你好，朋友！
Nǐ hǎo, péngyou! — Hello, Friends!
Our youngest learners spend Kindergarten listening, singing, pointing and speaking. There is no required reading or writing at all this year — just big ears, silly songs, and a whole unit devoted to getting the four tones into their bodies before anything else.
By the end of Kindergarten, your child will be able to…
- Listening: recognise 60–80 common spoken words and simple classroom instructions
- Speaking: greet someone, say their name, and name colours, numbers 1–10 and familiar objects
- Tones: hear the difference between the four tones and copy them in single words
- Culture: know that Chinese is spoken in many places, with songs and games from several of them
- Characters: recognise about ten picture-characters for fun — never tested
- Confidence: feel comfortable making new sounds out loud, even imperfectly
The four tones, in one line
Same sound, four meanings. This is the single most important thing a Mandarin beginner learns, so it gets Unit 2 all to itself — and these colours follow your child through all nine years.
ā — flat & high 妈 mā = mother á — rising 麻 má = hemp ǎ — dips down 马 mǎ = horse à — falls sharply 駄 mà = to scold
10 units, one playful year
Each unit runs about a month at two lessons a week. Everything is spoken — if your child never picks up a pencil this year, the program is still working exactly as designed.
你好！ — Greetings & My Name
Nǐ hǎo! Hello, goodbye, thank you, and telling a new friend your name.
四个声调 — The Four Tones
Sì gè shēngdiào. Hand gestures, tone songs, and the famous mā-má-mǎ-mà.
颜色 — Colors
Yánsè. Naming and pointing to colours all around the room.
数字一到十 — Numbers 1–10
Shùzì. Counting, clapping, and the one-hand Chinese number gestures.
我的家人 — My Family
Wǒ de jiārén. Māma, bàba, gēge, jiějie — the people at home.
身体 — Body Parts
Shēntǐ. Head, shoulders, knees and toes — in Mandarin, with the song.
动物 — Animals
Dòngwù. Animal names and sounds, plus the Chinese zodiac animals.
食物 — Food
Shíwù. Favourite foods, chopsticks, and how to say “I’m hungry.”
在教室里 — In the Classroom
Zài jiàoshì lǐ. Classroom objects and the instructions the teacher actually uses.
心情和天气 — Feelings & Weather
Xīnqíng hé tiānqì. Happy, sad, sunny, rainy — and a review of the whole year.
How to use this program
You don’t need to speak Chinese
Every lesson has plain-English directions for the adult, pinyin plus an English sound-alike next to every word, and a “listen” button that speaks the word aloud on devices that support it. You’re there to encourage, not to translate — and your child mimicking the audio is better practice than mimicking an adult who is guessing.
Suggested pacing
- 2 lessons/week: about one unit per month
- 3 lessons/week: a comfortable classroom pace
- Accelerated: daily 10-minute sessions for summer or intensive use
What you’ll need
Nothing to buy. A device to view lessons, paper and crayons for drawing activities, and about 15–20 minutes per lesson.
About tones — please read
Five-year-olds get tones wrong constantly, and that is fine. Do not correct every attempt; it kills willingness to speak. Replay the audio and let them copy it again. Accuracy arrives by Grade 2 for almost every child.
If it feels easy: let your child teach the words to a sibling or a stuffed animal — teaching is the strongest form of review at this age.