I am composing my curricula for my DD 3rd grade next year and I am thinking to switch from SM US edition to SE. With US edition this year, I just used their textbook and workbook. But I also used Saxon as a review source when I am busy with my second one. Could someone tell me no. 1--what's in SM Tests and no. 2-- if it's crucial to have it. No. 3---If it's just extra tests, are they included in HIG? Thanks!

Thanks so much. Did you use Skoldo as well?

Hi, Luckymama, how do you order SYRWTL French in the US? Is there a cheaper way than ordering from Galor park and pay for the expensive air shipping? Thanks,

Hi Velleta, I admire your love and strength for your girls. Most of my resource for mandarin learning is from Taiwan, including really well-made audio books. There are a couple book store chain that have a website for US customers to order books. But the down side is you will have to type in Chinese to search. So I tried YouTube. I found several clips under "Chinese story for children" but I think they will be too elementary for the age of your girls. Here is a kid's show made by the public TV station in Taiwan. Each episode has a moral lesson, story telling and a mind/physical strength race for little kids. Maybe they will enjoy it. At least this show is my girls' favorite. (warning: the grandmother in this show is obviously a man.) http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E6%B0%B4%E6%9E%9C%E5%86%B0%E6%B7%87%E6%B7%8B&aq=0

Ha ha, that sounds like a typical lesson on character study. It is so typical that I don't think about it's confusing to second language student. Asking what it meant on its own IS a strange question because Chinese people don't even use them to mean hand by its own in writing. Teachers always make sure you know where all these side parts (boo 4-shou3) come from and their original meaning. I will remember this when my DD8 gets serious about Latin..:tongue_smilie:

Yes, it does mean hand. When it is written that way is to be part of other characters. For example: 提(lift, raise) 扶(hold, support) 拉(pull), these characters all have something related to hand. I tell my daughter to treat these "parts" as Latin roots to related English words. Does that help?

Hi Cloudswinger, Glad to hear your voice on this. Thanks for sharing your story. Now I don't feel so lonely and sometimes as a fool as Don Quixote fighting the wind mill..... Good luck to your journey!

How about Dr. Wright's kitchen table math 1? I just got it and it's full of fun activitie and deep concept. For a non-mathy musician, I actually got excited to get ready for my younger one.:lol::lol:

That would be really hard and there is a risk of messing up the posture. Where are you in AUS? I think there are some great string teachers. But it depends on which city.

Wow~~ Kudos to you teaching Cantonese, I think that's the hardest dialect.(I am half Hakka. I can understand Hakka and Fukienese) Not sure how old your kids are. But I do a flash card making sentences game with our older one and she loves it. After practicing flash card(make piles for subjects, names of places and verbs, right side down, and let her flip each card) She can read much more characters than her classmates in the Chinese Sunday school. Try to make many friends speak the language you want your DC to learn is a good easy way(but long -term), too. Good luck!

Hi, same here. Glad to know you! I will send you a private message with my email address. We get most our books from Taiwan. I try to plan for the whole year and get the essentials for my curriculum. I haven't tried to make international orders. Next time I am going to try some used book stores to cut down the cost. I also have been lucky to get tons of hand-me-down books from friends. Another great resource is the children's magazine-巧連智. I usually look up Yahoo auction/Taiwan and ask my relatives in TW to bid on used ones with CDs. I have around 3 years full of these magazines. They introduce bopomo, nature, science, math, and things to do/eat in TW. My girls love them so much(DD#1 is growing into their first grade level. DD#2 listens to their kindergarten level EVERYDAY!!) I know a great Suzuki cello teacher who is from Taiwan but has two studios in Seattle. I can give you her info. Best wishes to you,

你好！！JEMama!! So happy to know you want to do the same thing!! It's hard, but it's possible. Don't give up. Both my girls didn't speak English until 2 and 1/2. My DD#2 just started speaking English. It does help them preserve it but with my DD#1's reading in English advancing quicker than her Mandarin. I try not to think it this way, but it does feel like a rat race trying to maintain her Mandarin reading and writing with joy. Singing in Mandarin is different, but better than speaking in Mandarin IMO. This way they are not afraid of making the tone mistake and more dare to try to say/learn new words. Both my girls listen to the same children's rhymes (published by Shin-Yi 信誼 in Taiwan) Rhymes, songs, and good cartoons(DD#1 finished anne of the green gable-清秀佳人, 小英的故事, now watching Tom Soyer湯姆歷險記）Both of them watch Doraemon, and Miffy together. We don't have regular satellite or cable, we only have dishnetwork's ETTV from Taiwan. They watch the kids show about nature and travelling in Taiwan and China. That's why we homeschool. During the day before daddy comes home from work is our Mandarin-only time(except discussion in Western history, English and Science). Once your older one feel your determination of using Mandarin more, he will be encouraged to use it seeing that you speak to the younger one in Mandarin. For a long time until recently, my DD#2 only felt comfortable with Mandarin-speaking friends and baby sitters. (My mom also came help me extensively until last year which helped the bonding with my family in TW.) Some people might consider my approach as being extreme, I strongly felt it's necessary since as you know, it is ultra hard to preserve a totally different language in an English-speaking environment! That's why I completely "designed" their language environment to be filled with Chinese:books (carried back from TW), CDs, DVDs, visits to TW. I also carefully built a network of friends from Taiwan, Japan, India. We have dinner parties often enough to let my girls know there ARE other people living in TX but fluent in their native language, so they respect the difference in culture. I also wanted them to think its completely normal to be bilingual and that it's not "weird" or embarrassing to use Mandarin. This is the most difficult part recently since DD#1 is reading so well in English(she's 8 and read Nesbit's books, considering she didn't know phonics until 4). I am using 說給兒童的中國歷史（小魯出版comes with CDs, pricy but worth it）Chinese fables(中國寓言故事 國語日報）中國童話（漢聲）and try to do narration/dictation with her. I'm so excited that you have similar interest!!

Growing up in Taiwan where I learned my basic math(even I wasn't mathy, I actually enjoyed arithmetic drills) Such method for a simple question is shocking to me. It's confusing, inefficient. So glad we r hs-ing and feel sorry for teachers who have to follow this method. Thanks for sharing, (still in shock)

Hi, fairly new member here liking the bistro idea. DH does the tax ahead of time this year to get our refund back early. So we are relaxed to plan our summer early. Lunch is Chinese stir-fry beef and spinach on brown rice. I brought some of it to share with my DD1's piano teacher and his wife. They were excited. I only had ONE "disagreement" with my DD1 today, so good job for me. And I tried out a new sitter when I teach cello who was sweet and helpful(a home school highschooler). Life is good today. Thanks for listening!!

Many thanks again!!

Thanks a lot for your cheering and tips, Kalanamak, Now I am not lost all the time.

But I am sure you will be able to "feel" it, just as you can catch someone lying. I totally agree that the first teacher should be really good at installing not only the basic playing skills, but the most important, the seeds for love for the child herself and for music. A good plus is if the teacher is also a good performer. So she can demonstrate competently to inspire students. If it is hard to make a decision, go to their private/group/student events. Observe and talk to other parents. One treasure for entering a Suzuki studio is that it offers a sense of musical community where kids meet other kids playing music. Also, Suzuki association has a teacher finder list where you might be able to find more teachers to compare.

I am a Suzuki certified cello teacher (and a doctoral degree in cello). I know there are two or three really experienced cello master teachers live the DC area. Master teacher I mean not only they perform well, they relate to children and they teach well. I don't mean to say that higher cost equals to higher quality. But over more than 15 years of teaching, I have seen parents choosing piano teacher solely by the price and the teachers didn't do a good job. Or parents paying way more to some famous people and didn't have a happy experience. What I am really trying to say(sleepy) is that, first you should ask how much you value the music learning experience, how much your children love music, are your children totally sold on the instruments they are about to learn. Taking a new student is a serious matter to a serious, experienced teacher. Most of them (especially if they are Suzuki-trained) will allow prospective parents/students to observe the lesson/class and it should be reasonable to have a trial lesson or an interview(personality match makes a huge difference). Furthermore, Suzuki method emphasizes on parent education. A good Suzuki teacher doesn't only spend 30min/week with each student, but also should be devoted to communicate with parents fully after lessons and plan group classes/events well to make each of them informative, inspiring and educational. Good luck,

Very profound insights!! I think I need to print this out and post it on my desk. Did you ever use a sitter/helper? I haven't and I feel exhausted mentally. Because I worry and I feel in debt to my children. I can't express how much I appreciate everyone's advice. Thanks again!!

Thanks a lot. I am glad to know how other experienced moms go through this and thank you for your encouragement!! I have to admit that I am not an organization type of person(The best thing I can organize well are some musical notes and that's about it.....) But I will train myself towards this direction.

Great tips to simplify planning. Thanks,

Sorry everyone. I finally found this thread I posted last week. I wasn't able to find it until just now. Forgive me since I am fairly new here.

Thank you for your tips!! This also confirmed some of my doubts about what to choose that best suits our family.

Hi, nice meeting you. At this point I am not worried about my kids' progress in Mandarin learning. DD1 just turned 8, she reads and writes Chinese. When we visit my families in Taiwan, she fully communicate with everyone there. (We use traditional writing and she is fine with that.) Both my girls grew up only knowing Chinese until they are around almost 3. . It's just so tiring and I wonder if there is anyone doing the same thing.. Thanks for sharing again!!

Ha ha I am working it through myself. That's why I am posting this thread. We live in TX!! Spanish will make a lot more sense for us as well. I decided to maintain my DDs Mandarin solely, for the reason of keeping their cultural heritage. (Seriously, if people think their kids need to speak Mandarin to win the game in the future, that's just too much effort for one little thing. I always tell people if their children turn out to be successful CFO of some sort and need to do business with China, they can always just hire a interpretor.) I have wall-to-wall shelves of Chinese books for children and adults. We have Dish Network of programing from Taiwan and China. We read and study poems, legends, and history of China and Taiwan.. the WTM way. It's just.....so much time and so much effort required to keep it up with their English......sigh........ Although, THEY DO ENJOY IT. So I guess it is worth-it.