All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[tamarind]

Dear all parents,

You may have heard of kids who learn to read very well at a young age, without the need of phonics. The fact is that these kids learn all the words by sight and memorized them. These are kids with excellent memory and a long attention span.

In the case of my boy, who does not have a good memory, and very short attention span, phonics is essential for him. Phonics gives him the technique to decode words, and for words that are not phonetic, he can at least read parts of it and that really helps him to remember the word.

The best part is that phonics has enabled him to learn spelling effortlessly :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/05/spelling.html

I know many parents make their kids write the same word 10 times to learn the spelling. I do not need to make my K2 boy do that. He knows how to spell the words with the help of phonics, there is no need to practice writing many times.

I only have to let him practice writing each word one time a day, because his hand writing is not good and needs to be trained. 2 days ago, after I let him practice his spelling words :
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

He wrote each word once. Then he asked to spell more words. I asked him to spell all the words in his spelling list over the next few weeks, and he was able to spell them correctly. Then he said that was not enough. I let him spell the words in my P1 girl's spelling list, and he can spell most of them too

The fact is that I never let him practice spelling. All I have done was to teach him phonics (which he has finished learning about one year ago), and let him read a few pages from a story book every day. Now he reads 500 - 1000 words in less than 15 mins every day, and he reads happily

From the experience of teaching my boy, phonics is really essential for kids like him who do not have a good memory, and have a very short attention span. Phonics does not only help in reading, it helps a lot in writing too. The fact is that knowing how to read is not enough, the child has to know how to write.

Even for kids like my older girl who has excellent memory and a very long attention span, phonics make learning to read and write so easy for her. Now at P1, she is able to put her ideas in compositions effortlessly She actually spent far less effort learning as compared to my boy, and she can spend most of her time playing.

As parents, we should teach kids the skills that will make learning easy for them, regardless of their abilities. http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html is the essential skill, and when taught together with http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html(using a reader like Peter and Jane), are the most effective methods.

There are many ways to learn phonics. The method in my http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html, which is basically using the Leapfrog DVDs or starfall.com and practicising more words, is the cheapest and the easiest. But believe me, this is all we need to know about phonics. Parents can also Letterland and Jolly phonics, but I think they cost more and are more complicated.

[siak]

Charmaine_chong:

Siak,

awesome!

May i know how you got your first child to read p&j? For DVD, any systematic way that you do it?

We need to create the path for them to be ready
Well said. When i was struggled helping my child last year, i was always asking myself how to get him ready.

Early stimulation by reading aloud to young tots help them on various of developments (love for books, speech, vocabulary, imagination....)

Hi Charmaine, my opinion and view is basically based on the my past experience, and i believe everyone's opinion is drawn mostly by its own encounter and experience. There is no fast rule and what works for me may not work for others.

I only have two daughters who in general are behaving well, though they are bickering and too active, but when comes to \"learning\" they are very interested and inquisitve. I have seen some kids (in music class with my girls) who don't bother at all, and they did their own things, and until i hv never seen them anymore for 1 -3 months. This could be the parents concluded that the kids are not interested and do not want to waste money. Anyway music is considered not as MUST, so parents can withdraw them. But reading is considered important, thus though they have difficulties they will perservere to introduce and explore till the kids grab them one day.

I only can provide my different views for my 2 girls. My elder, she started very late in phonics, this is after i read and join forum, and i realised how ignorant i was. Like most of us, I did not learn phonics in the past, and truly speaking I only knew phonics and learnt at the same time with my daugther :lol: We both love watching Leapfrog DVD, and I need to know phonics too so that I can guide her. Within 2 weeks, she mastered all the 26 letters and its sounds and that was her modal to begin with. Few months later, In July 2008 I started with her Glen Doman flash cards. You see, most parents start flash cards much ealier, but she was late again. But I said ...never mind, since i have younger one (then 18 mths) my investment in glenn doman program would be more worth it. Combined with her good memory (she has better memory compared with her younger sister) and her basic modal, she could pick up the blending of 3 letters. But to read simple sentences that took her about 6-8 months. I only gave her books like Red dog..(sorry forget the title), and only she can blend the sounds, I then bought the Peter and Jane books. I bought not in bulks, only she can complete 1 level i then bought the next level. This was also to motivate her. Initially she was so motivated to read P&J by herself. I must say i did not have problem to motivate her (with little good manipulation) she had self motivation. Half way thru, she was bored, cause I must admit P&J is quite boring, :lol:

You asked me how I got your first child to read p&j? I have no other method, my elder was easier, she is inquisitive and self motivated, and she likes books. My 2nd one, she is more difficult, but good thing is she has competitive spirit, whatever hse sister does she wants to do so. So when she saw her older sister was reading book, she also wanted to do so, this made me easier. But her memory is not as good as her elder sister.

For DVD, any systematic way that you do it?
No, just switch on the dvd and let them watch as much as they like, for the first month, they can watch at least 2 times daily. Till even now, they still love to watch Leapfrog dvd.

I am sorry if i dont help much.

My method is not a method, I don't have originality. :lol: There is no systematic way. But since young, i read story fairy tale books to them. And it becomes a habit for the elder that she has to read many many books before she sleeps, she HAS to read or me read for her everynight. Sometimes even I was too tired and ended up I fell asleep, she still insisted me reading for her. She loves planet and universe books. I bring her to library and let her pick her favourite books, and we will read the books over and over again. Sometimes she likes those picture books, it's ok, though she knows how to read lengthly pages, I don't want to restrict her from any kind of books. I remember my ex colleague commented that I might kill her interest in reading if I introduce lengthly pages for her to read at her age.

But I must say knowing phonics definitely facilitate my elder daughter in her reading ability, and it is accelerated. Now I can give her a new word, which she does not know and never hears before but she could try to spell it and 90% correct, this is because of phonics. Of course there are so many exceptions in phonics too, even us may not know it 100%, hayo....you ask many of us here still pronouce divorce as daivorse....or the other day my hubby and my daughter were arguing how to pronounce \"vineyard\", they insisted the righ one should be \"vain-yard\", i said ok ok...let's check, and it turned out to be vinyerd. :lol:

[tamarind]

siak,

Thanks for sharing. Your experience is actually quite similar to mine. Both my kids love the Leapfrog DVDs, and they still want to watch it now after 3 years. My older girl has a good foundation in phonics before she started the Peter and Jane series, she was very motivated to read them, and she loves the books even now. It was harder to make my younger boy to read the books, but it is no harder than to get him to finish his food or brush his teeth. It was just a matter of discipline.

Just to check, do your kids watch any other DVDs except Leapfrog ? These were the only DVDs we had for a long time. I only started to buy the Little Einsteins DVDs when my older girl was around 5 years old. That is why they asked for the Leapfrog DVDs everyday

[tamarind]

Dear all parents,

Take a look at this guide :

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w1nyHWTEh94/S25wgaTFTPI/AAAAAAAABjM/EPiywwQTaa4/s1600-h/ladybird.jpg

According to the guide, kids at 4 to 5 years old should be reading Key Words Level 1 and 2. Normally kids will progress to Levels 10 to 12 when they are over 8 years old. But of course every child is different, so if a child is progressing well, we should not hold them back.

The table is included in my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

[pea]

I really want to say thank you to Tamarind for her inspiring posts. They were a great starting point for my attempts to teach my boy phonics at home. However my boy (almost 3.5yrs old now) still struggles with phonics... He prefers to sight read and does not like to slow down to decode a new word using phonics. Just wants me to tell him what the word is, memorise it, and move on. So impatient :roll: .


Siak, are your girls in K1 and N2? So close in age, must be fun for them.

[tamarind]

pea:

I really want to say thank you to Tamarind for her inspiring posts. They were a great starting point for my attempts to teach my boy phonics at home. However my boy (almost 3.5yrs old now) still struggles with phonics... He prefers to sight read and does not like to slow down to decode a new word using phonics. Just wants me to tell him what the word is, memorise it, and move on. So impatient :roll: .


Siak, are your girls in K1 and N2? So close in age, must be fun for them.

pea,
You are welcome
There is no need to ask your boy to slow down to decode a new word using phonics if he does not like to. If he can remember it by sight, then let him read by sight. In fact, I do not ask my kids to decode the words in the Peter and Jane series at all

Kids may be able to read by learning sight words alone, but when it comes to spelling, they will need to put in a lot of effort if they don't know phonics.

Phonics helps not only in reading, it is also a very important skill to help a child to spell words.

My P1 girl has hanyu pinyin, english and maths spelling every week. Since she has a good foundation in phonics, she does not feel stressed at all.

You only have to make sure that he knows how to spell any 3 letter word by listening to the sounds. Also get him to understand the technique of blending 4 letter words like :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/bl-cl-gl-fl-pl.html

In fact, that is all that my boy knows about phonics. He does not really understand about the silent E. But that is good enough to make spelling so easy for him.

So long as you have practiced phonics sufficiently with your boy, he already knows the technique, and he is actually using the technique to help him remember new words even though he is not showing you

Phonics and sight words should be taught at the same time, and it is perfectly OK if kids like one method better than the other. Just make sure that they know both

[tamarind]

Dear all,

I went to my girl’s primary school to attend a talk about the Stellar program yesterday. Just to share :

The teachers are using big story books to teach. It is MOE directive that parents are not allowed to keep a copy of these books at home. I spoke to my girl’s teacher and she readily showed me the books in the classroom. The reading level of these books is only equivalent to Peter and Jane level 1 or 2. There is only one sentence on each page.

But each school can come up with their own workbooks. So depending on the school, the workbooks can have a higher degree of difficulty compared to the big story books that they used to each.

I think that if kids can read up to Peter and Jane book 5a and 5b fluently, then the child is already well prepared for P1. Unless the child goes to brand name schools that is known to set very difficult test papers.

Of course if the child is motivated and interested to read Peter and Jane, then we should certainly let them progress at their own rate.

[siak]

Siak, are your girls in K1 and N2? So close in age, must be fun for them. [/quote]


Yes, born in 2005 and 2006, so elder is now K1 and younger is in nursery (or N2 in childcare term). they always bicker in everything, they compete in everything too. Anything one wants to have, the other also wants to have, including fighting to have my right hand to hold their hand, die die...must be right hand. :lol:

Tamarind, I am not a systematic person, though I find systematic approach can produce a better result. May you share after P&J series, what is the next series that can be suitable for my elder daugther?

[siak]

tamarind:

siak,

Thanks for sharing. Your experience is actually quite similar to mine. Both my kids love the Leapfrog DVDs, and they still want to watch it now after 3 years. My older girl has a good foundation in phonics before she started the Peter and Jane series, she was very motivated to read them, and she loves the books even now. It was harder to make my younger boy to read the books, but it is no harder than to get him to finish his food or brush his teeth. It was just a matter of discipline.

Just to check, do your kids watch any other DVDs except Leapfrog ? These were the only DVDs we had for a long time. I only started to buy the Little Einsteins DVDs when my older girl was around 5 years old. That is why they asked for the Leapfrog DVDs everyday

Dunno if 2nd child is more difficult to control and stubborn or...... :?
My 2nd child is like that, it's harder to make her to drink water, to finish food, to read books, ....and her favourite answer is wait first. :x

I don't invest much in DVD, except Leapfrog dvd (5 sets) that I bought from Amazon, However we subscribe to Playhouse disney since the elder was 2 year plus. I do not restrict them to watch only certain programs, they love all kinds, like Word World, Little Einstein, Dibo, Mickey Mouse, JoJo the circus, Animal Mechanical....and plenty more. Despite these more interesting shows, they still love phonics - Leapfrog DVD

[tamarind]

siak:

Dunno if 2nd child is more difficult to control and stubborn or...... :?
My 2nd child is like that, it's harder to make her to drink water, to finish food, to read books, ....and her favourite answer is wait first. :x

I don't invest much in DVD, except Leapfrog dvd (5 sets) that I bought from Amazon, However we subscribe to Playhouse disney since the elder was 2 year plus. I do not restrict them to watch only certain programs, they love all kinds, like Word World, Little Einstein, Dibo, Mickey Mouse, JoJo the circus, Animal Mechanical....and plenty more. Despite these more interesting shows, they still love phonics - Leapfrog DVD

siak,
At 3 years old my boy did not even say wait first, he just kept running away when we tried to get him to eat his meal, drink water, etc, or simply refused to open his mouth

OK I was just wondering if my kids like the Leapfrog DVDs because they didn't have any other choices