All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[metz]

clare:

Mums and dads, i'd like to ask how long, in general, does it take for kids to master reading well silently?

How do you define 'reading well silently'?

My ds started silent reading on his own before 4, starting from simple chapter books. I still remember he read The Bears at Hemlock Mountain by himself quietly at 3.5 yo. We were vacationing on a snow mountain then

But honestly, at preschooler age, I think it's still far more beneficial for parents to read to the kids than having them read aloud long lengthy books. For me, I allow my ds the freedom to pick any books he like. However, I would still LIKE (meaning I haven't been doing so as often as I should :oops:) to read aloud to them for as long as possible.

[Picolo]

clare:

Good to know! By the way, are these like the CLIPs type of books?

Also, is Lingzi a bookstore we can browse at, or the distributor?

No, these should be far better than the CLIPS books. I don't have much impression of the CLIPS books; I think they are locally produced and very dull.

On Lingzi Tam. has explained.

[Picolo]

clare:

Good to know! By the way, are these like the CLIPs type of books?

Also, is Lingzi a bookstore we can browse at, or the distributor?

No, these should be far better than the CLIPS books. I don't have much impression of the CLIPS books; I think they are locally produced and very dull.

[metz]

Thanks Picolo & hquek! You mommies just reminded me of my resolution to work on Chinese with the kids.


For those award winning books available at Maha Yu-Yi, try to look out for them during book sales. I got a few of them at $7 each during one of the book sales.

[tamarind]

clare:

That got me thinking and I remember I used to want to be Laura, of The Little House on the Prarie, and Sara from The Little Princess. Such interesting times they had!
Incidentally, I think these are lovely books for girls to read, it's a pity they don't seem to be very popular these days.... My friends' little girls think I've lost my mind when I suggest they read these. They prefer stories such as Pixie Tricks instead, hmmm.

I think little house on the prairie and little princess are great books for little girls ! I do not understand why parents think that such children's classics are old fashioned. We are all made to study Shakespeare in secondary school, right ? Isnt' that even older ?

Picolo,
I went to Lingzi and bought 小房子, 花婆婆, 是谁嗯嗯在我的头上, these are wonderful books ! I realized that they are chinese translations of english/german books. 是谁嗯嗯在我的头上 was originally written in German, the english translations are called \"The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit \", or \"The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business\". I think the chinese translation is the best :lol:

I love the book 花婆婆, it is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I am going to order the original english book from amazon.com. I am buying it for myself rather than the kids I love picture books. However, it is not cheap from Lingzi. Each book costs SGD 12.00. It is selling at only RMB 23++ from dangdang.com. I think I will try ordering direct from the website when I want to get more books.

I am looking for good chinese picture books about traditional chinese stories, like 愚公移山， stories about great men like 張良， etc, which teach about perseverance and humility. These qualities are often missing from children's books written by westerners. When I was young, I used to read these books in the library, and I remember the lessons learnt even now. For example, the story of 孟母三迁, is especially important to me since I am a mother now. I have let my kids read books about 铁棒磨成针, 孔融让梨, 司马光, 花木兰, 岳飞, 二十四孝 all of which are very important in building good character. I hope to be able to find more of these books !

[tamarind]

clare:

chamonix:

How do you define 'reading well silently'?

My ds started silent reading on his own before 4, starting from simple chapter books. I still remember he read The Bears at Hemlock Mountain by himself quietly at 3.5 yo. We were vacationing on a snow mountain then

But honestly, at preschooler age, I think it's still far more beneficial for parents to read to the kids than having them read aloud long lengthy books.

Hiya chamonix
Er, I was referring to 'well' as in not missing out words or even whole sentences, cos when my ds is in a rush to get to the next page he tends to skip sentences that are boring to him.. It's faster for him to read silently but I want to know that he's reading the words correctly.

chamonix:

But honestly, at preschooler age, I think it's still far more beneficial for parents to read to the kids than having them read aloud long lengthy books.

Absolutely! I can't agree more. Actually I prefer to read to them cos I'm so much faster; can cram more pages in before time's up and I have to get housework done etc

My kids learn and remember new words better when they read aloud. If I read to them, and if it is not interesting, they may be thinking about something else and not absorbing anything.

I also want to make sure that they are interpreting the books correctly. For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, the family only had cabbage soup everyday. Charlie was not growing due to malnutrition. A 4 or 5 year old child may be able to read every word on the book, but she may not be able to understand why the family had so little to eat. The young reader may not have to worry about food at all, so she may think that the family had done something wrong, that's why they are starving. It is important to explain to her, as she reads the book, that even though a person works very hard, he may still not be able to earn enough to support the family, and it is not because he had done something wrong.

Even in the little house on the prairie, as an adult, I sensed certain racism against the native Indians : \"The only good Indian is a dead Indian\". Adults know that racism is wrong, and the native Indians were aggressive towards the white people, because the white people exploited them. But I don't expect a very young child to be able to understand all that history, so we must explain to her.

[metz]

tamarind:

I also want to make sure that they are interpreting the books correctly. For example, in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, the family only had cabbage soup everyday. Charlie was not growing due to malnutrition. A 4 or 5 year old child may be able to read every word on the book, but she may not be able to understand why the family had so little to eat. The young reader may not have to worry about food at all, so she may think that the family had done something wrong, that's why they are starving. It is important to explain to her, as she reads the book, that even though a person works very hard, he may still not be able to earn enough to support the family, and it is not because he had done something wrong.

Even in the little house on the prairie, as an adult, I sensed certain racism against the native Indians : \"The only good Indian is a dead Indian\". Adults know that racism is wrong, and the native Indians were aggressive towards the white people, because the white people exploited them. But I don't expect a very young child to be able to understand all that history, so we must explain to her.

Exactly the reason why I think it's more beneficial for adults to read-aloud.

Reading aloud involves so much more than merely vocalizing what is printed. The pace it is read at, the intonation etc also play an important part in helping the kids relate to the story better.

If a child is able to do more than just vocalizing the print with ease, ie able to read with intonation etc, then getting them to read aloud will definitely be beneficial. But if a child is reading in a monotonous tone or slow pace, then perhaps it's an indication that the child may not be ready for the material he/she is reading. All in all, I read somewhere that getting the kids to read aloud may have some negative impact as the attention of the kids are drawn to vocalize the print, and that slows down the speed at which the brain process the information or content they are reading. My 3.5 yo is interested in reading Magic School Bus chapter books aloud to me. However, I'm not sure it's wise to encourage her do it as my objective in reading is more than getting her to read the words aloud.

Having said the above, getting kids to read aloud is still important. But instead of lengthy books, the kids can do shorter passages or even poems.

I was also once at the crossroad where I wasn't uncomfortable with my ds reading lengthy books silently. Similar concerns - vocabulary, correct pronunciation etc. Fortunately, my ds does not have the problem of skipping sentences or words (used to, but he tries to decipher them after I taught him how) However, I realise it boils down to my own expectations and objectives. For me, reading silently has its own advantages as well. Just my 2 cents.

[Picolo]

tamarind:

Picolo,
I went to Lingzi and bought 小房子, 花婆婆, 是谁嗯嗯在我的头上, these are wonderful books ! I realized that they are chinese translations of english/german books. 是谁嗯嗯在我的头上 was originally written in German, the english translations are called \"The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit \", or \"The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business\". I think the chinese translation is the best :lol:

I love the book 花婆婆, it is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I am going to order the original english book from amazon.com. I am buying it for myself rather than the kids I love picture books. However, it is not cheap from Lingzi. Each book costs SGD 12.00. It is selling at only RMB 23++ from dangdang.com. I think I will try ordering direct from the website when I want to get more books.

I am looking for good chinese picture books about traditional chinese stories, like 愚公移山， stories about great men like 張良， etc, which teach about perseverance and humility. These qualities are often missing from children's books written by westerners. When I was young, I used to read these books in the library, and I remember the lessons learnt even now. For example, the story of 孟母三迁, is especially important to me since I am a mother now. I have let my kids read books about 铁棒磨成针, 孔融让梨, 司马光, 花木兰, 岳飞, 二十四孝 all of which are very important in building good character. I hope to be able to find more of these books !

Yes, sometimes, I feel that these translated picture books are written for adults! I particularly enjoy the Japanese-translated 鸡蛋哥哥; I feel that it is written for me, a mummy of DS2 who is somewhat immature. The author (a father) wrote it for his son.


(from http://www.xiaobeike.com/shop/book.asp?id=3656)
内容简介:
这是一本非常可爱的书,鸡蛋哥哥是一个不愿长大的小鸡,他希望自己一直是一只鸡蛋而不是一只鸡,因为他觉得做一个鸡蛋比一只鸡好,做鸡蛋可以一直让妈妈抱,可以犯了错误也不会给人责备,因为他还小嘛,只是一只小小地鸡蛋,还可以浮在水面上,躲在别人的鼻孔里……但有一天他的蛋壳终于破...


作者简介：
秋山匡，出生于日本东京。毕业于东京艺术大学设计系。作品《快睡吧》荣获1995年日本绘本大奖。其他作品有“鸡蛋哥哥”系列、《小宝宝的邮局》等。

I'm not sure if the dingdang webstore does overseas shipment, if it does, you may have to pay a lot for the shipping costs. Alternatively, you can email to Yu Dan at [email protected] for Chinese book order. She uses a better exchange rate compared to Lingzi and Maha. Quote my nick and you should be able to get a discount. Yudan is not in Singapore currently and so she can only respond to emails next week onwards.

I also like the traditional chinese story books that teach traditional values and character building, but I can't find any with appealing prints. I did come across a VCD animation with this theme. It's good, but I can't remember its name.

[metz]

tamarind:

If I read to them, and if it is not interesting, they may be thinking about something else and not absorbing anything.

My kids do have this problem at times, especially when the two are sitting together. They tend to distract each other What I normally do is to stop and discuss about the story after every chapter. Another way is to ask them questions about the story.

[tamarind]

chamonix:

Exactly the reason why I think it's more beneficial for adults to read-aloud.

Reading aloud involves so much more than merely vocalizing what is printed. The pace it is read at, the intonation etc also play an important part in helping the kids relate to the story better.

If a child is able to do more than just vocalizing the print with ease, ie able to read with intonation etc, then getting them to read aloud will definitely be beneficial. But if a child is reading in a monotonous tone or slow pace, then perhaps it's an indication that the child may not be ready for the material he/she is reading. All in all, I read somewhere that getting the kids to read aloud may have some negative impact as the attention of the kids are drawn to vocalize the print, and that slows down the speed at which the brain process the information or content they are reading. My 3.5 yo is interested in reading Magic School Bus chapter books aloud to me. However, I'm not sure it's wise to encourage her do it as my objective in reading is more than getting her to read the words aloud.

Having said the above, getting kids to read aloud is still important. But instead of lengthy books, the kids can do shorter passages or even poems.

I was also once at the crossroad where I wasn't uncomfortable with my ds reading lengthy books silently. Similar concerns - vocabulary, correct pronunciation etc. Fortunately, my ds does not have the problem of skipping sentences or words (used to, but he tries to decipher them after I taught him how) However, I realise it boils down to my own expectations and objectives. For me, reading silently has its own advantages as well. Just my 2 cents.

I wonder how you know that your son does not skip sentences or words when he is reading silently ? He may be able to describe the story to you, and answer your questions about the book, but that does not mean that he is reading every word. And did you really read books with 200 pages to your kids ?

I do not mean that children should always read aloud. I am talking about children who are 5 years old or younger. At this age, many kids are only reading books with one sentence a page, very few children are capable of processing the information faster than they can read aloud. Even if the child is very advanced, we should always remember that he/she is a 5 year old child, there is no need to hurry.

Of course when the child is older, I will expect him/her to be reading most books silently. But I will still want my kids to read one or two pages to me aloud everyday, may be until they are 18 years old, simply because I love to hear them read.

Every child is different. Parents should find the best method that suits their own child.