Many of us are looking for Mandarin silent reading materials for our primary school aged kids, to read before assembly and perhaps
pockets of time in the school day too.
For my kids’ school, they’re required to bring
English books from Mondays to Wednesdays, and
Mother Tongue Language books on Thursdays and Fridays.
How can we choose Chinese books for silent reading?
I realised that my child must like it enough to WANT to take it out to read,
and also be ABLE to read most of the words or at least know what’s happening generally on his own 😝
What NOT to get for silent reading materials
from our experience,
fellow parents’ feedback and
tips from experienced teachers:
❌ thick and bulky - bag is already so heavy!
❌ too difficult - child gets discouraged and end up not reading
❌ too short - child finishes the book in a minute or two
❌ difficult text without hanyu pinyin - child can’t decipher
❌ boring or dated illustrations - that turn kids off!
Features that maximise enjoyment of silent reading Chinese books:
✅ Thin and light
✅ Age-appropriate
✅ At my child’s reading level (or slightly above)
✅ Hanyu Pinyin aid can be helpful
✅ Interesting illustrations
✅ Funny
✅ Related to my child’s interests or life experiences
✅ Able to occupy my child for some time
We’ve used the above features to shortlist some suitable titles on mystorytreasury.com ➡️ Collections ➡️ Primary School Silent Reading 小学默读 - do check them out!
Do you have a child in primary school too?
Come by and say hello! 👏🏻
Let’s journey together this year with our #SGPrimarySchoolChinese x #funplaywithchinese team ❤️
@mystorytreasury Linxin
@2mamas4kids Sylvia
@forthekidsg Huimin
@jaschinese4kids Jasmine
@mrsahgohgoh Fang Ting
@ourhappylearners Jane
@playbymelissa Melissa
@tiffany_basket Jermaine