Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

I’ve noticed the twins’ school puts an early emphasis on creative writing for English Language Arts. Last year, they each wrote a poem in class, and there’s been a lot of free writing, like journaling, built into their school routine.

This made me appreciate even more the tutor I found for Little Bun. The exercises she’s doing with her mirror what’s happening at school, but in Chinese. Recently, the homework includes sentence building (造句), and the tutor is gradually guiding her to write short poems and even giving her assignments like creating birthday invitations.

Honestly, unless parents have the patience and creativity for this kind of teaching, I’d highly recommend leaving it to a professional. Teaching language “input” is one thing, but helping kids with “output”—like writing—requires knowing just how much guidance to give while still letting them craft their own stories.

Writing, though, is tough and will take time to master. I’m excited to see how Little Bun’s skills develop, and I’m hopeful that, in time, we’ll see some fun writing emerge from her journey.