Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[chrismei]

mejj:

Hi Chrismei,


Will be signing up for the weekend (sat) class as we could not suit the weekday schedule.

Have you collected any materials during the orientation?

So I presume teacher Soo Chin will be coaching our children eh?

Regards.

Hi Mejj

When did you register for the sat's class? just curious ...We did not collect any materials during our orientation. I am not sure who will be teaching on sat's class...

regards

[titank]

Confirm have sat class slot? Maybe I need to check it out from ICL again!

[mejj]

chrismei:

Hi Mejj


When did you register for the sat's class? just curious ...We did not collect any materials during our orientation. I am not sure who will be teaching on sat's class...

regards

Hi Chrismei,

I called ICL in mid Jan and was told that there are no vacancies left but still left my name with them. I received a call after CNY and asking if i'm interested to place my son in ICL. Think the lady actually mentioned that they created some new classes that's probably why I'm able to register my son.
I had called earlier to enquire about who's gonna to teach during the sat slot and Teacher Soo Chin is the one.

Hi titank,
You may call and ask. They may still have slots left.

Regards.

[mommyNg]

Charmaine_chong:

Dear MommyNg,


Thank you for sharing.

I got the whole set too. I thought short vowel should be the first book?

May i know how do you teach? You focus on the 'b' sound when you taught consonant b?

Hi Charmaine_chong,

Ha ha, perhaps there really isn't a Book 1 or 2. I treated the consonants as book 1 because consonants sounds are easier to learn and more salient during blending.

For example, I would emphasize the 'b' sound when teaching consonant b, i.e. say it longer and louder. So, \"bus\" could sound like \"B....B.. Bus\"

I didn't use everything in the book, for example, the poems. I gauged her interest level, if she looked bored, I would skip (parts of) the poem. But I went through almost every single exercise/activity in the book. It's really not that much, as I've said earlier, you can choose to just do one section or two. Usually I try to \"see good and withdraw\" (见好就收).

Oh, another (personalized) trick, there is one type of exercises that asked the child to identify the sounds either at the beginning, middle or end of the word. Initially she had a hard time understanding the task requirement, so what I did was to use my finger to represent each sound. For example, if the word has 3 sounds,, b-u-s, then I'll point to index finger and say \"b\", middle finger and say \"u\", and then fourth finger and say \"s\", and ask her which finger has the sound \"b\" (or \"s\"). I did that because I thought the task may be too abstract for her and thus wanted to concretize it for her. And I believe it would also strengthen her phonetic awareness. And it worked.... for her. After a few times, I didn't need to do it anymore and she could easily answer those types of questions without the \"fingers\". I have learnt that a lot of young children seemed to \"fail\" in certain verbal tasks not because they do not have the ability to do it, but rather that they do not fully understand what the task is really all about.

[HappyAvon]

Hello,


I find that for any enrichment centre, it really depends on the teacher and the children…My girl joined ICR when she just turned exactly 4 last year. At that time, the ICR teacher assessed her and found her to be suitable in their PRP class (pre reading programme). She is now K1 and is reading confidently. She was a daily student at Zoophonics Nursery and when she went for ICR assessment, the teacher complimented she knew all her 1st sound very well and can start at PRP…She is still with ICR and is now on Volume 4 learning on dipthongs UR, IR, EAR etc…She will finish Volume 5 in Apr and will then proceed to the last Volume- 6 which introduces basic grammar, written comprehension, advanced spelling and creative writing.
I am very pleased with Zoophonics and ICR although each has their own methodology.

[chrismei]

titank:

Confirm have sat class slot? Maybe I need to check it out from ICL again!

Hi titank

Just heard from colleague that sat's class is full. Have sent u a private message.

[chrismei]

mejj:

chrismei:

Hi Mejj


When did you register for the sat's class? just curious ...We did not collect any materials during our orientation. I am not sure who will be teaching on sat's class...

regards

Hi Chrismei,

I called ICL in mid Jan and was told that there are no vacancies left but still left my name with them. I received a call after CNY and asking if i'm interested to place my son in ICL. Think the lady actually mentioned that they created some new classes that's probably why I'm able to register my son.
I had called earlier to enquire about who's gonna to teach during the sat slot and Teacher Soo Chin is the one.

Hi titank,
You may call and ask. They may still have slots left.

Regards.

Hi HappyAvon

Yes, I do agreed with you. I have also met parents that ICR is a proven program and it take time for the child to learn how to read .i.e by K1? Same as ICL..by K1…though ICL's programme is more comprehensive...
Maybe will switch her to creative writing after complete ICR

[HappyAvon]

Hi Chrismei,


It is a fair process...If the child started young, definitely the child will know how to read much earlier...The foundation is very important especially the PRP stage of ICR where they are exposed to word rhyme, syllabus, first, middle and last sound etc....If their foundation is strong, they have no problem when they start the reading programme...The process will be smooth and they will naturally pick up any words easily and this include spelling....Learning to spell is also a breeze....I strongly encourage exposing the child to phonics at early stage.. My girl was in GUG weekly class which incorporated Zoophonics when she was 18 months...When she was 3 yrs old, she attended Zoophonics weekly enrichment and we transferred her from a childcare to Zoophonics daily class in N2. ....At the same time, we enroll her into ICR since the programme is based on individual ability....A child who knows how to read will cultivate an interest to read....We have never regretted sending her to these classes....We got compliments from her teacher that she is a good and fast reader...

[chrismei]

HappyAvon:

Hi Chrismei,


It is a fair process...If the child started young, definitely the child will know how to read much earlier...The foundation is very important especially the PRP stage of ICR where they are exposed to word rhyme, syllabus, first, middle and last sound etc....If their foundation is strong, they have no problem when they start the reading programme...The process will be smooth and they will naturally pick up any words easily and this include spelling....Learning to spell is also a breeze....I strongly encourage exposing the child to phonics at early stage.. My girl was in GUG weekly class which incorporated Zoophonics when she was 18 months...When she was 3 yrs old, she attended Zoophonics weekly enrichment and we transferred her from a childcare to Zoophonics daily class in N2. ....At the same time, we enroll her into ICR since the programme is based on individual ability....A child who knows how to read will cultivate an interest to read....We have never regretted sending her to these classes....We got compliments from her teacher that she is a good and fast reader...

Hi HappyAvon

I need to learn to be more patient. My gal was promoted to PRP after 4 months in Little Learners (after we complained..haha) when she was 3 yrs 4 mths..just felt that the progress is too slow..she knew all the 1st sound when she was 2 yrs old thr Leap frog DVD...it is a waste of $ in PRP as ICR take few more mths to learn all the 1st sounds...

She also received compliments from her teacher and will be placed in a special class with others who already knew the 1st sounds..just that i am impatient....especiallyhearing that other centres takes 4 weeks to teach all the sounds......kiasu ma

anyway ICR is a proven programme too ...just that ICL is more comprehensive program ...though their phonics is not as strong as ICR...as some parents did commented that their children in ICL is able to recognise word but do not know how to break the words.....

[titank]

Hi All,


Have checked with ICL Sat Class, wow all full. :x
If on waiting list is like :stupid: unless somebody would drop out.