Happy Wednesday! It’s been a little bit crazy over here, trying to get into the virtual-learning groove, but now that we are in week three everything is going much more smoothly. I hope you are all doing well adjusting to this new (and unique) school year!
Now that things have settled down a bit, I wanted to share another DIY project for teaching your child ํ๊ธ (Hangul).
DIY Hangul Blocks Materials
What you need: ๐น Chalkboard Blocks ๐น Chalk Markers (2 or more colors)
What you do: ๐ธ Write Vowels in One Color ๐ธ Write Consonants in Second Color
Write Vowels in One Color and Consonants in the Second Color
I found these cute chalkboard blocks at our local Michaels Arts and Crafts Store on clearance, but you could easily use plain wooden blocks and paint them with matte paint in any color you’d like – I really liked the chalkboard for these for that back-to-school look.
Chalk markers are great for this project, because you can easily wipe them clean if you make a mistake or want to reuse the blocks for other lessons. Feel free to use paint markers if you want something more permanent.
I used pink to write the vowels and white to write consonants, using a total of 16 blocks so I could include double consonants. I had some extra blank sides, which I filled with more frequently used consonants and vowels. In less than five minutes, they were dry and we were able to get to word-building practice!
Word-building Practice with Hangul Blocks
My preschooler had a lot of fun making these with me and using them to build simple words! How will you design your own Hangul Blocks?
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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!
Apple-themed workbook available for download on aerilynbooks.com
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.
Apple Mandu Recipe – A Korean Twist on Apple Dumplings
September is here and apple-picking season has begun! We love going to our local apple orchard, picking our own Honeycrisp apples, and bringing them home to make delicious goodies! Apples are a staple in our home – we go through about 2 or 3 apples a day all year long – but there’s something about picking them yourself and enjoying them at their peak that just makes them so much better.
One of our favorite apple treats? Apple dumplings! And this recipe is a Korean twist on the classic treat. Mandu (๋ง๋) is a Korean style dumpling, typically filled with meat and veggies, and they can be steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried. For this recipe, I like them pan-fried, to get that crunchy texture wrapped around the sweet and slightly tart apple filling.
Heat apple on frying pan over medium heat with butter until apple begins to soften. Add lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar and continue to cook until sugar has dissolved and apples are well coated. Apples should still be a bit crunchy and not too soft. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
While Apple filling is cooling, make the Mandu Wrap: Combine flour, salt, and water in a mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. When dough starts to form, knead with hands until well-mixed and soft. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 16 equal pieces and place on lightly floured cutting board. Roll each piece of dough out large enough to cut into circles 5″ in diameter, cut out circles, and place on plate.
Begin Filling the Dough: Prepare the Mandu wrap by gently pinching around the edges so that they are thinner than the middle portion of the dough. Scoop a spoonful of apple filling into center of a Mandu wrap, moisten the edges of half the wrap with cold water, fold in half, and pinch closed to seal. Tuck the corners together and pinch to make a neat and beautiful dumpling. Make whatever designs you like best! Repeat with all Mandu wrap and filling for a total of 16 dumplings.
Cook Dumplings: Pour enough vegetable oil into a frying pan to cover the bottom and heat at medium-low until it sizzles when a drop of water is dropped on it. Watch and adjust the heat if necessary to avoid burning dumplings or having the dumplings soak up too much oil.
Once oil is hot, carefully add dumplings to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Allow to cook until golden brown on one side (about 3 to 4 minutes) and flip over.
Once both sides are golden brown, carefully transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still hot. Repeat step 6 until all dumplings are cooked.
Serve while hot! Enjoy alone, dip in caramel sauce, or top with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy these Apple Mandu as-is or with vanilla ice cream.
These Apple Mandu are AMAZING when piping hot! We also love them with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. I hope you love this recipe and find it as enjoyable as to make as we do!
We are always looking for fun ways to merge learning activities with play time and the classic children’s game, “I Spy,” is a perfect opportunity to do just that! “I Spy” is a guessing game where, traditionally, players take turns choosing something in the immediate area and reciting the rhyme “I spy with my little eye, something that is…” and the other players try to guess what the object is based on the singular clue.
One of the great things about this game is its incredible flexibility – you can use colors, shapes, sizes, and other adjectives as clues (or combinations of them); play the game anywhere you happen to be; practice target-language vocabulary… there are so many ways you can tailor it to your own personal needs!
“I Spy” Glasses template available for download on aerilynbooks.com
To make this game even more fun, we added a craft element to it. Our kids love to make things by hand, so this was right up their alley! Plus, it provides the extra benefits of strengthening their pincer grip and exercising their creative skills.
Use our FREE Downloadable Template to make your own looking glasses.
What you need: ๐น FREE Downloadable “I Spy” Glasses Template ๐น Colorful Paper or Cardstock ๐น Kids Scissors ๐น Heat Resistant Acetate Sheets (Optional) ๐น Double Sided Tape (Optional) ๐น Popsicle Stick (Optional)
What you do: ๐ธ Print “I Spy” Glasses Template on Colorful Paper or Cardstock ๐ธ Cut Along Solid Lines to Create “I Spy” Glasses
Optional: ๐น Cut the “Lens” Out of Acetate Sheet and Use Double Sided Tape to Adhere Between the Paper Cut-outs ๐น Use a Popsicle Stick to Create a Stronger Handle, Taping it Between the Paper Cut-outs ๐น Decorate with Stickers or Washi Tape
“I spy with my little eye, something that is…”
Use your newly customized looking glasses to play “I Spy” and practice shapes, colors, and vocabulary – your child will love having their very own “magnifying glass” to search for objects around the house! Try playing in your target language, for some bilingual fun, or even go on a bug-hunt – how many activities can you think of for these looking glasses? We’d love to see your ideas in action – tag us in your pictures on Instagram and we just may feature them on our page!
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! ๊ฐ์ฌํฉ๋๋ค!
*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.
Shapes | ๋ชจ์ , the latest in our Bilingual Learning series, is now available for purchase.
The latest book in our Bilingual Learning series, Shapes | ๋ชจ์, 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.
Free downloadable worksheets are available for additional practice.
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.
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Something my kids and I enjoy doing every year, is watching caterpillars grow into butterflies. It’s a wonderful activity that lasts for weeks, teaches about the process of metamorphosis, allows close observation of the live insects, presents an opportunity to introduce or review Korean vocabulary, and is absolute fun for everyone!
My daughter holding a painted lady butterfly, while releasing them.
Every Spring, I order a cup (or two) of caterpillars from InsectLore.com, and each cup comes with five caterpillars. If you have never done this activity before, I recommend getting a starter kit that includes the temporary housing and information booklet. (This is not a paid endorsement – Just sharing where I like to get our caterpillars!) The kit comes with everything you need to know about the process and how to take care of the butterflies before you release them. Usually, you will also receive some fun stickers or other paper toys.
Some of the butterflies like to stick around close by (on little hands or in the garden) before flying away, like this beautiful painted lady who took a moment to appreciate our flowers.
This year, I wanted to add some additional educational material to go along with our annual observation, so I created several worksheets and puzzle activities all centered around caterpillars and butterflies – and in addition to the worksheets, I created flash cards and a mini book that can be printed right from your computer!
Example pages from Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook
The Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook is twenty pages and can be found in the Aerilyn Books online store. The mini book teaches your child about the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle, in both English and Korean, and the key vocabulary can be reinforced with the flash cards. Your child will also get to exercise their creative skills while practicing numbers and colors and drawing the different stages from caterpillar to butterfly. Don’t feel comfortable raising caterpillars?No worries! It isn’t necessary to get the educational benefits of the workbook! So head to the online store to get the Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook and have fun learning about metamorphosis!
Emotions are high as we continue to practice social distancing and follow stay-at-home orders, in our best efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many of us are experiencing feelings of anxiety, helplessness, frustration, and worry – all as a natural response to the stress involved in our current global circumstances. All these emotions can be difficult to navigate, and especially so for children who are looking to us adults for comfort and security while they continue learning from home and are missing their friends and extended family members. It can be difficult to manage such big emotions!
It got me really thinking about some effective practices for managing stress and the negative emotions that often come with it. I wanted to have some activities ready for a moment when any one of my children might need some extra comfort or help with addressing their fears or worries. Dealing with depression myself, I know the importance of being able to talk about my struggles with someone I trust and to be able to level my emotions so I can more easily manage them. I wanted to be able to use some of these techniques in a child-friendly way while also integrating some bilingual education and simple facial recognition activities.
Sample pages from Emotions Workbook
I created a 20 page workbook that’s all about emotions! I’ve included some of the most common emotions we experience from day-to-day, and created some activities for recognizing, discussing, and managing these emotions in healthy ways. Included are social emotional activity ideas, coloring pages, reading and writing practice, drawing activities, illustrative journal pages, and, of course, bilingual vocabulary practice. You’ll have the opportunity to open up to each other and address the big emotions your children (and you!) may be experiencing – and set in place great emotional health practices for years to come!
You can find the downloadable workbook here in our online store. The material supports bilingual education in English and Korean languages, but can be completed and enjoyed by our monolingual friends, as well!
Being home from work and school is an important public safety measure during our current pandemic, but it can be rough – for all of us. Kids and adults alike are trying their best to transition from their usual school and work environments to working remotely, from the comfort of their homes… where their TV and all their favorite snacks are… where the couch is comfortable and Lego sets beg to be played with. It can be a real struggle to focus!
We’ve been trying to keep our kids on track with their virtual classrooms, while also entertaining them in quiet times between classwork. The balancing act between parent, employee, home-school teacher, and chef is leaving most of us feeling… well, unbalanced. Fortunately, I’ve found some activities that have successfully entertained (and educated) my younger kids – and it isn’t over in a mere five minutes!
Every Spring, we tend to our vegetable garden. The kids love to help me clean out old dead plants, turn the soil, look for worms – all of it. But this year, our weather hasn’t exactly been cooperative. It’s the middle of April and we still have snow – YIKES! We haven’t been able to shake off our desire to get planting, though, so we started some seeds indoors. This has been great for teaching our sons how plants grow, observing the parts of a plant, and using a small magnifying glass to take a close look at roots and germinating seeds. And it doesn’t stop there!
Sample sheets from How Plants Grow Workbook
I’ve put together a 20 page workbook to go along with this activity. The workbook includes coloring sheets, bilingual vocabulary practice, a Plant Growth Process wheel, cut-and-paste charts, matching games… enough to last a week or so. You’ll be able to teach your child about the parts of a plant, about the growth process, practice reading and writing, solve puzzles, and play games – all while watching it happen in front of them! It’s a hands-on learning experience that is sure to fill in some of the gaps of their remote learning!
You can find the downloadable workbook here in our online store. The material supports bilingual education in English and Korean languages, but can be completed and enjoyed by our monolingual friends, as well!
Stay safe and healthy, friends! We are in this together!
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 language to your child early in life
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 with your chosen method
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 for your child’s learning
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 language to your child
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 both (or all) languages you want your child to learn
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 for the target language
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 “์ฐ์ ” 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 “ํ ๋จธ๋,” to keep the language and culture relevant in your daily lives. Be creative!
Tip #7: Keep the language learning fun
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
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 foods of that country
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
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 to countries that speak the language, if possible
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 in a constructive way
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 for your efforts
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)!
