Thanksgiving is almost here and we wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU!
Something we like to do at home is to make lists of everyone and everything we are grateful for in our lives and why. Right now, our kids are writing short letters to family members expressing their gratitude and appreciation. It is one way we try to teach our children to never take anyone or anything for granted and to always communicate openly about their feelings.
We’ve spent the past few months really focusing on our time together as a family, making great memories and using this continued period of cautious social distancing to strengthen our relationships with each other. As a result, we haven’t kept up with this blog the way we originally had planned. We apologize for this absence, but thank each and every one of you who has continued to support us and our efforts, who has used our resources and learned with us over on Facebook and Instagram, for all the loving messages and emails we have received sharing with us how our products have made a positive impact in your home – you’ve touched our hearts and it all truly means the world to us!
Navigating through shipment delays and other COVID related hurtles has been difficult and we continue to watch the landscape of our publishing experience change, but your love and support has shown us that it is all worth it! From the bottom of our hearts – THANK YOU!
If you are looking for a Thanksgiving activity, head over to our online store and download our FREE Thanksgiving activity sheet so you and your family can make a list of all you are thankful for, as well. We hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday with your loved ones!
It’s May and that means its Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM)! It was originally designated as only a week in 1978 by President Carter, but in 1992 President Bush designated the whole month of May under Public Law 102-450.
This is a great time to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Island American (AAPI) culture and heritage and to reflect on our history in the U.S. Many schools do not teach about much of AAPI history – the struggles and the achievements – but it is important that we learn it and that we pass that knowledge onto our children.
In celebration of APAHM, we will be posting additional educational materials on our Facebook and Instagram accounts! We will share information on Korean foods as part of our daily vocabulary lessons, as well as short biographies about notable Korean Americans throughout US History. Because our mission is to provide educational content for Korean language and culture, we are choosing to highlight Korean Americans, but remember that Korean Americans make up just a fraction of all Asian and Pacific Island Americans. We hope you will also take the opportunity to learn about and celebrate the many other members of the AAPI community!
Are you ready to take your little explorer on a journey through space? We are excited to announce the newest in our Bilingual Learning Series, The Solar System | 태양계, is set to release June 2021!
A step up from our core concept books, The Solar System | 태양계 uses simple, yet more complex, sentences to introduce your child to the planets in our solar system – plus additional vocabulary along the way! Simple facts are presented in a mixture of different sentence structures and, as always, transliterations accompany the Hangul (Korean written language) to aid in pronunciation for those not yet able to read it.
The Solar System | 태양계 will retail for $11.99 and will be available for purchase in June 2021, but special preorder sets will be available for purchase starting April 2021. Get your hands on our exclusive Moon Phases poster and limited edition sticker sets and save- plus automatically be entered to WIN a Solar System Book Tote!
Preorder sets are only available in our online shop – or click here for a list of retailers that carry our books.
새해 복 많이 받으세요! It’s Seollal (설날) – Lunar New Year – and 2021 is the year of the Ox!
According to the Lunar Zodiac, those born under the sign of the Ox are strong, determined, and dependable people. They are patient, creative, hard-working, and find success by being persistent, working with their capabilities and according to their ideals. Oxen are loyal and loving, and value their families. Some of their weaknesses include communication skills and many prefer to be independent and enjoy solitude rather than group settings and social gatherings. They also tend to be stubborn. The year of the Ox is said to be one of positivity, strength, hard work, and honesty.
Some well-known people born under the Ox sign include Barack Obama, Vincent Van Gogh, and Walt Disney. Were you born under the year of the Ox?
We are looking forward to what this year has to offer and celebrating at home with some Seollal traditions and activities.
However you celebrate the new year, we have a few kid-friendly activities to add to the fun! We have FREE printables for you in our online store. Design your own hanbok, make your own paper fans, color a simple Seollal celebration – and choose from several other learning activities, while you’re at it! They’re all FREE and available to you on aerilynbooks.com. We hope you have a happy new year!
Thanksgiving is fast approaching and, though this year has thrown curve balls at every single one of us, we want to shift our focus to everything good in our lives. Now is as good a time as ever to take a breath, step back, and reflect on what we are so blessed to have.
We’ve added a new FREE Thanksgiving activity sheet to our online store so you and your family can think about all you are thankful for, as well. Our little ones have had so much fun making their lists and I was pleasantly surprised by some of their answers! Every day, I learn a little bit more about each of these amazing people they are growing up to be!
Though social distancing is keeping us physically apart from many of our friends and family members, we are still together in heart and in spirit – with many ways to keep in touch – and for that we are thankful. Reach out with a letter, a phone call, an email, a text, or however works best for you, and embrace the true meaning of togetherness this holiday.
It’s apple season and we’ve put together an educational workbook filled with apple-themed activities! If your kids love apples, they will love these fun activities!
The 20 page workbook includes an Apple Investigation activity, where your child will be able to use their senses to explore their own apple (with your help, of course!). They will record their findings on the Apple Investigation sheet – size, color, buoyancy, taste – they will examine their apple from the inside out!
Other activities include labeling the parts of an apple, counting seeds, math, reading and writing practice, shape-tracing, puzzles, and more. Designed with your little bilingual learner in mind, these materials support education in both English and Korean languages, but can be enjoyed by our monolingual friends, as well.
It’s our birthday and we are in the mood to celebrate! It has been two years since we opened our online shop and started providing bilingual resources for Korean-learning families everywhere – and what a journey it has been!
What started as a simple desire to create a bilingual book our children would love, has turned into so much more than we could’ve ever imagined! We have made so many friends sharing the same love for the Korean language, shared over 500 vocabulary words on our social media pages, published 4 board books for beginning learners, created almost 50 downloadable worksheets/coloring sheets and posters, hosted virtual book signings and giveaway events, donated to Korean American organizations… and we have more exciting things on the way! And we couldn’t have done any of it without you! So to celebrate, we are giving everyone 10% OFF all purchases* made on aerilynbooks.com, all month long, with coupon code BIRTHDAY – just enter during checkout!
We look forward to another great year as your source for Korean-learning content! 감사합니다!
*Excludes Apparel & Accessories and mugs. Good through August 31, 2020.
Learning about shapes is critical for children and helps them to identify and categorize visual information, adds descriptive words to their vocabulary, and expands to skills in reading, math, and science. Shapes communicate visual messages throughout our real-world environment and serve as important building blocks in our children’s cognitive development.
The latest book in our Bilingual Learning series, Shapes | 모양, is now available for purchase in our online store and other select retailers! The board book is sized perfectly for little hands, durable enough for repeated handling, and teaches your child basic shapes in both English and Korean languages. Each shape is vibrantly illustrated in mesmerizing patterns and Hangul is accompanied by transliterations for help with pronunciation.
We’ve also added some new worksheets, free to download, which can be paired with our book for additional practice perfect for preschool-aged kids! Your little ones will have the opportunity to strengthen their pincer grip, trace shapes, practice writing, create patterns, and more for a well-rounded educational approach.
For daily bilingual content, connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.
If you are planning on raising your child to understand and speak two languages, you might be wondering how to get started. There are many different methods for raising bilingual children, and no one method is more effective than the others. Your overall approach can be custom-tailored for your daily life, your individual child, and your own fluency levels. While you are considering which method is right for you, take some time to go over these 13 tips for successfully raising bilingual children.
Tip # 1: Introduce the Target Language Early in Life
Introducing a second (or third, or fourth, etc) language to your child as early as possible makes it easier for them to learn it. From birth, we begin absorbing information about the world around us at an incredible rate, and even as babies we are able to discern between different languages! But it’s never too late to start learning a language, and the benefits are numerous, so don’t fret if you didn’t introduce the language to your child from day one!
Tip # 2: Be Consistent
Whichever method you choose, make sure to be consistent. Consistency helps to better integrate the learning process and makes the language a part of your daily lives. Routine helps children thrive and learn, and it’s no different with how they learn languages. However, if you find your chosen method just isn’t working, don’t be afraid to look for one that better suits you and your child. Everyone learns a little differently, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach!
Tip # 3: Set Realistic Goals
It is important to remember to set realistic goals for your child’s language-learning journey. Setting unrealistic goals can result in frustration, disappointment, and discouragement for both child and caregiver. It’s a great idea to set weekly attainable goals, celebrate successes, and to continue to work in their weakest areas. Set a natural pace that keeps your child motivated to continue to speak the language.
Tip #4: Speak the Target Language
Don’t underestimate the power of conversation! This may seem obvious, but speak the target language with your child. It isn’t enough to expose your child to the language in TV shows, YouTube videos, and the occasional game. Speaking the language to your child builds real-life conversational skills, encourages free-thinking, and exercises their ability to comprehend and respond appropriately in a natural scenario. Even if you don’t speak the language perfectly, or even if you yourself are still learning, using it with your child and learning together makes a big impact!
Tip #5: Sing Familiar Songs in the Language
Singing familiar songs in both (or all) languages is a fun way to learn! There’s a reason it feels natural to sing to your baby – it aids in their development and can serve as your child’s earliest language lessons. By singing the same songs in both languages, or even intermingling the languages from verse to verse, you can help to create a connection between them – all while bonding emotionally with your child!
Tip #6: Swap Out Frequently Used Words
Swap out frequently used words in the primary language with the corresponding words in the target language. For example, using “agua” in place of “water” or “우유” in place of “milk.” Taking advantage of their frequent usage can help your child to remember the new vocabulary. This is especially helpful when you yourself are not fluent in the target language, or if you find your child suddenly favoring the primary language. Consider addressing Grandma as “Abuela” or “할머니,” to keep the language and culture relevant in your daily lives. Be creative!
Tip #7: Keep it Fun
When you think about how to teach your child basic concepts, like colors and shapes, do you imagine writing and rewriting in notebooks? Not likely! For children, fun plays a major role in their early education – games, songs, crafts, and mimicking behaviors is how they learn! Keep the language learning activities fun and interesting, increase the difficulty as they progress to prevent boredom, and follow your child’s lead when possible. If an activity is met with too much resistance or stress, don’t push it! Keep it enjoyable for both of you!
Tip #8: Invest in Educational Materials and Resources
While TV and YouTube alone will not make your child fluent in the language, it’s definitely a great idea to invest time and money in materials and resources that will strengthen your child’s language skills! Books, toys, movies, music, extra-curricular activities, group classes, etc. can make the target language a part of their routine in more than one way and have a major impact on their language education. Check to see if your local library has weekly book readings in the language, or if your local park district offers cultural arts classes – you may be surprised by what you find!
Tip #9: Make and Eat the Foods Associated with the Language
Food is a great way to incorporate language and culture in your daily life! Meals are already an important part of family life and can be easily adjusted or modified for each unique family. Prepare and eat foods of the language’s home countries – and call them by their correct names! Food connects us to people, places, cultures, heritage, and, yes, language. It can provide fond childhood memories and strengthen their cultural identity.
Tip #10: Observe the Cultural Holidays and Traditions
Language and culture are strongly connected and observing the cultural holidays and traditions associated with a language can help teach your child through hands-on experiences. Learning about cultures expands your child’s world, connects communities, and builds a healthy multi-cultural identity. Research some holiday traditions you can observe with your child, or think back to your favorite traditions as a child and keep it going!
Tip #11: Travel Together
If possible, travel together to the country or countries where the target language is spoken and immerse yourselves in the culture and environment. It can do wonders for their motivation to speak the language! If not possible to travel outside the country, find more easily accessible ways to appreciate the country, culture, and language. Discover local events that celebrate it, such as Korean festivals, Floating Lantern ceremonies, folk-dance shows, art exhibits, and even parades!
Tip #12: Correct Mistakes Constructively
It’s important to correct mistakes in a constructive way. You want to make sure they are pronouncing, using, and spelling words correctly, but you do not need to stop conversations or correct after every other sentence. Give your child the opportunity to think and speak on their own to express their ideas and correct mistakes when necessary by modeling the correct usage or tense. Children can become quite frustrated and discouraged when constantly corrected, and this can ultimately lead to a refusal to speak the language. Keep the conversation going and leave opportunities for them to freely express ideas beyond one word responses. By modeling the correct language skills yourself, they will effectively learn them without being discouraged.
Tip #13: Find Community and Support
Find support in a community of other parents who are teaching their children another language – and even better if they are teaching the same target language! You can offer and receive advice, share ideas, and have play dates around language-learning activities – not to mention, long-lasting friendships with like-minded families!
However you choose to approach your bilingual journey with your child, keep in mind the unique needs of your child and your family. There are many benefits to teaching your child a second language, even if they never reach fluency, so don’t stress! We hope you find these tips helpful and wish you the best of luck in raising your bilingual child(ren)!
안녕하세요! With Valentine’s Day approaching, we wanted to create a few heart-themed worksheets that integrated some Korean-language learning. These worksheets are free to download and you can print as many times as you’d like!
Kids have the opportunity to practice their vocabulary with color-by-number and counting activities that pair well with our Bilingual Learning books – PLUS they can print out and color their own Valentine’s to give to friends and family!
Head over to our online store to download our new Valentine’s Day worksheets – and any other worksheets you might like! We hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!