November 2025: Mandarin
First Grade:
Our class has been going wonderfully! The students are learning to follow class routines and exhibit good behavior. After singing our greeting song, color song, head and shoulders song, and tiger song, we’ve been learning vocabulary about family members and different kinds of food.
In each class, we also enjoy reading stories in Chinese together. Recently, we read two ancient Chinese folktales—Nuwa Mending the Sky and Kuafu Chasing the Sun—which the students found very exciting! Now, they are practicing how to count from 1 to 100, and soon we’ll begin learning some classic Chinese poems. As the holidays approach, we’ll also add some fun festive songs to our lessons.
Second & Third Grade Families:
Our students have been having a wonderful time learning the Finger Song and Facial Song! They’ve also been exploring the Chinese abacus. Second Graders are learning to count from 1 to 100 on the abacus while getting familiar with number patterns and how the beads represent different values.
In addition, everyone is reviewing the rules for writing Chinese characters and practicing the 14 basic strokes. Once the Second Graders have mastered these strokes, they’ll begin writing numbers in Chinese characters. Meanwhile, our Third Graders, who learned the numbers last year, will use their knowledge to create their very own 2026 Chinese calendars—a fun and meaningful project to look forward to!
Fourth & Fifth Grade:
Our Fourth and Fifth Graders have spent a lot of time reviewing pinyin and practicing how to use it to pronounce Chinese characters. They’ve also become quite confident using simple conversation phrases like “Do you like…?” and “I don’t like…” while reviewing vocabulary.
Although we’ve only practiced the Chinese abacus for a few weeks, every student has picked up the patterns and gained a clearer understanding of how to use the abacus for multiplication.
Right now, the students are excitedly preparing for the Chinese Lunar New Year Puppet Show! Students have written their own stories and are working hard to memorize their lines in Chinese. You can look forward to seeing their creativity shine on stage at our February Lunar New Year celebration!
Middle School:
Our students have been working hard to expand their Chinese vocabulary!
Group One students have been learning new Chinese characters related to family members, facial features, and colors as part of their My Family book project.
Group Two students have been diving into vocabulary related to food and meals, learning the Chinese words for breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes. In addition to vocabulary, they are now exploring basic grammar patterns and practicing how to form simple questions using words like what (什么 shénme), who (谁 shéi), and will (会 huì). These exercises help them start real conversations—such as asking what their classmates had for lunch or describing their favorite dishes in Chinese!
Both groups have regular homework and short quizzes to reinforce what they’ve learned, ensuring that students retain and apply new vocabulary with confidence. They’ve practiced pronunciation and comprehension through engaging card games and matching activities, making learning both interactive and fun. As they continue to master these foundational words and sentence structures, they’ll soon be able to talk about their families and daily meals naturally in Mandarin—a big step toward more fluent communication!
Warm regards,
Ki Cerina
