On Reading

[tankee]

and story books based on toys, games and movies that he likes.

[jesschan]

When my DS1 was in K2, he was very strong in phonics. But he didn’t like reading because even though he could read out many words, he didn’t understand the meaning. Then my husband bought him a Gameboy and he began to learn to read because he needed to understand the instructions in order to play the games! Once he gained confidence in reading, the rest was easy.

[metz]

smurf:

HI Poonie,



I used my bestest expression to make the story nice, and even raise my voie and different voices for different characters. guess what? he walks away. :oops:

imagine read barely 2 sentences and the boy just walk away. so paiseh...

he just not keen in reading...BTW, he is 5 now...

I think if he is not keen in reading, even if he can read also no use...


make my job very difficult leh!

Thanks Buds for your encouragement. I also very lazy lately...hee... :oops:

Hi smurf,

Hope things are more settled for you at home.

Have you tried out any of the above generous sharing by the various forumers? I do adopt some of them time to time too. Enticing my kids to read with interesting books is my favourite strategy.

Okie, how about trying this - read to your younger son when your elder boy is around? Make sure it's fun and that both of you enjoy the reading sessions. Perhaps when your elder one sees the fun that his younger brother is having, he might be drawn to sit down and listen to you.

Sometimes the more I want my kids to do something, the more rebellious they become. But reverse psychology often works well for me.

[metz]

mummy of 2:

Thanks buds and chamonix for your encouraging words. I also picked up reading through sight reading. But I hope to make it easier for them by teaching them phonics at the same time. This is one aspect I lacked when I was learning to read. True that there is more than one way to learn to read. Being kiasu, I guess it helps to try as many different ways as possible


At the end of the day, it is more important to cultivate the love for reading and learning. Techniques and skills can be improved over time. But if there is no interest or motivation, then no technique or skill is going to get your child to pick up a book voluntarily.

Hi mummy of 2,

I'm no educator and my kids are the only two young \"students\" I ever have, so no much experience to share lah.:P But I must say the ability to read is a magical one. Your son may not read today but he may surprise you by rattling off a newspaper article next week. So in the meantime, just do your best to read to them and guide them along.

For phonics, it's good to read up on them. Any additional knowledge is definitely useful. For myself, I use phonics to enhance my kids' reading experience. No structured phonics lessons for us but along the way (in fact, we use different books all the time), I'll point out and share with them what I learnt. For eg. the word \"know\", I use letterland to explain why 'k' is not voiced, because Noisy Nick is too noisy and so Kicking King kept quiet. In that way, they can pick up something even without much real teaching.

[smurf]

Hi Chamonix,


hmm...more difficult leh...I tried many times to read to him...even point to the words, with and without...the younger one even worse, no patience at all...after 10 sec, he runs off...

I bought those big big pictures, he is drawn to the picture, but after less than 5 mins, he runs off...

[smurf]

jesschan:

When my DS1 was in K2, he was very strong in phonics. But he didn't like reading because even though he could read out many words, he didn't understand the meaning. Then my husband bought him a Gameboy and he began to learn to read because he needed to understand the instructions in order to play the games! Once he gained confidence in reading, the rest was easy.

is your DS áddicted' to game? I try to avoid giving him game cos children get addicted easily...

I think he doesn't understand what he is reading, I can tell that when he reads, he has difficulty understanding, and the way he reads is not fluent (if u know what I mean)...he would read 1 or 2 words and then pause for 2 sec and then reads 2-3 words again and then pause...if he is not reading fluently and smoothly, I doubt he understands...

but when asked what is the meaning of the word, he can answer, only when it is put into sentence (many sentences), then he wouldn't understand. :?

[metz]

Hi smurf,


Oops, that sounds very stressful for you. How about taking a break from reading and teaching? Focus on something that you and your son enjoy doing. When things are more settled, then re-introduce reading? Otherwise, a stressful mommy will lead to more stressful situations.

[smurf]

Hi Chamonix,


you are right. I'm very stress up. especially, when I read from some threads, this kid can do this that kid can do that...wow...

my boy told me he doesn't want to go sch...I dun think it has anything to do with the sch...it is just his nature that he hates going to sch...so even if I change sch, also no point...

honestly, I dunno what he enjoy doing...aparts from playing computer or handheld game...

I tried drawing, bought him art and craft papers and such, he just scribble a while and then threw it aside...bought toys for him, play a while threw it aside...bought this bought that, he doesn't have loooong attention span, so anything that needs to read instruction, he will destroy them, he will be trying to DISMANTLE them instead of playing with them (er, you know what I mean?)

recently I bought a ATM saving machine for him, he saw me using screw dirver to put batteries, and then, after that, he also do the same thing. instead of playing with it, he open it up. :frustrated:


sometimes he will ask me,'mum, what can I do now?'

I told him,'you can read book if you want.'

I tried reading to him, he will look elsewhere...look up and down, anywhere, except the book. :x

can 1 lor.

[Funz]

smurf:

Hi Chamonix,


you are right. I'm very stress up. especially, when I read from some threads, this kid can do this that kid can do that...wow...

my boy told me he doesn't want to go sch...I dun think it has anything to do with the sch...it is just his nature that he hates going to sch...so even if I change sch, also no point...

honestly, I dunno what he enjoy doing...aparts from playing computer or handheld game...

I tried drawing, bought him art and craft papers and such, he just scribble a while and then threw it aside...bought toys for him, play a while threw it aside...bought this bought that, he doesn't have loooong attention span, so anything that needs to read instruction, he will destroy them, he will be trying to DISMANTLE them instead of playing with them (er, you know what I mean?)

recently I bought a ATM saving machine for him, he saw me using screw dirver to put batteries, and then, after that, he also do the same thing. instead of playing with it, he open it up. :frustrated:


sometimes he will ask me,'mum, what can I do now?'

I told him,'you can read book if you want.'

I tried reading to him, he will look elsewhere...look up and down, anywhere, except the book. :x

can 1 lor.

Smurf, I for one feel that computer and electronic games and even educational games shorten children's attention span.

Dismantling toys is part of playing for kids. It shows that he has an innate curiousity about how things are put together or rather what is inside the item. Yes many a times they dismantle and that's it, as they are unable to put it back together again. Try getting him stuff that requires assembling, eg, light experiment sets where he needs to put together batteries, etc to see it light up. Or basic robotics stuff. Of course with such stuff he will require you or your DH to guide him. Read instructions together with him, hopefully he will pick up more reading skills like this.

[ChiefKiasu]

Funz:

... Dismantling toys is part of playing for kids. It shows that he has an innate curiousity about how things are put together or rather what is inside the item. Yes many a times they dismantle and that's it, as they are unable to put it back together again. Try getting him stuff that requires assembling, eg, light experiment sets where he needs to put together batteries, etc to see it light up. Or basic robotics stuff. Of course with such stuff he will require you or your DH to guide him. Read instructions together with him, hopefully he will pick up more reading skills like this.

Yes... dismantling stuff was what I loved to do as a kid too. Took apart my dad's pocket radio to find out who's inside. Couldn't put it back and I quickly found out what my buttocks were for. I also took the family iron apart to find out how it got hot and how the thermostat worked - I was able to put that one back together so my dad was none the wiser. I would have taken my mum's sewing machine apart too, if not for the fact that she was always around.

I would take dismantling or \"destroying\" stuff a good sign of natural born curiosity to figure out how things work.