There are several Chinese children’s magazines out there but my personal favorite is Top945 康軒學習雜誌.
Magazines are better than books?!
Did you know that childhood experts recommend magazines over books? Magazines provide diverse knowledge and a wide variety of texts like fiction, non-fiction, poems, and interactive content.
Why we love Top945 Learning Magazine:
#1. Well-rounded vocabulary and General Knowledge – I want him to be able to converse on a wide variety of topics in Chinese, not just his limited interests of superheroes, potty jokes and all that useless stuff. 😝
#2. Mix of real photos and drawings – My son loves the cute characters of Doudou, Nini and Professor Why. They really hold his attention and interest!
#3. TWO magazines per month for the elementary versions – This basically covers all of my non-fiction needs and is good value-for-money.
#4. Audio CD with every issue!! – Fabulous way for child to acquire advanced vocabulary especially if parent is not a native speaker.
#5. Ideal for busy families – We listen to this in the car and it makes our car trips so so enriching and productive. I don’t need to do anything except hit the play button. Yay for lazy parenting! 😉
The accompanying CD is REALLY REALLY GOOD. Worth its weight in gold in my opinion. My picky son who refused to listen to anything except 米小圈 for the last several months enjoys listening to them. The speakers have perfect enunciation and are very engaging.
Sample clip from CD (PreK-K version). The voices are younger and cuter.
Sample clip from CD (1st-3rd grade version). The voices are more mature and the language more advanced compared to the clip above:
We are listening to them for the second time now because there’s lots of idioms and complex vocabulary that he only understood about 50% of it the first time. The second time listening, his comprehension increased to 70-80%. I explained some key words to him in English as well. I always love materials that are challenging because that’s how kids learn and improve right??
Little Man is not able to read this magazine by himself yet (aside from the comics), so I am having him listen to build up vocabulary. Next year when he is in first grade, I plan on having him read it so he can learn how to read informational text, towards the long-term goal of reading newspapers as an adult.
***I just found out only the US version of Top945 still comes with CD. If you order from Taiwan it will not come with CD but you can download MP3 from their website. ***
Look Inside
Click on the images below to see the inside pages. Full magazines are available online so you can see every page! Wow.
PreK-Kindergarten version 學前版:
1st-3rd grade version 初階版:
4th-6th grade version 進階版:
Supplemental Teaching Materials
Top945 comes with additional materials such activity books, board games and hands-on activities etc., (Click here for details on what is included with your subscription: PreK-K version, 1st-3rd grade, 4th grade and up).
Free Gifts!
Exclusive free gifts for my readers: The first 30 subscribers will receive two of the following comic books with MP3 CDs (worth $30)! These are additional to the other free books you will receive when you subscribe to 1 year or more.
{Click here for review and sample pages of 紅豆綠豆碰 comic books}
U.S. Subscribers
Click on the links below to subscribe to Top945 Learning Magazine (payment via PayPal). In the comments section, type in “Hands On Chinese Fun” to receive your free comic books!
- Subscribe to PreK-K version 學前版
- Subscribe to 1st-3rd grade version 初階版
- Subscribe to 4th-6th grade version 進階版
C-Stems is the official distributor of Top945 and other children magazines like Ciaohu and Little Newton in the USA. An issue of Top945 was provided for review.
Questions or comments? Contact me via my Facebook page!
Hands-On Chinese Fun! 
Hi, My son is 6 years old and going to be 7 years old so which one (Pre-K or 1st 3rd grades) is more suitable for him?
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Honestly it depends on your son’s level of Chinese proficiency. We tried the Pre-K version first and it built his confidence then the harder version later. My little guy started at 6.5 and now is 7.
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