2030 Future Dream Space (Chinese Site)

Today, my daughter brought home a sticker pack advertising a government website : 2030未來夢想家".  (Wei Lai Mung Shiang Jia - Future Dream Space)

2030 Future Dreams

Here, children can complete information about themselves and their dreams of what they would like to have/be in 2030.   They can upload photos and videos and store them here until 2030.

When children first enter, they have to type in their school, class, name, and other personal information, so I think it's a parental decision whether or not you let children take part in the project.  There is a video and characters have accompanying ㄅㄆㄇㄈ, so elementary students should be able to navigate their way around the site.

If you want to participate, you have to do so before November 15, 2011.

ㄅㄆㄇㄈ Teaching Website for Kids (And Grownups, Too!)

This is a fun site for kids to use to learn the phonetics of Chinese, Taiwan-style.  It is in cartoon/game format, but also shows details like how to hold the mouth and tongue to make the sounds.  You can either rely on a little Chinese knowledge to get started, or just click randomly to figure out what things do.  Have fun!

Parents' Place - An Activity Center in Neihu

I'm very excited to introduce my friend's new activity space for families in Taipei.  Situated in Neihu, within walking distance of the MRT, it is actually accessible for families outside Taipei, too.  I recommend joining the facebook page to keep uptodate with activities you can participate in, times you can go and just hang out, and products you can look at or buy from the center.

Examples of activities on offer are Kindermusik, dance, martial arts, and prenatal yoga.  But, you don't have to join anything to feel welcome in this space!

How J947 Changed My Life. (You'll Find it at the Library.)

My son is now in Grade Two at public school in Keelung.  An avid reader of English books, he has been struggling to find anything of interest in the Chinese section.  Over the weekend, I asked my husband to come to the library, to help us scout on the fun Chinese books that had the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ and characters inside.  And that was how we found

J947

In the children's section of the local library, this is the number where you find comics and fun books/novels in Chinese.  My son was delighted to find this section of the library, and over the past few days has been absorbed in the books we got out.

So, if you too have a child arguing that English-language books are funnier/more interesting/easier than Chinese ones, go try this number out for yourself!  It certainly worked for us.