Guides
Practical notes from the classroom
Short, specific guides for teachers and multilingual families: how to run a bilingual vocabulary routine, how to make word searches teach, how to use 田字格 grids, and how to run flashcards that stick.
A 20-minute bilingual vocabulary routine that works with one picture set
One set of ten pictures, four short steps, both languages on the table — a routine you can repeat every week.
8 min read →Word searches are not busywork: six ways to make them teach
A word search is only filler if you hand it out and walk away. Here are six routines that turn it into reading, spelling and vocabulary practice.
7 min read →How to use 田字格 tracing sheets for Chinese characters
The grid is not decoration. It teaches proportion, balance and stroke placement — if you use it in the right order.
8 min read →Flashcards that actually work: the 3-second rule and a home routine
Most flashcard sessions are too long, too easy or too passive. Three small changes make them stick.
6 min read →What to look for in a bilingual worksheet
Two languages on one page is the easy part. Here is the checklist we use — and the red flags that make a bilingual worksheet harder to teach with.
6 min read →How to print worksheets on A4 and Letter
Fit to page, actual size, duplex, grey tracing lines — the print settings that decide whether a worksheet is usable.
5 min read →Teaching Spanish colours to preschoolers
Ten colour words, four short activities, one picture set — a plan that works even if you do not speak Spanish.
7 min read →A newcomer's first week: ten pictures, four routines, no translation app
A practical first-week plan for a student who speaks little or no English — built on one set of ten pictures and the home language.
7 min read →Teaching colours and numbers with one deck of picture cards
Two of the first concepts in any language — and the easiest to teach with the same ten cards, in either language.
6 min read →