Making learning FUN & 6 yr old teacing me chinese ?

I just spent a fun fill two hours with my very smart niece. It was interesting to talk to this 6 yr old because one, I love her. Two, she is a pretty smart kid – she speaks English, Spanish and is learning Chinese. As the rest of my family slept the morning away (after effect of stay up all New Years Eve) me and my loving niece hade a small breakfast and she taught me some Chinese.

I’ve known for some time that she was learning Chinese and I have always asked her to give me tips, like how to say hello and etc. But this morning as I tried to keep her entertained and engaged I asked her about her school, her friends, and how to say puppy, cat, boy, girl, little puppy and little cat. She surprised me with her intelligence and her fluency in the words in which she was teaching this old man Chinese.

After spending more time with her as our time together moved from her teaching me Chinese to us impishly causing mischief with those who soundly slept (check out picture of us trying to wake up my sleeping daughter). We then spent time going over my New Years Eve picture’s on my cell phone with the wife joining after we abruptly woke her up. After having her abandon me to go off to play with my son, as all 6 yrs old should – I decided to do a bit of online reading: about children and making learning fun. This is some of things I came up with.

Model Learning Enthusiasm
Parents should show an interest in learning too. Children are very perceptive and will pick up on negative attitudes that parents have about learning math, grammar, science and so forth. Parents should rather exhibit curiosity and interest in topics and areas that the child is exploring.

Unleash Your Imagination
Being willing to see things in an offbeat or silly perspective can help keep the fun in learning. Try to find novel ways to be playful with a topic can aid learning (e.g. playing "What if...."). Creative ideas will anchor the learning into your child's memory and make it easier for them to recall it later.

Encourage Their Natural Tendency to be Curious
The reality is that children find learning fun right from the start; their excitement to learn new things is too often stymied by rules, restrictions, and inadvertent words of discouragement, even from well intentioned parents. Clearly, children are born explorers and optimists. Parents need to foster this natural curiosity rather than shutting it down. The way to do this is by guiding children rather than controlling them. If a toy gains their interest, find games to play using that toy rather than choosing a toy for them.