With the autumn breeze blowing, leaves turning yellow and the slanting sun casting warm light into the classroom, the classrooms of House of Knowledge (HoK) have been filled with the sound of reading as the kids of HoK are enjoying the most serene period during the day.
Good books make people wise, happy; and endow them with serenity and passion… The Chinese teachers of HoK have always been committed to having kids love reading and integrated reading into their life. HoK teachers and children have been taking each effort to learn Chinese through various means, e.g. “reading cards”, “mind mapping”, “double-bubble diagram”, “picture books”, sharing activity themed with “We are young book lovers” and “read others’ sentiments in words”, etc.
The environment is as important to language learning as water to fish. HoK attaches great importance to basic education for learning Chinese. And our Chinese teachers exhaust every means to help children learn Chinese characters and the culture behind the language.
Chinese teachers for children of lower grades would make literacy cards that pair every Chinese character with a picture so as to trigger children’s interests in reading. Children greatly cherish their picture books while reading admiringly.
Children of grade 2 and 3 make reading cards and design covers on their own. Their covers with a touch of innocence are interesting and always surprise the teachers with unrestrained imagination and innate skill of summary. Proper pictures give life to books! Children are encouraged to read and share one book, one cover and one piece of reading note every week.
Traditional Chinese stories such as “Nvwa creates mankind”, “Jingwei fills up the sea”, “Cangjie creates Chinese characters”, “Emperor Yu tames the flood”, etc. are permeated with the wisdom and perseverance of ancient Chinese people in fighting against nature. The unsophisticated national spirit is also shared by other nations. HoK encourages children to learn and explore Chinese culture through their favorite language by telling a story or legend during the reading time every day.
As children approach 10 years old, they turn to students of grade 4 which is a watershed and where they grow so fast. It seems like the summer vacation prior to grade 4 turns those innocent kids into sensible ones. Reading at this stage no longer focuses on picture books or simple words. In addition to expanding students’ range of reading, teachers introduce intensive reading through analyzing the works of a certain writer in different stages. Children will learn to appreciate these stories embedded with historical vicissitudes.
Reading is quiet, simple and relaxing without affectation. Your aspirations will enable your deed. It is like a heart talk and isolates you from the vulgar. Reading makes people happy and is a process of meditation, which make children wise and learn to take things easy. The virtues like tenacity, teamwork, adaptability, exploration, communication, etc. can be cultivated not only in life but also reading.
