All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits
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clare:
When I was in P1, we only started to learn A,B,C,... Many kids have not even attended kindergarten. Back then the English standard in primary schools was not as high as nowadays. My teachers were very kind, they taught us to read every word in the textbook. I could read and understand the questions on exam papers perfectly. But reading story books is very different from answering questions in exams. There are so many words that I could not read, I did not have the patience to finish any book before age 13.tamarind:
Charlotte's Web has special meaning to me, simply because it was my very first english literature textbok when I was in Sec 1. At 13 years old, I struggled to read Charlotte's Web, I could not read many words in the book, because I did not know phonics at that age. In fact I could not read any english story book before that age.
Tamarind, can i ask you something... Hmm, how did you cope with English in primary school? I'm curious because I know kids who don't read English books at all and they did HORRIBLY in PSLE English and eventually even failed 'O' level English. I remember from some thread that you went to a top school so I assume you did very well in PSLE
Yes I went to the top girls' secondary school. I was even within the top 10% of the entire level.
How did I do it ? I memorized entire english textbooks, including physics, chemistry, geography, history, etc. It was impossible to memorize the whole of Charlotte's Web/Crucible/Animal Farm/Midsummer Night's Dream, etc, which were my literature textbooks. Even if I did, I could not understand the story very well. So I did not manage to get an A in english literature in Sec 1 to Sec 3. In Sec 4, however, we had a nice lady teacher from England who gave us model answers to the english literature exam. I memorized all the model answers, and even got an A for english literature at O levels !
But I think that the education system nowadays is very different from the time when I was young. Children who cannot read well will not be able to excel in their studies.
I still remember there was once in Sec 2 or 3, I mispronounced the word \"Italy\". All the classmates laughed at me. This is something I don't want my kids to experience. -
clare:
No, I kid you not. See http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/primary-one-preparation-english. What happens in English classes also happens in Chinese classes. Fortunately, the English and Chinese teachers are synchronized such that when the English and Chinese show-and-tells happen during alternate terms.CHINESE show-and-tell!!!!!!! Oh dear, if my son's school does that I will be in deep s***.
Er, I know it's off-topic, but can i ask what show-and-tell in both English and Chinese comprise? Are there given topics?
My son's P1 Chinese show-and-tell were:
\"ęę儽ēęå\" and
\"ęęåę¬¢ēå°ę¹\"
in P2, he had to select his own å¤åÆŗ and recite it in class with props, action and stuff. At that point, we decided that we'll just delegate the job to his Chinese tuition teacher :). -
CKS, thanks for sharing.
Both ds & dd school have show & tell. Don't have much problem if it is in English. So far no for MT which I'm very glad. Quite disappointed that my kids are not fluent in more than one languages. By 9, I can happily translate MT book to English & vice versa & use it for story telling session. My fault entirely for only exposing them to one language. Sigh..
Clare wrote [quote]so for P1, no props etc were needed for the show-and-tells? Then what, just talk huh?[/quote]For ds & dd school, must show something. Eg, topic chosen is \"My Favourite Fairy Tale\". My kids bring the story book to school. \"My Favourite Food\", ds brought my cook book to show picture of the food, \"Animal that I like\" ds brought my frog stuff toy, \"Myself\" my dd brought magazine with her picture on it etc. -
clare:
Yes, I agree that most kids in the 'olden days' go to P1 with almost zero english knowledge. I score a big fat zero (only one in class!) for my first Listening Comprehension test in P1 - I dunno what the lady (voice in my headset) was speaking at all!I remember unkind teachers and unkind friends who thought I was stupid not to know the English alphabet!
My parents did not have the time to bring us to the library so for silent reading sessions, i had to share books with my elder bro - hence it became only picture viewing for me (and the same book can last for 2 weeks) cos I don't understand a word.
But nonetheless, I still like to read. Somehow sometimes I feel that kids sometimes don't know how to appreciate things that are readily available to them. -
clare:
I had to read the same paragraph over and over again, about 10 times to memorize it. I did the same thing for every paragraph in the textbook. Then start from the beginning of the book again to make sure I did not forget anything. I definitely don't have superb memory. Any average person can memorize things if they read it over and over again many times. My mother only allowed me to watch very little TV, and back then we didn't have computers or electronic games or toys. I spent most of my time studying because there was nothing much of anything else to do.Thanks, Tamarind, that was very helpful to me, because your experience underscores something - a superb memory is very important too! And great teachers are definitely key. I guess since we can't always rely on school teachers, parents have to BE the great teachers that will help our kids to excel...
At least you had kind teachers in P1. I remember unkind teachers and unkind friends who thought I was stupid not to know the English alphabet!
Seriously? You memorized everything?! Wow, that must take up a LOT of time :!:
Understanding the concepts is much more important than memorizing. But that was the only thing that I could do because of my English was poor. When I answer questions in exams, I simply copied out the entire paragraph of the textbook from my memory. I was not able to just understand the concept and write the answer using my own words.
I forgot to mention that I also memorized most of the english grammar textbook in primary school. However that did not help with my english essay writing. Yes I had very good teachers in my primary school, which was just an average neighbourhood school. In fact those teachers were more better than the teachers in my secondary school. -
Clare wrote [quote]Thanks, EN! Bear with me, I forgot to ask earlier. So do the teachers usually ask questions during the presentation?
[/quote]Usually at the end of the presentation. Simple question like \"why you like ...\". For ds school, it is part of his exam marks but for dd, it is done during her English class.
Clare wrote [quote] also have to ask, being totally clueless, do Singapore schools emphasize on British spelling/pronunciation? Would my kids be penalized for spelling \"mommy\" instead of \"mummy\", \"color\" instead of \"colour\", \"--ze\" instead of \"--se\" etc? [/quote]I remember that teachers during our time kept emphasizing that we use British English & some things that we learn in Sesame Street programme cannot be used. Dont think things have change now. We still stick to British English. -
More about the Ladybird key word reading scheme. Most parents do not understand how good this scheme is. They often misunderstood that these books should be read for pleasure, when in fact these books are more like textbooks for teaching children to read. When a child already knows how to read very well, there is no need to let him read this series. But if the child does not know how to read, then this series is excellent for getting him to start reading.
Parents can teach their kids to read at home using this series alone, and there is no need to send kids to expensive enrichment classes just to learn to read.
http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/ladybird/key_words_reading_scheme.php
Commonly known as the Peter and Jane books, this series was to be used by parents and schools throughout the UK.
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Over 100 million copies have been sold round the world.
During the 1950s Murray did some research with an educational psychologist, a Professor McNally from Manchester University. They worked on written material and speech, using a Grundig tape recorder, and established that 12 words make up a quarter of everything we speak, read and write.\"
Murray and McNally also concluded that 100 words account for half and 300 words make up three-quarters of our verbal output. Ladybird emphasises this message in the introduction to every Key Words book before Peter and Jane and Mummy and Daddy go on to repeat those words at every opportunity.
Ladybird man who taught Britain to read with inspiring Peter and Jane books
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1091826/Ladybird-man-taught-Britain-read-inspiring-Peter-Jane-books.html
An era long before computers, when even a simple picture book had the power to enchant ā and to educate ā millions. -
clare:
Clare wrote [quote]so for P1, no props etc were needed for the show-and-tells? Then what, just talk huh?
... I also have to ask, being totally clueless, do Singapore schools emphasize on British spelling/pronunciation? Would my kids be penalized for spelling \"mommy\" instead of \"mummy\", \"color\" instead of \"colour\", \"--ze\" instead of \"--se\" etc?...[/quote]It's SHOW-and-TELL. So yes, props are required even for P1 English or Chinese show-and-tells.
And as EN said, only British English is supported in Singapore schools. -
tamarind:
I forgot to mention the importance of learning phonics. All parents should let their kids learn phonics. There are many ways :More about the Ladybird key word reading scheme. Most parents do not understand how good this scheme is. They often misunderstood that these books should be read for pleasure, when in fact these books are more like textbooks for teaching children to read. When a child already knows how to read very well, there is no need to let him read this series. But if the child does not know how to read, then this series is excellent for getting him to start reading.
Parents can teach their kids to read at home using this series alone, and there is no need to send kids to expensive enrichment classes just to learn to read.
http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/ladybird/key_words_reading_scheme.php
Commonly known as the Peter and Jane books, this series was to be used by parents and schools throughout the UK.
\t
Over 100 million copies have been sold round the world.
During the 1950s Murray did some research with an educational psychologist, a Professor McNally from Manchester University. They worked on written material and speech, using a Grundig tape recorder, and established that 12 words make up a quarter of everything we speak, read and write.\"
Murray and McNally also concluded that 100 words account for half and 300 words make up three-quarters of our verbal output. Ladybird emphasises this message in the introduction to every Key Words book before Peter and Jane and Mummy and Daddy go on to repeat those words at every opportunity.
Ladybird man who taught Britain to read with inspiring Peter and Jane books
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1091826/Ladybird-man-taught-Britain-read-inspiring-Peter-Jane-books.html
An era long before computers, when even a simple picture book had the power to enchant ā and to educate ā millions.
1. Send to phonics classes
2. Buy the Leapfrog DVDs
3. Get Jolly phonics and teach the child at home
4. Checkout my blog for step by step instructions about how I teach my boy phonics at home http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/ including free printable phonics materials. If you don't have a printer at home, you can simply write the words on paper.
There are parents who taught their kids to read only using the Ladybird key word reading scheme. However, combining phonics and the Ladybird series are most effective. A child who can read confidently, is a child who loves to read. -
clare:
Picolo, wow, your SIL is extremely brave! I imagine not too many parents would send their kids into primary school without any reading skills. I have to say, the school that they go to must have some great teachers
Hi Clare, I'm not sure. Her kids go to a neighbourhood school with different races, so definitely hers would not be the only ones who did not know how to read when entering pri schools. I guess there weren't much problems, otherwise she would have warned me.Picolo:
[quote=\"clare\"]
picolo, do you know if they had any problems in P1 though? A PSLE score of 266 is extremely respectable!
In contrast, I've heard too many stories of teachers in 'elite' schools who don't teach...[/quote]Clare,
I think she is extremely brave too. For me I wouldn't risk it; learning how to read is very important, and the earlier, the better so that children can be independent readers and open to a whole new world. I love Jolly Phonics because I can see very fast results and it doesn't bore my boys. But for me, I am always open to new ideas to teach the same thing so that I don't get bored myself. For my 3rd boy, I would be getting a set of Peter & Jane books from my friend this Fri to experiment with my boy. * rubbing hands* :mrgreen:
For info, SIL's eldest gal is a highly organised and systematic person with good memory. So, although she started to read late, her school work started to catch up in her upper primary years and by P5 she was in the top 15 of the top class. She is going to the top girls' school next year.
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