. If you can’t read independently after this list, I’ll be very surprised! Some people may use these as: Word games board. Poster to put on the walls and pin down […]

  • Get Your Child to Teach You Something Using a Whiteboard!

    I’m always thinking of more ways to make learning more dynamic because it helps with memorization and internalization of the material. Luckily, I found my kids to love “teaching” me stuff because it makes them feel empowered with their knowledge. It nicely feeds into their confidence and they have fun being teacher. I bought a […]

  • Fast Way to Acquire Language? Karaoke for Kids

    One of the fastest ways for kids to start learning how to read another language is through singing their favorite songs! I remember when I first started teaching my kids Chinese and English, we always played their favorite songs and the moment they saw the “microphone,” they had this crazy motivation to know the words. […]

  • Book Review: 未來領袖 CEO 菁英計劃 : Leaders of Tomorrow Book Set

    Age: 5+ independent This is a set of 47 picture books and 47 CDs and one parent manual. There’s one CD for each book. The CDs do not follow the book verbatim but I find it easy to listen to for long car rides! You could let three year olds listen and tell the story […]

  • Book Review: 字的童話 Fairy Tales of Words

    Age: 5+ You can find/purchase this set here: 字的童話 I love this set of books. I’ve been reading my girls stories from this set here and there. There’s a lot of material to learn in here. It’s full of most commonly used phrases and idioms! They do it in the most intuitive way. At the […]

  • Brain Game for Kids (and Adults): Think Fun Hoppers

    Age: 5+ (or for those who don’t eat toys anymore) You can buy it on amazon: Think Fun Hoppers Game We have had this game for over two years now and it’s one that repeatedly gets taken out because it doesn’t get old. We take these out on planes, to hotels, etc. because the size […]

  • Book Review: 王文華的品德故事屋 Developing Good Character Collection

    Age: 3 (read to), 5+ 王文華的品德故事屋 1 – Set 1 Good Character Collection 王文華的品德故事屋 2 – Set 2 Good Character Collection This set is not really there for it’s “pictures” but they are picture books. What I love about this set is the author. He never gives out a complete flop in books. I would say the […]

  • Book Review: 故事摩天輪系列 Ferris Wheel Bridge Book Series

    Age: 6-9 (Grade 1-Grade 3) This set of books is really wonderful. Although it doesn’t sort out from easy to hard for you, each box has a variety of easy to harder books. It has a variety of books in each box and each box contains 10 books. I really really love the stories inside. […]

  • Learning Chinese Characters With Stickers

    One of the moms on our Facebook group showed a video of her daughter putting stickers on a Chinese character chart. How “wonderful” is that? Stickers + Kids = WIN. I used to give them stickers for everything. Did you do you your chores today? Give a list of chores chart and have them stick […]

  • Book Review: 愛智繪本系列 Love Wisdom Picture Book Collection

    Age: 3+, 5 independent This is a series of picture books (I have 44 of them) that teach some love and wisdom in each one. The words are simple and they have CDs with each book of audio reading and also a VIDEO!!! The video is slow and follows the pictures on the books, has […]

  • There’s No Other Way Around Knowing How to Write Chinese!

    My five year old writes Chinese. We’ve started her on 康軒國語課本（一） Kang Xuan First Grade Material this year and their writing worksheets are okay for a five year old but for my three year old who sooooooo eagerly wants to be like her sister but doesn’t have the fine motor skills yet, I created my […]

  • I Hate Doing Flashcards! Please Spit Them Out Automagically For Me!

    Everyone has been saying how useful flashcards are and giving a lot of credit to how “informative” the cards are. I always always always share my resources. I use: http://www.archchinese.com No, I am not a crazy mom (ok, maybe a little crazy) who has so much time that I do this much on a word […]

  • Book Review: 奇奇系列 – Ricky Rabbit Book Series by Guido van Genechten

    Age: 3+ assisted, 5+ independent This is the collection by Guido van Genechten. It’s a series of cute books that was translated. I found five and I’m not sure if there are more. I showed the five books in the video. Stories are cute and healthy and always something that the rabbit Ricky overcomes. First […]

  • Book Review: 紅色小電車系列 Little Red Electric Train Series

    Age: 3+ assisted This series is really simple and uber cute!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I’ll admit, I bought it because I loved the pictures when I saw it. Was it too easy to read for my 5 year old? Probably but I love it and so do they. I don’t think anyone would say having beautiful pictures […]

  • Why Using Textbooks To Teach Chinese May Not Be the Most Efficient Way To Teach Reading

    Chinese textbooks bore me to death and they will surely bore my kids to death. Do we do it? Yes, for the worksheets. Do we read it? Not really. We jump straight to worksheets to practice some writing. Plus, their first grade texts are only maybe 20 words each lesson and slowly increases through the […]

  • Bellz Game – Time Killer, Strategy Developer, and Motor Skills for Kids

    I love games that are educational and I love games that seem dumb and fun with hidden educational qualities inside. This is one of them. The strategy of this game is whoever gets 10 bells through the magic magnet wand first wins. If you get other colors stuck on your wand, you have to release […]

  • Book Review: 莉莉尋貓記+小偵探莉莉 LILY CHERCHE SON CHAT &Lily mène l’enquête

    Join me on Facebook for more information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ 莉莉尋貓記+小偵探莉莉(2書一套) LILY CHERCHE SON CHAT &Lily mène l’enquête Age: 3+ Adapted from a French book, this is a cute picture book that’s full of beautiful pictures! It’s a search and find book. Size of the book is big so beware of that. I love this set for […]

  • Book Review: 幼童創意橋樑系列 Creative Kinder Bridge Books Collection

    Join my Facebook group for more information and free materials: https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ I want to start by saying how much I love this set for educational purposes in teaching Chinese. It has the right amount of words for my 3 almost 4 year old and she reads by herself. It’s easy to understand and has just […]

  • Book Review: 水果奶奶好故事 Grandma Fruit’s Stories Collection

    Join me on Facebook for more information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/ 水果奶奶好故事1：什麼時候可以吃冰淇淋？ 水果奶奶好故事2：奶奶不會收玩具 水果奶奶好故事3：琳琳的生氣帽 水果奶奶好故事4：淇淇會讀詩 Age: 3 with parent, 5+ by themselves The pictures are not cute at all. I actually find them repulsive. LOL! I love beautiful things and I love art so to see illustrations that look like this just aches my heart. HOWEVER, I have […]

  • Book Review: 世界經典橋樑書系列 World Classics Bridge Sets 1, 2, 3

    Where to buy them: 世界經典橋梁書：低中年級(小學生閱讀小火車)  – Lower Grades (K-2nd) 世界經典橋梁書：中高年級(小學生閱讀小火車)  – Middle Elementary (2nd-4th) 世界經典橋梁書：高年級(小學生閱讀小火車) – Upper Elementary (4th-6th) Here are 3 sets of “bridge books.” When most people think of bridge books they get scared and think it’s usually too hard for their kids or think that picture books are easier. That’s not the case. […]

  • Book Review: 好多好吃的米飯 (Yummy Rice)，好多好吃的草莓 (Yummy Strawberries)，好多好吃的雞蛋 (Yummy Eggs)，好多好吃的馬鈴薯 (Yummy Potatoes)

    Books can be purchased through this link: 好多好吃的米飯 (Yummy Rice)，好多好吃的草莓 (Yummy Strawberries)，好多好吃的雞蛋 (Yummy Eggs)，好多好吃的馬鈴薯 (Yummy Potatoes) Recommended Age: 2-5 This is a really cute set of books we have right now and it deals with food, how you cook it, and what it will become. There are four ingredients, one per book. As you’ll see […]

  • Citiblocs Provides Multi-Age Learning

    Most of you who know me figured I never like toys that are one ended or targeted towards only one age group. If I get bored with my kids, I’ll never appear lively. I think the number one reason we’re so tired playing with kids is due to the fact some toys are PLAIN BORING. […]

  • Art + Role Playing = Hidden Learning & Reading

    I love art and I love supplies that do more than one thing. One of my favorite coloring supply is the watercolor pencil. Watercolor is usually light in color which is great but what about when you want some punch? Kids love bright vibrant colors so I use Derwent’s Inktense Pencils (72 colors). I don’t use […]

  • One Hour Project with Your Kids with Broken Crayons

    I found this nice idea to use your old crayons and make them new again. I found this from this site that explains how to do this. The only thing different I did was find cuter molds off Amazon! You can search “cute silicone molds for chocolates.” You’ll get anything from animals to hello kitty to […]

  • Teaching Your Child Geometric Shapes and Math Through These Manipulatives by Learning Resources

    By now you probably know I’m not a sit down type of mom who likes to do everything from the books. Whenever I have a “building toy” that’s open ended, I dive for it. When I saw this set, I instantly bought 2 sets of it. By now you should already know I am a […]

  • How to Trick Your Children into Practice Writing Letters (Chinese and English)

    Children waste paper. Children waste paper. Children waste a lot of paper. There’s also miscellaneous paper they love throwing everywhere. There’s the frequent folded up paper they said it’s a “letter” to someone found under the bed, under the table, in a cabinet. When I open them up, it has only one word or it’s […]

  • Create Your Own Puzzle (How to Kill 2 Hours on a Rainy Day With Your Kids)

    My children were into a puzzle phase (I’ll do a review of the puzzles we have later) and it turned to a point where it’s not enough to just do the puzzles at home. I always like to spark their creativity (and kill some time they have and gain some quiet time for me – […]

  • Using Legos as an Educational Tool with Preschool Children

    Everyone loves legos. It keeps the kids occupied and they get to explore their creative side. I had no issues with Legos but found it annoying that they came in these boxes with pre selected parts and how to put together the parts. It limits the creativity of the kids and they feel like there’s […]

  • How My Children Started Reading Chinese and English Before 3 Years Old

    Education isn’t hard and it’s not boring. Most moms think you gotta sit them down and torture their kids in order for them to read. I taught my kids how to read way before 3 years old in English and did Chinese at the same time. Part of my type A personality is to experiment […]

  • Teaching Your Children to Read Fast with Sticker Labels

    This isn’t a new trick. This is actually a very traditional type of teaching. When I first taught my older daughter to read, I used these labels around the house with English words when they were younger. I’m now doing it with Chinese. We would always sound them out and point to the object the […]