This post was sponsored by Sagebooks. All opinions are mine and mine alone.
Can you believe that Glow Worm (4.5) and I have already made it through 18 weeks of (almost) daily Sagebooks reading? Despite having gone through the series with my older two children, it is STILL daunting to be confronted with the entire prospect AGAIN.
So, please excuse me as I am inordinately pleased with myself for being so consistent and birthing an amenable child.
[socialpug_tweet tweet=”I was fresh off the high of making it through 17 weeks of @Sagebookshk and I admit. I got cocky. #sagebookshk #teachkidschinese ” display_tweet=”I was fresh off the high of making it through 17 weeks of Sagebooks and I admit. I got cocky.”]
This week, we are starting over!!
Yes, friends. Today is our official kick off for the Sagebooks Summer Reading Thingy that will last from now through August 2018. What is the Summer Reading Thingy? Honestly, it’s not too different from the Sagebooks Challenge except that hey – it’s kinda boring to keep doing the same thing endlessly week after week. Plus, challenges are meant to be short term!
We made it through 17 weeks of the First Sagebooks Challenge. I think we can zoom through the next 13 weeks of the Summer Reading Thingy.
The main change is that since it’s summer, I will be checking in every two weeks instead of every week.
This is not an excuse to slack off, though! It may be summer and very tempting to goof off the whole time, but as we learn this week, the price is high! If you’re willing to pay the price, by all means, take it super easy. But if you’re not, it’s best just to keep plugging away. (Sorry. There is no magic easy button. If you find one, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.)
If you’re new here, welcome!
Sagebooks HK Basic Chinese 500 is a series of 5 sets of 5 books that teach your children how to read the top 500 high frequency characters in children’s books. You can find out more here. We’re following my journey with my 4.5 year old son, Glow Worm, as we go through Sagebooks together. You can find out more about our family and his Chinese background here.
Where are we?
This week, we started at Lesson 2.2:9 (Set 2 Book 2 Lesson 9) and I planned on us hitting Lesson 2.2:15.
Did we do it?
No. (hides) We were close – and that was sheer luck.
What happened?
Guys, I totally blew it this week.
[socialpug_tweet tweet=”The reason I constantly harp about consistency with @Sagebookshk is if you aren’t, not only does it mess up your flow and disrupt your kid’s memory, it also ruins your motivation. #teachkidschinese #consistency #chineseishard” display_tweet=”The reason I constantly harp about consistency with @Sagebookshk is if you aren’t, not only does it mess up your flow and disrupt your kid’s memory, it also ruins your motivation. “]
I was fresh off the high of making it through 17 weeks of Sagebooks and I admit. I got cocky.
I knew better. I’ve experienced the same situation with my older two kids when we went through Sagebooks but did I listen to myself? Did I?
NO. I did not.
I told myself it didn’t matter. That I was prepared for the consequences and inevitable brain drain. (This is, after all, why we’re doing the Sagebooks Summer Reading Thingy and not just taking the whole summer off.)
I WAS WRONG. I WAS SO, SO WRONG.
Clearly, I overestimated my ability to handle failure and watch all the hard won Chinese characters I diligently crammed into Glow Worm’s brain go pppffffffffttt out his ears.
Here’s a video of Glow Worm reading Set 2 Book 2 Lesson 11:
I was sad, friends. I was really sad. I tried very hard not to take it out on Glow Worm because we all know it’s not HIS fault. He’s not even 5 yet and if I as a grown adult have a hard time remembering characters I don’t use regularly, my 4.5 year old is NOT going to, either.
Not only was it demoralizing both for Glow Worm and I, (ok, perhaps he didn’t mind as much as I did), it also made it really hard for me to continue. I was super tempted to just throw in the towel and say, “Ah well. We gave it a good go. Why don’t I just wait until his Chinese tutors teach him more characters?”
Good thing for everybody that I’m sponsored by Sagebooks so I could maybe suck for a week (maybe max two weeks) but eventually, I had to earn my keep!
Let that be a lesson to everyone. The reason I constantly harp about consistency with Sagebooks is if you aren’t, not only does it mess up your flow and disrupt your kid’s memory, it also ruins your motivation.
[socialpug_tweet tweet=”If you’re willing to pay the price, take @sagebookshk super easy. But if you’re not, it’s best just to keep plugging away. (Sorry. There is no magic easy button. If you find one, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.) #sagebookshk #teachkidschinese” display_tweet=”If you’re willing to pay the price, by all means, take it super easy. But if you’re not, it’s best just to keep plugging away. (Sorry. There is no magic easy button. If you find one, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.)”]
Anything else?
Since I’m a language nerd, I’m always tickled pink when Glow Worm makes odd connections in his head. He’s still calling 叫 /jiao4/call/ the character 睡/shui4/sleep/ because it is the second character in 睡覺/shui4 jiao4/sleep/ because 叫 and 覺 are homonyms. He’s still having trouble with a lot of the abstract characters and for the life of him, STILL cannot remember 他/ta/him/ despite having no problems with remembering 她/ta/her/.
Look. It’s HIS brain, ok? Not mine. I don’t make the rules here.
Do you want more accountability?
Now that this week’s update has frightened you into perfect consistency, (come on, you know it did), now is the perfect time for me to point you to the Sagebooks HK Parent Support Group on Facebook. Throughout the summer, I will be posting weekly threads to keep us on task because let’s be honest. Summer is likely the only time you have a large block to jam Sagebooks characters into your kids’ brains and it’s also full of vacation and travel and fun things so you’ll need the extra help to remind you and kick you in the rear and get going already.
If that isn’t enough for you, I’ll continue posting activities on the Sagebooks HK Learning Journal as well as start parent spotlights! (This is new.) Haven’t had a chance to read all 17 weeks of activities yet? Summer is a good time to do them! (Also, I’m a little hurt and disappointed that you haven’t tried them. Yes, I said it. Disappointed.)
Alright.
Go forth and be awesome.
