All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[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.

[tamarind]

Picolo:

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.

picolo,
Thank you for the contact !

Overseas shipping charge dangdang.com is 50% of the price of the book. A book that costs 25 RMB, will costs 37.50 RMB, or around SGD 7.50. Still cheaper than Lingzi :mrgreen: But I have to wait 4 to 8 weeks lah.

Also thanks for the recommendation of 鸡蛋哥哥, it sounds like a wonderful book. I will check that out too, I love Japanese translated books !

[metz]

tamarind:

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.

Even when I am reading aloud to him, my ds would be quick to point out words that I skipped or misread. He's rather fastidious about reading every word whenever we have read-aloud sessions.

I’m pretty confident that he would not skip sentences. Mummy knows best. Rather than saying he skips words, I would say he may not understand every single word that he reads. However, I am not overly concerned with this. Firstly, he’s reading material above his age. Secondly, I see it as part of learning to read (with understanding) from context. To help him improve his vocabulary, I have also gotten him a book to jot down new words. The novelty fizzles off after a while. But this method works very well for a friend's 5 year old gal. Now, I only request him to underline the new words he comes across while reading silently.

To be honest with you, I don't think my ds would have understood the entire book very well upon the first reading. Usually for books he's interested, he would reread them several times. That's why I'll try to make it a point to read the books to him again. Even then, I feel he will learn to understand and appreciate the same books better when he's older.
[quote]And did you really read books with 200 pages to your kids ?[/quote]Yes, I do. Depending on the book, if it’s less than 200 pages, we’ll probably finish the book in one seating. For longer books, I would complete the reading over a few days. Of course, that’s not my only way of “reading” lengthy books. My kids enjoy audiobooks as well. That helps lighten my reading too.
[quote]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. [/quote]Totally agree. That's why I still prefer to read lengthy books to them than get them read, even though my kids enjoy reading aloud the books to me
[quote]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. [/quote]I enjoy them reading to me too. However, I don't mean getting them to read aloud is something we should avoid totally. Rather, my preference would be me reading to them instead. Currently, my ds is reading Narnia by the chapters to me. It's the perfect book for him to get dramatic.
[quote]Every child is different. Parents should find the best method that suits their own child. [/quote]Definitely, there is no one right size. Even with my 2 kids, I'll have to employ different parenting styles.

[tamarind]

chamonix:

[quote]And did you really read books with 200 pages to your kids ?

Yes, I do. Depending on the book, if it’s less than 200 pages, we’ll probably finish the book in one seating. For longer books, I would complete the reading over a few days. Of course, that’s not my only way of “reading” lengthy books. My kids enjoy audiobooks as well. That helps lighten my reading too.
[/quote]I think you really read very fast. My girl takes about 3 - 5 minutes to read a page of about 200 words out loud. It is the same speed if I am reading aloud to her. Normally I take time to explain the meaning of new words to her, and explain the parts which I think she may not understand. For a 200 page book, it will take 200 * 5 minutes, which is about 16 hours. No way that we can finish the book in one seating or even a few days. I do not think that a 5 year old child should read or learn academically for more than 30 minutes a day.

When my kids read a new word, I always let them try to figure out how to pronounce the word on their own. I believe that kids learn much better this way, than if I just read out to them.

[metz]

Hi Tamarind,


I really hope you wouldn't jump onto conclusions so readily, and judge everything according to what you can or cannot do.

In one seating doesn't mean in just 1 hour. We could spend a few hours reading just one book. So, if you are wondering if kids can have such long attention span. Yes, my kids do. Especially my son. And you are right, your reading speed is definitely not my reading speed. We definitely read at a faster pace than your said speed. Not only that, a number of 5-6 years old that I know are capable of reading silently very well. For the matter of fact, I don't think your method of teaching phonics is the best way either. Neither do I think highly of Ladybirds readers. My kids simply find them boring. They wouldn't even go beyond the first page. But I suppose we catered to our own kids' needs and there's no definite way how things must go.

In case you haven't noticed, the big main difference between us is you are TEACHING your kids to read lengthy books. For me, it's reading for pleasure and nurturing the interest in reading. I have never said I use the lengthy books to TEACH them. My main objective is to have them enjoy a good book and not to teach them academically as you do with yours. In fact, I find it disruptive to stop and explain things (unless they have questions) while reading. If my objective is to teach them the book,e,.g vocabulary, I would prefer to choose a more systematic way.

Anyway, I would like to thank you for making me realize I should have spent more time reading to my kids than on the forum. Therefore, you can now relax that I'll no longer rile your feathers any further. This marks the end of my posting in the forum, so I will not be responding to any of your questions.

Btw, it took E. B White 3 hours, 38 minutes to read all 192 pages of http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064410935/ref=s9subs_c2_14_at1-rfc_g1_si1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1N0D0JBT73J0TGDYMQ1A&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383371&pf_rd_i=507846. So, I suppose everybody has a different reading speed.

Thank you for the sharing.

[tamarind]

chamonix:

I really hope you wouldn't jump onto conclusions so readily, and judge everything according to what you can or cannot do.

That is exactly what I think you are doing. You have amazing kids, and you seem to be surrounded by other amazing kids. Which I find is very amazing. Because I live in the HDB heartland, and my kids go to the PCF kindergarten, surrounded by average kids. I think that the majority of kids at 5 years old are still reading pages which have only one sentence, many cannot even read at all.

I myself belong to one of those average people who will take at least a few days to finish a book like Charlotte's Web, even when I am reading silently.

I never think that my methods are the best. I share my methods in my blog, so that other parents can criticize me and I can learn from them. In fact, I think that your methods are the best, and I am very curious as to how you teach your kids. But too bad I have not seen you shared your teaching methods before.

Well I am just being very frank and I cannot help but say what is in my mind. Hopefully this forum has more open minded people who are willing to share.

[metz]

Hi Tamarind,


Arggghhh… your posting is making me eat my words. So, here I am again.

I must agree with you that I seem to be surrounded by amazing kids. In fact, I see all kids around me (whom I know or heard of) as amazing in one way or another, including your son, whom you think otherwise. Btw, 2 of the kids who can silent read live in HDB heartland too. And so do I, for most part of my life so far.

I have never regarded the ability to read as an indicator of anything. I’m simply glad and proud that my kids are reading early, cos I’ll have more time to myself (evidently, this is not true cos my kids still prefer me to read to them). To me, the ability to read is another development milestone to be achieved at one’s pace. Some kids may reach a certain milestone earlier but progress slower in others. That’s the way I see my kids. My son never really learned to crawl until he was 11.5 months old. And suddenly he was crawling as if he had been crawling since young within 2 weeks. That’s my views on reading too. For some kids, reading comes easy. For others, it may take a longer time to pick up reading. It's not a matter of teaching methods. Reading readiness is the key factor. I have come across many parents sharing on the forums about their kids not being able to read at 5 yo but suddenly picked up reading at an amazing speed at around 6-7 years old and are voracious readers. So really, there are many amazing kids out there.

Btw, there are researches that revealed as the kids get older, there's not much difference between those who started reading early and those who started reading late. Their reading abilities kind of leveled by a certain age.

Admittedly, I’m those who can consume a lengthy book within a day. But I suppose we are just individuals with different strengths and read with different objectives in mind.

Much as I like to share my teaching styles and methods, the truth is I don’t have much to offer. In fact, I believe mine is not the best way nor applicable for every kid to help them in learning to read. My kids are pretty good visual learners, meaning they pick up things easily by sight. For phonics, I taught my son to blend words as in c-a-t =cat at 28 months. The blending part just comes naturally to him and my girl as well. And it was much later, I found out not every kids take to phonics like my kids. The only explanation I can think of is perhaps we were in a monolingual environment when they were young. Being exposed to only English since birth somehow helps them in associating words and sounds related to English. Do I dare suggest this to other parents? Er, not unless I want to be branded as anti-bilingual.

Also, time and time again, I mentioned I don’t teach my kids much but I read a lot to/with them. Since my son was 1 year old, we spend 3 hours or more (over a few sessions) daily on reading. Please don’t ask me how I develop his concentration skill. He just has it since young.

I think it’s admirable of you to share your experience and teachings with others. Not many parents, especially working moms, can achieve what you have with your kids. I have lots of teaching resources at home, but they are sitting on the shelves collecting dust. :oops: Not that I don't want to share, but sometimes there's no teaching method to share. But yes to books and learning materials. You should know best. Your girl's drawing talent has been most amazing. As you mentioned in the other thread, you have no hand in this. All you did was to supply her with the appropriate materials. It's very much the same for me and I believe, some other parents, as well.

[metz]

Thinking back, in fact I have shared in the earlier posts on my "teaching methods" i.e reading to them, getting them to underline new words, books/authors, listening to audiobooks and learning to read with understanding using context clues. But I suppose those are not what you would consider as teaching methods nor the right way to teach reading. That’s why you don’t feel I or any other parents are sharing.


I don’t know about other forumers but I have benefitted a lot by those who shared willingly about their "teaching methods" via recommending books and authors that they/their kids have come across. Clare’s recommendations inspired me to check on the authors and rethink about The Railway Children again as suitable reading material for my kids. And Ksmama’s sharing on tempting her kids to read by starting off the first few chapters with them is also another good method in encouraging kids to read.

[ChiefKiasu]

I just saw and tried the http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/tag_library.html for S$99 at Parkway Parade. Looks pretty interesting. Think of a multi-media software title and bring it into the physical world. It will read any word that you point it to. Then again, I'm not sure if it will really help encourage kids to read.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516NlV5ImbL._SS400_.jpg\">