All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[tamarind]

sssdarlings:

Another impressive list!


How do you encourage them to read the original versions or even such classic titles?
Many children find the originals lengthy/ wordy and there are those who are keen other type of books such as non-fiction or fantasy etc.

----------------------------------
SK

My kids read every word out loud to me. We have already established a routine. Everyday they happily reads 4 to 5 pages, each page about 200 words. It takes them only 10 mins, so they don't mind. My girl loves the beautiful illustrations, and she is fascinated by the stories that I choose for her If she likes a book very much, she reads silently to the end of the book and tell me that she has finished already. But I still ask her to read every page out loud to me, because I want to discuss with her about the story to make sure that she has the correct understanding. My kids also have the freedom to read any other books on their own.

If possible, I try to act out the story. For example, in the Little House on the Prairie, there is chapter in which the entire family was critically ill and they could not go out to get help. Their closest neighbour was more than a mile away. Their dog, Jack, went out to bring a doctor back to save the family. I asked my kids to imagine how a dog can communicate to the doctor that the family needed help. We took turns to act as the dog and the doctor, barking in such a way that the doctor could sense that something was wrong, trying to drag the doctor in the direction of the little house, and we then ran on all fours like a dog :lol: Both my kids laughed so hard. It is a great way to bond with kids too !

[TanBT]

jedamum:

Title: Books for 3-6 years old


Any good books for recommendation according to agegroups?
I'm currently interested in 2 yr olds and 6 yr olds category.
Plus..anybody have any idea what are the term for the following 2 types of books?
1. Books where there are different adventures depending on which choice you choose in which scenerio...eg Go to Pg 3 if you turn left, Go to Pg 5 if you turn right... this type of books.
2. Books where there is a 'magnifying glass' made of a colour translucent sheet. you placed over the book to look for hidden objects.

TIA.

[jedamum]

EN:

Yes, he loves Astrosaurs too.

bobbi, EN,
my boy gave up halfway through his first Astrosaurs book.
i borrowed another one for him thinking that maybe the http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Swap-Menace-Astrosaurs-Steve-Cole/dp/0689878443/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263135947&sr=8-1 is confusing and he went :roll: without touching it.

EN:

I did a quick run through on Murderous Maths and found no love. So never introduce it to him. Although I can say that without any extra help, he is very good in math but not the exceptional case. Does your son loves math in order to enjoy reading Murderous Maths?

Never tried Horrible Science.

I found no love in Murderous Maths (from NLB) too; i worry that my boy will murder me if i borrow the book for him .
Found http://www.amazon.com/Your-Planet-Needs-You-Survival/dp/0330450956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136127&sr=8-1 in NLB recently; my boy sat through 2-3hrs to finish it in one go; think he likes this 'genre' of science (saving Gaia). Another short and colourful book that he likes of the same 'genre' - http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Peril-Horrible-Geography-Handbooks/dp/1407105779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136289&sr=8-1

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

[quote]bobbi, EN,

my boy gave up halfway through his first Astrosaurs book.
i borrowed another one for him thinking that maybe the first one is confusing and he went without touching it. [/quote]Don't worry. I read a bit to see what the story is like. I don't like it too. :lol:
[quote]I found no love in Murderous Maths (from NLB) too; i worry that my boy will murder me if i borrow the book for him .
Found this in NLB recently; my boy sat through 2-3hrs to finish it in one go; think he likes this 'genre' of science (saving Gaia). Another short and colourful book that he likes of the same 'genre' - http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Peril-Horrible-Geography-Handbooks/dp/1407105779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136289&sr=8-1[/quote]
Thanks. Nice to know NLB has such great books. I've bought quite a lot of English classic after our last discussion & 1 39 Series & he wants more Diary of a Wimpy Kids. As soon as those that I bought cleared, I'm heading back to NLB.

So does your ds starts to enforce saving Gaia at home?

[Blobbi]

EN:

[quote]bobbi, EN,

my boy gave up halfway through his first Astrosaurs book.
i borrowed another one for him thinking that maybe the first one is confusing and he went without touching it.

Don't worry. I read a bit to see what the story is like. I don't like it too. :lol:
[quote]I found no love in Murderous Maths (from NLB) too; i worry that my boy will murder me if i borrow the book for him .
Found this in NLB recently; my boy sat through 2-3hrs to finish it in one go; think he likes this 'genre' of science (saving Gaia). Another short and colourful book that he likes of the same 'genre' - http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Peril-Horrible-Geography-Handbooks/dp/1407105779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136289&sr=8-1[/quote]
Thanks. Nice to know NLB has such great books. I've bought quite a lot of English classic after our last discussion & 1 39 Series & he wants more Diary of a Wimpy Kids. As soon as those that I bought cleared, I'm heading back to NLB.

So does your ds starts to enforce saving Gaia at home?[/quote]Sorry it didn't work out for your son, Jedamum. Got plenty others though :). I never read Astrosaurs myself - but I did go through about half a page in the middle of one to make sure the English was good, and it was. Tks for the headsup up on the Horrible Geography. Hehe, so good to prepare in advance!!

Ok - time to update. Now he's reading Horrible Histories - think the Horrible Science and Murderous Math books were very good, so he's looking for more of the same. Also, he seems to like Discovery Box magazines a lot now. And I found some simplified classics from the UK:

http://www.realreads.co.uk/

Dunno how good these are or what level, but he likes them much better than Classic Starts. My own sense is that UK English should be better :lol:

http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/catalog?series=Classic+Starts%26%238482%3B+Series&limit=10

Since school started though, the reading has slowed down cos there seems to be very little time in the day :(. He needs to run and play with his friends in the condo, and then after that, sleep early. He reads before sleeping, but it's nowhere near the bulk reading time he had. Maybe it's good to balance him out actually. But haven't even started Chinese tuition yet, which is next week. Aiyo ...

[cafelatte]

Jedamum, thanks for sharing. How are the YS magazines working out ?


Blobbi,

I bought 1 39 Series too! and it was a big hit with the customer. I'll have to get the rest of the series.

Discovery Box magazines are very good. It is just too expensive (to me) in Singapore. I borrow very worn copies from NLB whenever I can find them but they are super duper popular.

The first 2 days of school he read through quite a lot because there wasn't much work yet.

[jedamum]

EN:

So does your ds starts to enforce saving Gaia at home?

lolz, he is slowly becoming a hoarder...keeping boxes and plastic bottles, but dunno what he want to use it for; after nagging he cleared a bit only to find out that teachers needed some of such materials for Art and Craft; although he still do have some, he finds those boxes too 'nice' to be reused :roll:

Blobbi:

Since school started though, the reading has slowed down cos there seems to be very little time in the day :(. He needs to run and play with his friends in the condo, and then after that, sleep early. He reads before sleeping, but it's nowhere near the bulk reading time he had. Maybe it's good to balance him out actually. But haven't even started Chinese tuition yet, which is next week. Aiyo ...

Discovery Box that good? k, will go and check it out. didn't quite like to borrow magazines cos only 2 weeks loan period. don't think can renew too, right?
my boy has been reading for the past week cos i borrowed too many books from NLB (lunch time very free ma... :oops: ). not much homework too, so a good time to finish his pile of books.

cafelatte:

Jedamum, thanks for sharing. How are the YS magazines working out ?

yes, YG is very good. he has not finished the pile cos i am keeping them until those times when i am not free to go to the library.

[buds]

EN:

I did a quick run through on Murderous Maths and found no love. So never introduce it to him. Although I can say that without any extra help, he is very good in math but not the exceptional case. Does your son loves math in order to enjoy reading Murderous Maths?

jedamum:

Never tried Horrible Science.
I found no love in Murderous Maths (from NLB) too; i worry that my boy will murder me if i borrow the book for him .

You're killin' me with this one jedamum! :rotflmao:

jedamum:

Found http://www.amazon.com/Your-Planet-Needs-You-Survival/dp/0330450956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136127&sr=8-1 in NLB recently; my boy sat through 2-3hrs to finish it in one go; think he likes this 'genre' of science (saving Gaia). Another short and colourful book that he likes of the same 'genre' - http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Peril-Horrible-Geography-Handbooks/dp/1407105779/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263136289&sr=8-1

Mmmmm... this looks good. How's content? Heavy?

[buds]

jedamum:

lolz, he is slowly becoming a hoarder...keeping boxes and plastic bottles, but dunno what he want to use it for; after nagging he cleared a bit only to find out that teachers needed some of such materials for Art and Craft; although he still do have some, he finds those boxes too 'nice' to be reused :roll:

Same as mine. :roll:

jedamum:

Discovery Box that good? k, will go and check it out. didn't quite like to borrow magazines cos only 2 weeks loan period. don't think can renew too, right?

I oso dun like and prefer not to borrow magazines from library.
Mostly quite giam chye liao.

jedamum:

yes, YG is very good. he has not finished the pile cos i am keeping them until those times when i am not free to go to the library.

Yes, very good until that now i think must subscribe liao.
Just received a circular/brochure from DDs' school... dunno
whether cheaper than Popular anot... :idea:... Anyone knows?

[The Alternative Story]

Hi buds,


Usually for vendors who go to schools, they offer a cheaper subscription than what is found in bookstores. At least, that is what some of us as former teachers experienced.

By the way, another good magazine is eggplant. It is a magazine published by some of the IP schools. The stories are rather engaging, your child can also contribute articles and get paid if their articles get selected so it's quite a good tool to get your child excited about writing.

:lol:

TAS (The Alternative Story)

By the way, buds, I was wondering if you are in the education line, your posts are always informative and current.