All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[tamarind]

Picolo:

Tamarind,


100% agree.

It is not about how much money we spend, it's the results that speak. I admire you for the fact that you are able to find the time and energy to teach your kids to read despite having a full-time job. I know how difficult it is to juggle work (not home-based) and family/children and can emphatise with working parents who hope to be able to personally help their children but simply impossible due to the amount of time and energy spent on work.

Picolo,
I could only teach my boy for about 15-30 minutes everyday, but I try to do it everyday, even on Sundays and public holidays. It adds up to at least 1 hour 45 mins a week, which is about the same as those once a week enrichment classes. I think that very young children learn best through very short sessions of teaching(especially those who cannot focus like my boy), repeating the same things everyday until he is very familiar with it. This method has worked very well for my younger boy. But I only managed to teach my kids english, for their Chinese, I really cannot find the time and I have to send them to Chinese enrichment classes. Are you able to teach your kids Chinese as well ?

You are teaching your kids to read Chinese books right ? Join the discussion here.

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1721

[tamarind]

clare:

My two cents about age-appropriate books. For books to be 'age-appropriate', to me they don't always have to correspond to chronological age. That's why we have ranges from 9 to 12 years etc. In our community and in my child's school, I regularly see 5-6 year olds reading books designated for an older age group. The books are chosen very carefully by the teachers and parents for the kids to enjoy reading at their comprehension levels; definitely not picked indiscriminately just to prove that the kids can read a certain level of book at a certain age.

On my favourite book again

\"Why did you do all this for me?\" he(Wilbur) asked. \"I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.\"

\"You have been my friend,\" replied Charlotte. \"That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.\"

A 5 year old child will not be able to fully understand the meaning of Charlotte's words. It takes a adult who have gone through enough life experiences to fully appreciate it. But there is absolutely no harm for a 5 year old to read it, right ?

[J2mum]

Hi Tamarind,


Understand you have the ladybird series. Do you know where can I get it in cheaper price in spore?

[Diveera]

Hi All


Interesting to read the post on phonics and nurturing reading habits. Is it necessary for kids to recognize the alphabet before starting phonics? My gal is 2 yrs 1 mth and I intend to send her for phonics classes next year. She can sing ABC song from A to Z but when you point to letter A and ask her what is this, she will answer ABC. When she see signboards, etc. she will say "look ABC". I keep telling her that ABC are letters and alphabets to form words. Similarly to numbers, she can say 1 to 10 but can’t recognize individual number.

I have some flash cards at home, she recognize the pictures and ignore the alphabets and words. Today I printed only alphabet (no pictures) on A3 to paste it in her room. Printed A to C on an A4 size to read to her daily hoping that over time she will be able to recognize all the alphabets.

Am I overly anxious about her recognizing alphabets and numbers? At her age, is it simply exposing them and not expecting them to recognize?

[jedamum]

Tamarind,

I have a vague idea you mentioned pointing to words while reading.
My boy will remove my hand from the page as I am blocking the illustrations/pictures.
How?

Diveera,
I think your query should belong to this http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=877, where you can find more info.

Try Leapfrog Letter factory if you don't mind 30min of video daily for your girl. My 2yo 2 mth boy learnt his letter sounds there even before he learnt his ABCs. Now he can switch between both. I don't think i can send my boy to phonics class as I do not wish him to waste time (and my money) relearning the letter sounds and also cos i am very certain he can't sit still in class. :roll:

[buds]

Heyya Diveera,


Ideally, it is good if the children alreadly have the basic
recognition and writing skills for the 26 letters of the
alphabet, before they are to be enrolled in a Phonics
programme of your choice. As during the Phonics session,
we usually do not go back to re-emphasize the letter in
the lessons. Much too confusing when going deeply into
Phonics, its sounds and letter combinations. As much as
possible if you can, try to have her know the letters first,
ya.. It will be easier for your child, you and the child's
Phonics teacher.

Reading to the child daily will also help a lot to inculcate
a deep interest in reading. Plus it enables child to also
be introduced indirectly to sight words, which may or
may not be present in certain Phonics pgrms.

Your child is only 2 years old, hence your worry for her
being vaguely introduced to the alphabets is unfounded.
She's just beginning to explore her world...

Make learning fun. Esp for 2 year olds, ok.
There are many contibutions from parents here in this
forum including myself, who reinforce with our children
at home without the sevices of an enrichment centre.

When teaching try to inspire,
not perspire....

:celebrate:

[buds]

Heyya Diveera,


If you're interested, you can catch up on past posts below.


http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1672&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

Have a good day.
Cheers.
:celebrate:

[buds]

Heyya jedamum,


Its good if your boy doesn't wanna see the finger..
Yes, illustrations make the story more interesting
especially when reading to younger children. They
can point out to the pictures and make their own
child-observations to share with you..

As for your note on tamarind pointing when reading...
Here is my few cents worth, ya..

When a young child first starts to read or interested in
reading, to point at words child reads is fine cos their
concentration tends to stray very quickly and away from
the words that we try to have them look at while we're
reading.

However, when they grow older...
Exposed to Phonetic and Sight reading skills and are able to
read more confidently, without using the finger to read is a
better approach. Then, child is improving by not having to
point to every word he reads which will mean child is reading
faster! At an older age they can already comprehend the nature
of reading text is from left to right, unlike when they're younger
hence the habit of pointing.

Upon succesfully reading without the finger, some children are
introduced to speed reading which enables them to read more
of their favourite books.

[jedamum]

thanks buds!

[mintcc]

just some ideas of introducing ABCs …


1. Get those foam mat with ABCs and play with the letters and fitting the letters to the mat.
2. Cut big letters out from magazine and paste them to form the kids name or things of their favorite things
3. Sing the ABC song.
4. Have a poster of ABC with your kid’s favorite things in ABC e.g. animals
5. Sing the ABC song and point to the letters
6. Write letters on the the sand in a playground or beach
7. Write letters during scribble sessions with nice nice colours
8. Eat cookies/macaroni/sweets/vitamins with alphabet shapes
9. Watch those programes with ABCs - Sesamee Street, Leap Frog, Signing Times etc