All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[tamarind]

Hifive:

Hi tamarind


I've bought the Leapfrog DVD for my ds2. He enjoyed it! It took me quite a while to teach him the phonics sound of a, b and c myself. But by watching the DVD, he was able to give the sound of each alphabet in less than 2 weeks, wow very amazing! Thank you very much for your advice. Really very impress with your teaching method.

Hifive,
You are welcome

The Leapfrog DVDs are indeed excellent for teaching phonics. In fact, the following 3 DVDs are all we need to teach phonics :

Letter Factory
Talking Words Factory
Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper

I let my boy watch these DVDs regularly (actually he ask to watch them), and I also let him practice many other words :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

as well as the Ladybird series :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

This is so much better than attending any phonics enrichment classes The results are amazing, now at 5 years 4 months old, he has already finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, and he is now reading the original Wizard of Oz. He can also spell very easily because of his strong foundation in phonics. In fact, I realized that he is better in phonics compared to my older girl at the same age. My girl attended Montessori phonics class when she was 4 years old.

So it is definitely possible to teach phonics at home, and the results can be so much better compared to enrichment classes Even for adults who do not know any phonics, you can learn simply by watching the 3 Leapfrog DVDs !

[tamarind]

RAchelmum:

For the long vowels, advanced blends, digraphs, silent e etc,

I highly recommend Rock ’N Learn Phonics DVD as a follow-up after the Leapfrog fundamental series.

http://www.rocknlearn.com/html/phonics.htm

Available from ebay, amazon or direct fr this web merchant.
:celebrate:

Hi Rachelmum,
I have this DVD too ! But I actually forgot about it and have not shown it to my kids. They don't need it now

[BigDevil]

tamarind:

RAchelmum:

For the long vowels, advanced blends, digraphs, silent e etc,

I highly recommend Rock ’N Learn Phonics DVD as a follow-up after the Leapfrog fundamental series.

http://www.rocknlearn.com/html/phonics.htm

Available from ebay, amazon or direct fr this web merchant.
:celebrate:

Hi Rachelmum,
I have this DVD too ! But I actually forgot about it and have not shown it to my kids. They don't need it now

:idea: Sell it to me??

[tamarind]

BigDevil:

:idea: Sell it to me??

OK please PM me if you are interested.

[Charmaine_chong]

Hi Tamarind,


My son has been attending MMI weekly phonics class (1 to 1 teaching) since 3 weeks ago. He doesn’t like it and often ended with crying. I have hard time to revise with him at home too.

He doesn’t like to learn the phonics way no matter how hard i tried. But he seems very keen to read few pages of P&J daily. He will be finishing reading book 1b this week.

I agree with you that phonics does help a lot to speed up a child’s reading ability. But for him, it is not. He doesn;t like it.

I think i will stop him for phonics and observe his progress.

[buds]

Dear Charmaine, one to one is supposed to make your son

learn faster than those children learning in groups. It is sad
that he is not able to click. Yes, do continue with P & J for
the sight words exposure and also provide and read to him
books of other genres that interest him. Reading is only one
of the activities he can learn. Mebbe introducing other stuff
and even outdoor play will take his mind off the serious stuff
and get him interested in reading later on.. jia-you.

[hquek]

hi Charmaine,


If your child is crying and resisting, it could be better to stop it…rather than build resistance. My DS1 didn’t attend any formal phonics classes (he’s in ICL - but they don’t really do phonics), and he’s able and happy to read by himself (now going 6 y/o). Spelling also not big problem for him. I think kids will learn in their own special way.

BTW, my friend’s kid even better. He doesn’t attend phonics or any enrichment class, but mummy make sure he has access to loads of books. At a young age, he could break up the words and read them bit by bit (without anyone prompting him).

It’s good that he’s keen on reading P&J, keep it up…I believe that reading loads IS the key.

[tamarind]

Charmaine_chong:

Hi Tamarind,


My son has been attending MMI weekly phonics class (1 to 1 teaching) since 3 weeks ago. He doesn't like it and often ended with crying. I have hard time to revise with him at home too.

He doesn't like to learn the phonics way no matter how hard i tried. But he seems very keen to read few pages of P&J daily. He will be finishing reading book 1b this week.

I agree with you that phonics does help a lot to speed up a child's reading ability. But for him, it is not. He doesn;t like it.

I think i will stop him for phonics and observe his progress.

Charmaine,
My girl attended the MMI phonics class when she was 4 years old, it is worksheet based where the child sits down for one hour to learn. My girl liked this style of learning, but I know that it is not suitable for every child.

Actually I feel that watching the 3 Leapfrog DVDs :
Letter Factory
Talking Words Factory
Talking Words Factory 2

are sufficient for a child to know the basics of phonics. Does he mind watching these DVDs ? If he does not mind, just let him watch them regularly, it will slowly sink in.

Also let him try http://www.starfall.com. My kids love the website.

It is great that he does not mind the Peter and Jane series now. Do persist in getting him to read every day, do not repeat the pages, just keep moving on.

[Charmaine_chong]

Hi Bud,


The teachers there are nice, caring and constantly give feedback about children’s progress.

The phonics lesson are taught based on worksheets, no fun activities, no break, no picture to show the words.

They sit on the floor and the lessons begin by getting my son to blend words by words, page by page for the entire one hour. He hates it.

This method does not suitable for children who is very active like my son. His form teacher in PAP also commented that he is very active in school. Luckily he still listen to teacher.

Hi Tamarind,

Sadly my son doesn’t like Leapfrog too. I do expose him few times a month.

He has his own interest and easily lose interest. I am happy enough since he get hooked on P&J.

Hi Hquek,

I feedback to the MMI principal about my concern and told her that i would like to stop the lesson. The principal advise that i shall let him continue. I think otherwise.

I will stop the lesson since he has no interest. Like BUDS said, phonics is only one of the approach to get child to read.

Thanks ladies. I shall continue to read to him loads of books and slowly encourage him to read after me for other books.

At the moment he is only willing to read P&J himself.

[buds]

Charmaine_chong:

Hi Bud,


The teachers there are nice, caring and constantly give feedback about children's progress.

That's good to know. :hugs:

Charmaine_chong:

The phonics lesson are taught based on worksheets, no fun activities, no break, no picture to show the words.

Really? :!:

They don't use any materials? :?

Charmaine_chong:

They sit on the floor and the lessons begin by getting my son to blend words by words, page by page for the entire one hour. He hates it.

Honestly... i'd dislike it too.

That said however, there is no need for educators to be 100% technical
with the delivery. It is truly up to/depending on the individual person to
expand on the idea of the technicalities of the method using her own
creativity.... to encourage the learning possibilities.

That's why, each time when i get questions on how good a centre is or
how effective a method is... the answer is really subjective. It truly
depends on how effective an educator is with her delivery... how
passionate she is to encourage creativity and out of the box
moments for children under her care.

Like tamarind always says, parents can do it too. If you'd only try.
Even if it is just a mere 10mins to 15mins... honestly, that really is
all you need to begin the marathon. Learning is not a sprint. It is a
marathon... and a lifelong journey. Even i as a parent & an educator
still have lots to learn from new things, from others, from experiences
and definitely from life itself. Learning keeps us stimulated... keeps us
engaged/occupied... keeps us alert... keeps us updated and relevant too.

And there are those times when we also observe and learn from our
children. Pick up on their childlike vibes and learn to listen to them...
If we listen hard enough, we can feel what they're really telling us or
trying to tell us.

For me, I cannot teach with 100% paperwork. :shock:

I would die!

Too dry..

Charmaine_chong:

This method does not suitable for children who is very active like my son. His form teacher in PAP also commented that he is very active in school. Luckily he still listen to teacher.

That's another good thing to know too!

Charmaine_chong:

Thanks ladies. I shall continue to read to him loads of books and slowly encourage him to read after me for other books.

:rahrah: :ugogirl: :rahrah:

I'm behind you on this one all the way. :celebrate:

Charmaine_chong:

At the moment he is only willing to read P&J himself.

This is an extremely BIG achievement in itself Charmaine.
Both your boy and yourself went through a very big hurdle..
A stressful one at that too... just to get here to this day. Be happy
for that. It is a fantastic inspiration to spur you on... your boy will
flourish under your patience, guidance and relentless efforts. :hugs: