Free Printable: DIY Dual Immersion Mandarin-English Teaching Clocks

During homeschooling last year, we used Saxon K Math, which covered some basic clock and time-telling. However, it’s still definitely something we need to review and work on. I made these two teaching clocks to use with Saxon K, but we mainly used the English one last year. Now that the Little Hulk is recognizing Chinese number characters (thank you, Mandarin-Immersion program!), we are definitely going to be using both! There are a few free printable teaching clocks out there, but this 3-page PDF includes the parts to make two clocks, one with Mandarin Chinese characters and the other in English.

Materials: 

• Paper (for a sturdier clock, print on cardstock and laminate all clock parts)
• 2 Brads (1 for each clock)
• 1 hole punch (if your hole punch is not long-reaching like mine, I also used an
  X-acto knife to cut out the tiny hole in the center of the clock)
• Laminator (optional, but really necessary for longevity of the clocks)
• Velcro sticker sticky dots like these 5/8″ clear round ones on Amazon.
• Optional: circle punch 1.25″

Directions:

1. Download the free printable and print out on paper of choice (cardstock recommended): teaching clocks_Mandarin-English
2. Laminate (optional) and cut out all the parts
3. Punch out the holes in the hour and minute hands, and the center of the clock
4. Attach clock hands using the brads
5. Affix velcro dots to the white circle spaces on the teaching clocks, and matching velcro dot to the hour circles (#1-12)

Happy learning!

Redeeming the time: 20 minutes in the car

After a lot of debate and prayer, we decided to enroll our Little Hulk in a 50/50 Mandarin Immersion Kinder program available at a public school about 20 minutes away. While some days we just chat and relax or listen to music, there are other days we also try to use the commute time for some enrichment. Here are a few simple ideas that can easily be done in the car: 

1. Magnetic toys like this Imagination Patterns Set by Mindware, which travels well and also doubles as a dry erase board. A similar option would be magnetic tangrams.
2. Put their imaginations to work with a simple dry erase board and markers. If your child always draws the same thing (we probably have about 365 drawings of a Jedi holding a lightsaber from last year’s journal), consider the Artful Parent’s suggestion of providing creative drawing prompts.
   
3. Use dry erase pockets to do a quick worksheet. I personally prefer to do something either fun like these mazes from KrazyDad, or to go over something I know he’s not being taught in school, like geography (this post on continental blob maps from Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood is great).
4. Audiobooks — Borrow Audiobook CDs from your local library or online library (the Overdrive app allows you to checkout ebooks and audiobooks from your local public library on your various devices) — or, invest in an educational audiobook series like Story of the World. These go along great with Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Treehouse books.