We are learning so many different things in the Peterson home, including many different languages. We are learning, English, of course as our primary language we are spending a good amount of our home school lessons on that! We are also learning Spanish, with help from Dora and Diego as well as the fact that we have in-laws that are of Latino background. And don't forget about American Sign Language (ASL) my personal favorite, which we are learning with help from Signing Time! But when I heard about Nickelodeon's new series, Ni Hao, Kai-lan, I knew that we would be adding another language, Mandarin Chinese. Especially since my oldest is extremely fascinated with anything remotely related to China.



Ni Hao, Kai-lan is filled with Chinese culture as well as the language. Ni Hao, which means Hello in Mandarin, is a great start to the show. The series follows Kai-lan, a five-year old Chinese American girl, as she deals with issues that preschoolers no matter what their culture and language deal with on a day to day basis. Issues such as taking turns, jealously, and cause and effect are things that will be covered throughout the series. Each episode does a great job of helping the young preschool viewers deal with their emotions and think about others feelings as well as their own.



Come along with Kai-lan and her friends, Rintoo the tiger, Tolee the koala, Hoho the monkey, and Lulu the pink rhino, as Kai-lans Grandfather Yeye help leads and guides them along, allowing Kai-lan and her animal friends to find the solutions to the problems that they are facing.



Aimed at the 2-5 viewing generation it is filled with bright colors and repetition. My two girls are a little bit older than the targeted age group but still enjoy watching Kai-lan. I love that it teaches the words and phrases in Mandarin as well as infusing the Chinese culture into the show as well. I love that it in introduces our children to different cultures. Hopefully this will help cement in our own children's minds that we are people and that we are all important and everyone is equal regardless of race, sex, age, or religion.



I was excited to learn as I was teaching my own children, that they don't look at people and see them for how they look but rather as friends that they just don't know yet. Let me explain, while I was teaching them about Martin Luther King Day, I was teaching them why this was so important! They didn't understand why someone would think that they were better than someone else just because of their skin color, and they were extremely upset to learn that this was the case with some people. They even made the comment that no one was better than anyone else and that everyone should be friends. I love my girls and their complete innocence and acceptance of others!