Recently, many parents have been asking questions about Singaporean children’s Chinese reading and writing thinking abilities, including those who are still in the pinyin stage at a young age and those who are already proficient in literacy and want to advance to the writing stage.
Chinese, as our mother tongue, has a long history and profound cultural heritage. For me, learning Chinese is not only about its inherent beauty, but also about taking us to explore the vast ocean of knowledge.
Regardless of any subject, to learn it well, one must first understand the underlying logic of learning, and Chinese is no exception, which will not be affected no matter how the environment changes.
As long as we fully understand the laws of learning and flexibly allocate learning resources and tools, even the most difficult knowledge can be simplified and easily mastered.
Which child doesn’t read Tang poetry? Regardless of whether parents are paying attention or not, kindergartens will more or less lead their children to learn Tang poetry for recitation.
But for children, the enlightenment of Chinese language, more important than these ancient classics and cultures, lies in the enlightenment of logic and language. Sometimes a child’s ability to express themselves is not just a matter of language, but rather the establishment of logic.
So the most important field to establish logic through language is the family. It is not an exaggeration to say that logical thinking lags behind and other subjects are not well studied, which is why.
So, when we say that big Chinese is important, it’s not that a certain knowledge point is important, but that the logical system established by language to understand and express the world is very important.
It is interesting that although I have done a lot of research on the enlightenment of Chinese language, what children spend time on in their daily lives is actually English, which seems to take the most time.
Why does this phenomenon occur? Saying that Chinese is the most important, but also focusing on English?
In fact, the enlightenment of Chinese language in the early days did not require strict planning of time and form, and could be fully integrated with daily living. There’s no need to say: Baby, let’s start learning Chinese now and then start studying seriously.
Every chat, every discussion of problems, and every parent-child reading together are all the gradual steps of Chinese enlightenment. Ensuring the quality of these times can help children establish a good foundation for communication. This is also why I say that Chinese enlightenment is the most important, but it is not limited to form, and daily life can be permeated with every detail.
As a foreign language, English learning requires dedicated time to learn and practice. Of course, this is because we need to learn a craft and specialize in learning English, while the infiltration of our mother tongue is more important, and the perception of daily details is more important.
Although the language development order of each child is not so balanced, with some occurring first and then, by the age of seven or eight, the difference in children’s language expression ability is not due to innate development.
At the age of seven or eight, when a child enters school, the entire learning becomes systematic and the social proportion greatly increases. At this time, language expression ability is actually a manifestation of the results of enlightenment.
We shouldn’t always force our children to read and memorize, and don’t always wonder, “Why do we do the teacher’s reading clock in homework on time every day, and why do children’s language expression skills still not meet expectations?” Even parents instinctively face such problems by enrolling in another eloquence class for training.
The improvement of Singaporean children’s Chinese reading and writing thinking abilities relies on the use of real environments to stimulate energy, which means that language is alive. Reading only textbooks and only listening to classes makes it difficult for children to improve without extensive access and habits.
Can we recall the time we spend with our children every day? Have we consciously asked our children to tell a complete story, talk about interesting things, or tell us a joke we saw? Have you discussed any issues and expressed different perspectives with him?
The enlightenment of Chinese language is most closely related to our lives. Let’s think about it, every time we take our children to the park to observe animals and plants, every time we have family gatherings due to holidays, and every time we travel, we actually integrate our traditional culture.
If Chinese language learning is isolated and treated as a discipline or a technology, it is actually impossible to learn the essence and appreciate the beauty of this culture.
Nowadays, parents are increasingly paying attention to the cultivation of their children’s comprehensive qualities, whether it is their logical thinking training, language communication ability training, or aesthetic cultivation, covering all aspects.
The cultivation of this aspect is not only about cultivating children’s basic language communication skills, but now the Ministry of Education also attaches great importance to the cultivation of students’ oral expression skills.
The official letter mentioned that the Chinese language curriculum standards clearly define the training objectives and course content for students’ oral communication skills.
The “Chinese Language Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2011 Edition)” specifically points out the training objectives of oral communication: “to have the basic ability of daily oral communication, learn to listen, express, and communicate, and preliminarily learn to use oral language for civilized interpersonal and social communication.”
In addition, a “Oral Communication” section is set up in the objectives and content of each stage of compulsory education, clarifying the teaching objectives and content of each stage.
From this, it can be seen that the development of children’s language eloquence ability is no longer limited to “extracurricular interest classes”. It has been planned to be included in compulsory education Chinese textbooks.
“In addition to being able to write, you also need to be able to speak” has become a trend for future students to gradually develop.
In addition to the official instructions from the Ministry of Education, parents can also find that “language communication” has become an important element that can gradually affect their children’s “personality”, “learning ability”, and “thinking” in their daily lives.
The “academic bully” has become a stereotype of being silent and engrossed in reading. Nowadays, which child is not proficient in speaking, writing, and martial arts, and pen skills are no longer a single criterion for measuring a child’s excellence.
So how to take a quick step and help children gradually master language expression skills?
One important aspect of Singaporean children’s Chinese eloquenceis the accumulation and application of vocabulary. Through active communication with children, teachers enable them to continuously accumulate vocabulary. The accumulation of vocabulary directly affects their oral expression ability and is an important factor reflecting their expression ability.
Education experts often say, “Language is the outer shell of thinking. A person who is capable of speaking is generally intelligent and quick thinking. The training of eloquence and thinking is mutually reinforcing. To make oneself smarter, one should train one’s oral expression skills more.
Eloquence and writing ability can be mutually transformed, and a person who is truly good at expressing themselves is a good writer by recording their speeches. One of the principles of composition training is that speaking of writing is the foundation of being able to write.
But some students are good at writing, and their articles are smooth and fluent, but when spoken with restraint, this requires training. Writing first and then speaking is also a way to practice eloquence. Writing an outline and clarifying ideas is generally a preparation for oral communication.
When practicing eloquence, read more books and news to increase your knowledge reserve. It has to be said that reading more literary works has a great impact on people’s thinking, and it not only affects children’s writing level, but also their language expression ability.
The level of language can determine others’ perception of your cultural and ideological level. You don’t have to read books like doing Chinese reading exercises, just read more. There are also various encyclopedia knowledge, current political news, historical events, and so on, which are purely to increase the “dry goods” that children can throw out when speaking!
Only in practice can true knowledge be revealed. Similarly, in addition to language learning in textbooks and classrooms, it is important to put it into action in real life in order to diversify and enhance children’s ability to apply their eloquence.
If we cannot showcase and train children’s learning outcomes through a platform that only speaks without practicing fake techniques, the final presentation effect will definitely not be as good as that of children with rich language practice experience.
How to find these practical opportunities? Generally speaking, there are many good practical platforms for practicing language structures on the market to hone children’s courage and language abilities.
For example, the annual “Radio and Television Cup” competition held by Radio and Television Education, as well as recitations and hosting competition activities of all sizes, can meet children’s requirements for stage practice.
And the upcoming Chongqing Children’s Spring Festival Gala, which is about to be rehearsed, is a professional and rare opportunity to showcase.
I hope that in the process of oral communication, children can use accurate, appropriate, vivid, clever, and effective oral expression strategies to achieve specific communication goals and achieve satisfactory communication results. This is the art and skill of oral expression!
Why do children still have “nothing to write” when they memorize model essays every day? This worrying problem is a major concern for both teachers and parents. In response, Singapore’s top teacher, Teacher Zhang, proposed creative Chinese writing for Singaporean children.
In order to fundamentally stimulate students’ inner drive for writing, it is advisable to try using the vivid and living “model text” – movies.
Writing Encounter Movies not only conforms to children’s internal growth patterns and closely aligns with their focus, but also more intuitively interprets the layout and writing techniques of “model essays”. The most important thing is that both teachers and parents can obtain the “key” to awaken children’s writing from it.
Due to children’s lack of life experience and limited access to direct materials; Moreover, they are not good at observation and have difficulty obtaining indirect materials, resulting in a shortage of materials and improper expression in current writing teaching.
Therefore, for children with monotonous daily life and insufficient social experience, capturing materials from movies with a wide range of themes to make up for the lack of life experience can be a twice the result with half the effort.
Movies open up children’s writing horizons – to understand knowledge in different fields, experience different life experiences, experience different emotional experiences, and freely write about the situation, feelings, and thoughts.
Children in primary school mainly learn through their senses, using their mouth, ears, eyes, nose, and body to feel, recognize, and discover the world.
And movies can intuitively simulate a perceptible world. Excellent film works often have a huge impact on people’s spiritual world, and can even affect a generation.
Movies enter childhood, allowing children to “digest and absorb” these classics into their own spiritual bloodline in the fantasy world of light and shadow. At the same time, children’s spiritual growth can be nurtured through writing.
A child who has been immersed in excellent movies for a long time will not have poor writing skills.
If a movie wants to attract attention and love from others, it is bound to be an innovative model in certain aspects. For example, unexpected and reasonable endings, creative compositions, harmonious and wonderful soundtracks.
These new ideas are subtly passed down to children, allowing them to explore unique expressions and forge innovative ways of thinking.
Looking at creative Chinese writing for Singaporean children, we still aim to pursue “high intention, precise selection of materials, clever structure, and beautiful language” as our writing goals, emphasizing the production and expression skills of articles, but neglecting the cultivation of communication skills in writing and students’ language communication abilities.
By comparison, writing teaching in many other countries is not only aimed at enabling students to master various writing skills and forms, but also at educating students to recognize the communicative value and function of writing.
The concept of creative writing is to closely connect writing and life, so that every writer deeply feels that writing cannot do without life, and writing also enriches our lives. How to improve children’s writing ability?
Interest is the best teacher, and the first step is to cultivate children’s interest in writing, so that they can work with half the effort.
Often telling children meaningful fairy tales or simple and easy to understand stories allows them to unconsciously be influenced by culture, thereby increasing their cultural temperament.
Encourage children to develop a good habit of reading books, persisting in reading for a while every day without demanding too much. When tired of reading, take a break and not be too demanding.
Developing the habit of keeping a diary for children can improve their writing skills to a certain extent and accumulate a lot of life materials for writing.
Give more positive and objective evaluations of what children write, improve their self-confidence, and stimulate their writing enthusiasm.
Through the joint efforts of primary and secondary education, general education, professional teaching, and social training, its development has formed a relatively mature system and is more comprehensive. The sinicization of creative writing is being solidly promoted.
