All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[tamarind]

Funz,

There are systematic and effective methods to teach a child to read very quickly. My girl could not read any word at 3 years 8 months, even though I have read books to her since she was a baby (not very diligently though) and we speak English at home. By learning phonics and reading the Ladybird Peter and Jane series, she learned at an amazing speed. She was able to read Charlotte’s Web (about 200 words a page) before she turned 5 years old, and she understood what she was reading very well too.

You are right about exposing to the language, but exactly how to do so ? It is easy to say so, but many parents have no idea how to do it. They can read hundreds of books to the child, but he may not be paying attention at all, and if he is not looking at the words, he is not going to learn how to read.

You are also right that the child has to be ready. I wrote earlier that parents should just establish a routine and teach for a short period of time everyday. It does not matter how fast the child can learn. In fact my son took many weeks to learn the same thing. We should just let the child progress at his own speed.

[tamarind]

[quote]
Not many parents love to share their experiences but only to seek help. Sorry i am very straight forward sometimes. [/quote]Charmaine,
You are welcome and don't need to say you are sorry I know all along that you are trying to do your best for your kids

Yes I have heard of parents (not in this thread) who said that their kids know how to read very thick books at 3 or 4 years old, but all they said was that the child \"just know how to read\" and it's like they did nothing to help. That is not very helpful to mommies with kids who need to be taught, like mine.

You are absolutely right that parents should start to read to kids since birth.

As soon as the child is ready, we should teach him to read out loud. Once a child can read effortlessly, he will naturally love to read. It is also very important for parents to look for good books that will interest the kids.

[Funz]

Hi Charmaine,


I get you. I am not saying don’t read or don’t bother. In fact I encourage reading to kids. I for one started reading to my kids when they were 4mths old.

And I for one will say the though Phonics is a popular method for teaching reading, it is not the only method. My kids too do not respond well to phonics and it initially confuses them. But I still expose them to Phonics. One never know, they may not be able to apply it fully now but further down they may reach into that memory bank and use that knowledge.

Though I do not think you fall in that category, but I see more and more parents coming to us worrying about their children’s ability to read and write and add and subtract. Whereas in the past, parents start panicking when the kids are in 2nd half of K2, these days, parents at the start of N1 come to us worried that the kid cannot recognise words, citing examples of fren’s kids who can while theirs cannot.

I just cannot stress enough those that can read at such an early age is an exception, not the norm. But with parents pushing for such expectations, my fear is it will become a norm and those who cannot be labelled slow.

[hquek]

hi Funz,


I get your message. DS1 is a joy to read to, and he's learnt to read by himself (on schedule since he's 5+). DS2 runs away very fast when the book is opened.

DS1 didn't require me to revise his chinese enrichment materials and he still knew his stuff. On the other hand, I have been sitting for weeks and weeks reading the same stuff to DS2...and he still dunno how to read. :stupid: :stupid: :stupid:

All kids are different even if factory is the same. I shall pray for patience and understanding - someday I hope he can see the light and love books as DS1 and me do. Till then, I shall remain...

[hquek]

With the passage of time, I can wisely (according to my standards lah) say that whilst phonics is a good method - if mastered can allow a child to close 2 eyes and still get perfect spelling; not all kids will get it. My friend’s kid didn’t attend any formal phonics class, yet he can piece the word together to figure how it sounds…at age 3.


BUT, reality prevails. DS1 is hopeless at blending words and refuses to think how the words come together. Yet, through constant reading (of varied types), I’m comfortable with his grasp of English at this time.

Through this, I learn first hand that kids will learn in their own way and in their own time. And if he isn’t prepared to go solo, I’ll be there to hold his hand until he is.

Am very impressed by what the other parents are doing…it’s a joy and inspiration to read all these contributions…

[Charmaine_chong]

Hi Hquek,


My son (borned in Mar06) didn't want to read after me everytime i took a book out to encourage him to read for last whole year.

Thing changed after he has attended 4 lessons of lapbooking by a blogger-Shirley. She appeared in Jan10 Young Parents Magazine.

http://www.domesticgoddess-ourworldmyworld.blogspot.com/

She is the best teacher i ever met myself so far. I sat through the class with my son and had learnt a lot from her. She is very generous to share her parenting tips and it is really really useful. Very impressive.

During the lesson, my son always answered nonsense when she posted him a question but it does have positive influence on him later on.

He is keen to read out road sign and P&J as well as starting to ask me question since then. This never happen before.

I do not know how to put it in writing. You have to see it yourself. And honestly it is really beneficial.

Eg: When she reads Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, she reads with annotation, train children's memory what animal come next, get the child to look at the picture of spider at front page to see how details a child is. Get the child to touch the book..... a lot more.

I know good teacher doesn't easy to come by. I am simply sharing with parents what i find worth to share.

[tamarind]

I never learned phonics when I was a child. My parents only knew how to speak Cantonese and they could never read any English book to me. I could not even read Charlotte's Web at 13 years old, there are so many words that I don't know how to read. I can only read English fluently only when I was over 16 years old. That's why I think that if kids are left on their own, most kids will probably end up like me.


My boy's learning ability is only average, he needs many repetitions to learn new words. He really amazes that he can read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fluently at 5 years old. (I read this book when I was over 20 years old) I firmly believe that if parents can find the right teaching methods to suit their kids, every child who is of average and above ability, can be taught to read books like those written by Roald Dahl before they turn 6 years old.

The key is to understand what are the effective methods. The most effective way to teach a child to read is to learn phonics and sight words at the same time :

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

Parents who do not know phonics, can easily learn it by watching the 3 Leapfrog DVDs

The next important thing, is to know how to attract your child's attention, and motivate him to learn. This is the most difficult part. Every child is different, so parents have to figure out what is the best way to motivate him.

In the case of my boy, establishing a routine to read books really helps. It becomes a habit like brushing teeth. He knows that he has to read everyday, so he might as well finish it quickly so he can do other things Now he is truly enjoying the benefits of being able to read independently.

[tamarind]

Charmaine,

Thanks for sharing. I have read her blog too. Yes she is a very good teacher.

May I ask how much did you pay for the classes ?

May I suggest that you post about this blog in this thread ?
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=584&start=430

I am sure that mommies reading that thread will be very interested to know about this class.

[tamarind]

hquek:

With the passage of time, I can wisely (according to my standards lah) say that whilst phonics is a good method - if mastered can allow a child to close 2 eyes and still get perfect spelling; not all kids will get it. My friend's kid didn't attend any formal phonics class, yet he can piece the word together to figure how it sounds...at age 3.


BUT, reality prevails. DS1 is hopeless at blending words and refuses to think how the words come together. Yet, through constant reading (of varied types), I'm comfortable with his grasp of English at this time.

Through this, I learn first hand that kids will learn in their own way and in their own time. And if he isn't prepared to go solo, I'll be there to hold his hand until he is.

Am very impressed by what the other parents are doing....it's a joy and inspiration to read all these contributions....

Phonics is actually just a technique of sounding out the words. I wrote before that it is not rocket science, and we don't need to find an expert to teach it. Kids and even adults who has read enough books, actually know the techniques of phonics even though we never attend any classes. Phonics is simply a way of figuring out how to read a word by using the sounds of the letters. Very smart kids can figure out on their own. I figured it out only when I was about 16 years old

[dimsum]

Charmaine_chong:

Thing changed after he has attended 4 lessons of lapbooking by a blogger-Shirley. She appeared in Jan10 Young Parents Magazine.

http://www.domesticgoddess-ourworldmyworld.blogspot.com/

She is the best teacher i ever met myself so far. I sat through the class with my son and had learnt a lot from her. She is very generous to share her parenting tips and it is really really useful. Very impressive.

During the lesson, my son always answered nonsense when she posted him a question but it does have positive influence on him later on.

He is keen to read out road sign and P&J as well as starting to ask me question since then. This never happen before.

I do not know how to put it in writing. You have to see it yourself. And honestly it is really beneficial.

Eg: When she reads Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, she reads with annotation, train children's memory what animal come next, get the child to look at the picture of spider at front page to see how details a child is. Get the child to touch the book..... a lot more.

I know good teacher doesn't easy to come by. I am simply sharing with parents what i find worth to share.

Charmaine, I am an active reader of her blog lately. She's an amazing mummy who could do SO MUCH with her 2 boys. Lotsa great ideas/activities that she shared on the blog. Sorry Tamarind, OT.