Some additional tips on flashcards :)
1. The conditions required for flashing the flashcards are:
a. You are light-hearted, happy and joyous.
b. Your child is well-rested, happy and joyous.
c. A quiet environment, free of distractions. Clear the room if required. Switch off the TV, take the phone off hook, and minimize unnecessary sound eg. Transferring pagers and cellphones to silent mode.
2. Stop at a time when your child is still keen and interested in the flashings. It is important not to overdo the sessions. Never, never, never bore your child. Remember, he learns at least 50 times faster than you do!
3. Do not be afraid to teach long words. Long words pose no problems to your child and are in fact interesting and easily recognizable.
4. At the initial introductory learning sessions, avoid putting two words that look similar together, eg, ‘head’ and ‘hand’ to minimize possible confusion. (In the ‘look-say’ flashcard method, avoid arranging words phonetically like ‘cat’, ’bat’, ‘fat’, ‘sat’. It becomes boring after a time. English has too many foreign words to follow the phonetic way, eg. Choir, lingerie. Furthermore, operating the phonetic way activates only the left brain.) (There is no phonics in Chinese, the pictorial characters activate the right brain. So teach Chinese. Learning Chinese is a must in this 21st century.)
5. Arrange for your child to win. When your child wins, you win. Act positively by hugging, kissing, praising and motivating your child often. Keep saying ‘very good’ and ‘wow’. He loves to hear you say ‘wow’, ‘marvelous’, ‘fantastic’.
6. Do not underestimate your child’s learning ability. Teach with no stress. If you feel stressed, you are not doing it correctly, or it may be the wrong time or place.
7. Be flexible and creative, always present new arrangements; eg. By telling stories to your child as both of you progress. Let him make up his stories.
8. When you introduce new words, flash them fast. You may want to present a “problem solving” method by holding up 2 flashcards for your child to choose the correct one. If your child take more than 3 seconds, move or wave the card or give it away to him. If your child is right, celebrate! If the wrong card is chosen, present the right card.
Remember, this is not a test but an opportunity to learn. He is still a baby. Love him unconditionally. Do not spend time testing him. Teach him. You can explain the meanings of the words to your child. Keep it simple. You may wish to play the following games:
a. Place flashcards on the floor for your child to find eg. ‘mother’, ‘uncle’… Pass small items like coins, toy cars, to your child and say, “give this to ‘mother’, drive your toy cars to ‘uncle’.”
b. Hand over pictures for the child to match his flashcards, ‘dog’, ‘swim’, ‘apple’.
c. Teach the ‘memory train’ method by creating stories with flashcards, eg, “One day, a ‘yellow’ bird flew up a ‘tree’. It was singing because it likes to ‘sing’ and it was dancing because it likes to ‘dance’. A ‘horse’ was eating ‘grass’ below the ‘tree’. On seeing the ‘bird’, it started to ‘laugh’.” And invite your child to laugh crazy like a ‘horse’.
3 things to remember: teach fast, fast like a wind; present new things always; and do not test!!!
