Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[enne]

Hi all,

really really appreciate all the advices provided!!

hi tamarind,
thanks for your blog link
i went in for a quick look just nw & really find it very informative
later will go in read up again
the ABC books.. everytime i go to popular
too much variety to choose make me not buying any in the end..

i will still try my best to teach her & hopefully can see some results
as for enrichment classes, i will still send her for them due to limited time & knowledge on my end :?



hi tankee,
yah i am trying to read to her as much as i can
but due to limited time with her so thats y i'm trying to c if i can get external help
like those enrichment classes esp when hmm my eng is not very gd


hi MMM,
yah my main concern is like wat u mentioned
not confident due to my eng level so i dun wish to later teach her some wrong stuff lol
esp like pronouncation
plus limited time with her
may i know which ctr to send your child to?


hi hifive,
for vcds/dvds, i tried buying some before but nt leapfrog though
my ger simply dun like cos she find them boring & will do other things
tats y a bit hestiating to buy
but for reading, i am trying my best to read to her as much as i can
hopefully it will help her


hi trina,
i wanted to enrol her for phonics in K1 but then i think think since she got a lot of free time
so i thought of enrolling her 1st
if nt she at home also nt doing much things
cos reading & writing at home is also for a short while
as for reading yes i will try my best to do as much as i can hehe

[MMM]

enne:

may i know which ctr to send your child to?

I send my kids to Jan & Elly at serangoon garden.

[enne]

MMM:

I send my kids to Jan & Elly at serangoon garden.

hi MMM,
thanks

[notabox]

Dear All


Need advice. My DS2 (in N2) has always had problem pronoucing words accurately. I need a really good and effective phonics school to help him as I am no good at this phonics thingy. I started him with Jan & Elly in Jan together with his elder brother but from what I observed and from the centre’s assessment, he is doing poorly.

My DS1 (K2) was previously with Zoophonics for a year but I switched him to Jan & Elly when he did not seems to enjoy the lessons. His childcare centre has always told us he is doing alright until last week when they did an English assessment and found that he has weaken and express their concern. Till now, he has difficulty remembering the sound of the letters and read words by recognition rather than using his phonics skill.

So now, I am wondering if the switch to Jan & Elly is right. The worksheets are really simple and as one parent mentioned, the pace is very slow. There are also no direct communication with the teachers and I wonder about the effectiveness of their program when it is only a 1-hr session a week.

I am comtemplating putting both boys back in Zoophonics as friends’ kids are all doing well with them. Perhaps the branch we sent DS1 to isn’t as good. I was told I should have sent him to the Bt Timah one.

So should I give Zoophonics another try or look at other programs like I Can Read?

Your advice is very much appreciated. TIA.

[Charmaine_chong]

Hi Notabox,


You may want to try Mrs Thong at phone no. 91063531. The phonics lesson is carried out at her home, Pasir Ris, smaller group for 3-4 children. She gotten very good comments. You may want to find out more from her.

Alternatively, you may want to pm BUDS. Ex-teacher and has very good knowlege of phonics. She lives at west.

I had tried Zoophonics at Siglap centre. I sent my child there for 2 months. He didn’t benefit much from Zoophonics. I personally find that the lesson carried out is far too slow.

Notabox, do you pratice with your child at home? Is hard to see progress wihout pratising at home.

My son attends phonics class at MMI, Kee Sun Aveue (one to one teaching). The teacher is very nice, always feedback to me my child’s progress and guide me how to pratice with him at home. This is the good parts. The bad thing is she is not very good in teaching, rather bored and no fun.

When i brought my son there for the first few lessons, he always cried and refused to enter. Things changed when i feedback to the supervisor to look into the teaching method on the 3rd and 4rd lesson. Now, my son is willing to attend the lesson but he couldn’t sit through the whole lesson, need constant break in between. He has very short attention span.

Aside of attending phonics class, i revise with him 2-3 times weekly and get him to read out loud graded english reader + nursery jumbo workbook + read stories to him.

[Charmaine_chong]

[quote] Posted: 24 Feb 2010 11:24 Post subject:


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what is a good age to send to I Can Read? There are classes for 2.5yrs old too. Are they too young to attend? [/quote]Jen18j,

I can read has class for 2.5 years old. I personally find that parents have to educate young tots immediately the child is born. It is never too early to start education.

I find it not a must to send for enrichment at this age. In fact, young tots learn best from parents. You may want to start her something at home?

[MMM]

notabox:

I started him with Jan & Elly in Jan together with his elder brother but from what I observed and from the centre's assessment, he is doing poorly.

So now, I am wondering if the switch to Jan & Elly is right. The worksheets are really simple and as one parent mentioned, the pace is very slow. There are also no direct communication with the teachers and I wonder about the effectiveness of their program when it is only a 1-hr session a week.

Hi, are you at the serangoon gardens branch as well???

My K1 started there at term 3 last year. She is currently into her intermediate level (3rd term).

Based on the experience I had with the older kids. My P3 only did 1 yr as she only joined in K2. Meanwhile for my P2 boy, he completed the entire course, we do see the difference with him. For my older kids, I used to be the type that send them for lessons but didn't revise. Over time, we can see the deterioration in him. He was a big challenge for me as couldn't really read by K2 though he started phonics since K1. So we started to put in effort by reading with him,etc... and yes he was all ready for P1. With the advanced phonics he did, spelling and sounding out words is a breeze for him. Eg. was trying to get my P3 to spell frustration. My P2 can use his phonics skills to spell that out while my P3 struggled.

The key learning we had was, we had to revise what they learnt in class inorder for it to be effective. We cannot depend on the once a week lesson and expect them to be great. For my K1, we are trying to read together. Whenever we come across a word that she has learnt in phonics and she does not remember, I would always ask her to try to sound it out.

Meanwhile for communication, so far the teacher at Serangoon garden that we've is ok. I would approach him about the progress and he would share with me his observations. In fact, I usually get the older child to bring my K1 to class and my K1 came to tell me that.... teacher mentioned that he didn't see you for a long time. So I went to find him the next lesson and true enough he has things to say to me.

I do hear him talking to other problems about learning difficulties etc... as well. So if you happen to be in the same branch, maybe try to speak to the teachers. Both teachers happen to teach my older kids before so I know they are able to provide feedback.

[Happybirdks]

tamarind:

Personally I do not believe in spending hundreds of dollars a month sending kids to enrichment classes. If you have more than one child, then it costs even more. Quite often the \"experts\" are not really experts, they probably only went through a little training. I have heard of many parents who sent their kids to enrichment classes, and their kids still cannot read.


For kids who are 3 to 6 years old, we do not need experts to teach them.
Try reading this page :
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w1nyHWTEh94/SkAfCDgbPOI/AAAAAAAABIc/AHhlGh6Mshw/s1600-h/DSCF6830.JPG

If you can read it easily, then you can teach ! Phonics is not rocket science. I learned to sound out the words by watching the Leapfrog DVDs with my kids. The Letter Factory DVD costs less than $20, and I used it for 2 kids. I used to send my boy to Zoophonics, paid $100 a month for 1 hour lesson a week, after 5 months, he learned nothing !

Kids between 3 to 6 years old learn best when given one to one attention at home. Even if you spend $50 for one lesson, it is going to be one teacher to 10 kids. Many kids at 3 to 4 years old cannot sit still and listen, and they do not learn well in a group.

The best way to teach young kids is through repetition every day. Very few kids are able to remember the lesson after attending only 1 or 2 hours a week. In fact, teaching 15 - 30 mins everyday, is far better than only 2 hours a week.

However, parents need to be patient and persistent. If you find yourself screaming at the child everyday, then it is not a good idea to teach at home.

I know that most parents are not confident to teach. The purpose of my blog is just to show what can be done at home, I have included excellent resources that are tried and tested by millions of other kids in the world. If you use the right resources, it is actually very easy. More importantly, I want to prove that it is not necessary to spend a lot of money in order to teach your child to read very well. It is not true that those families who can send their kids to expensive classes, definitely will do better than others.

I wonder why parents are so willing to \"enrich\" the pockets of those operators of the enrichment classes, without first trying to see what can be done at home.

Another advantage of teaching my kids at home, is that it is a great way of bonding with them

I am very inspired and thankful for Tamarind's effort in helping parents to teach kids themselves! In fact, I've even follow her methods to teach my kids in phonics and chinese. A big thanks, Tamarind!!

But I think there are many factors that determine if a parent can successfully teach their kids. I believe many of us here are educated, and know how to teach, but yet choose to go for enrichment because of the following reasons:

1) Time
For working moms, after a hard day work, one just want to come back and enjoy playing with kids. Teaching them may be a good way to bond, but it may not be as easy or romantic as it sounds. Parents are tired, kids won't listen etc. The little time left in the evening can just be used up easily by other things that require more immediate attention. Parents can't just drop everything, and sit down to teach.

2) Consistency
Even if one can sit down and teach, is one able to consistently teach in a systematic way like enrichment centre too? Are we able to stick to a time table to teach all the subjects, eg phonics, chinese, music? It definitely takes a lot of discipline on both parent and child to do it.

3) Number of kids
For those with one or two kids, perhaps it is still possible to do self teaching. But if you have 3 or more kids who equally need attention, how is that possible? I have 5 kids, and when I try to teach one, the others will just come and disturb, ka cheow, or ask about their school work. I can shut them out, but the background noise, even when I am behind closed door, is enough to distract. I am not working, but after a day of running household and teaching a few of them, I just get physically and mentally tired. I would love to teach them all myself, but find that it is impossible to cover ALL the kids, and ALL areas. When I had only 2 or 3 kids, I can. But now it's just getting increasingly difficult.

4) Character of kids
Mothers have to agree that some kids are just easier to teach, those more obedient, motivated. Those who are boisterous,active and playful with parents around are just plain difficult for their parents to sit down with and have lessons. Even when they do sit down, they can just switch off or fool with lessons. Somehow, many will agree that the schools have been more successful in making kids remember stuff.

5) Curriculum of lesson
Most of us are laymen in the education structure. We just don't know EXACTLY what is required in the school system, the MOE guideline, and the area to cover. Enrichment centres, given their resources and connection, may have a better perspective than most parents. I know of teachers who are teaching in pri schools sending their kids or grandkids to enrichment centres too.

I think the foundation is very important, so it's alright to be kiasu a bit, build up their foundation if you can in preschools, skip and relax a bit in lower primary, then 'chong' again in upper primary. I got this notion after seeing how my first few kids perform, regretted some of my earlier decisions, and now try to rectify

Ultimately, to quote one friend's daughter, KIASU better than SU!!!

[Happybirdks]

Has anyone sent their kids to Lorna Whiston for phonics class?


Can kindly share experience?

[genius]

I have a K2 kid. He is active, no prob with sports.

But needs to beef up on phonics and reading.
Any good recommendation for 1-1 coach (CCK area).
Thanks!