Children of average ability

[tamarind]

buds:

As for reading, the earlier the child starts his foundation... the faster
he will read coherently.... clearly... This is a cognitive process. The
stimuli he receives from caregiver or early playgroup may enhance
his ability to read at a young age. But as for writing, its a physical
process where if he's still of a child's age, he'll be able to carry out
child related activities. Prior to that will also include fine motor skills/
games like lacing, beading, playing pick up with chopsticks, feeding
himself and many other activities that can strengthen the childs fingers
to the pencil grip/pincer grip - thumb, pointer and tall man.

buds,
I still remember this thread which I read in 2006. Shylyn should know this very well.

http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/353635/374211.html

The mommy wrote :
Hi,
Anyone here with a Aug 2003 baby ( i.e 2 yrs and 3 months now ) who's able to read books independently aloud and do maths( multiplication ) ? my boy is able to do all these and was just wondering is this very advanced for his age or just normal ? He can speak very well , in sentences too. In fact, he started reading book ( just words no pictures ,at 18 months )...anyone with the same experience out there ?

This is a very good example of a child who has been given a lot of stimulation from a young age !

My girl, on the other hand, has no stimulation until she was about 3 years 8 months old, when I started to teach her phonics and reading.

Honestly I think that mommy of the super advanced boy is doing too much. I know a lot of people think that she is hot-housing her child, but I think she is just doing what she thinks is best for her child. I am actually inspired by her to start teaching my own kids at home. I do not advise any mommy to be like me who totally did nothing to develop my girl intellectually before the age of 3.

Before that age, I focused on developing her fine motor skills using the methods you described : lacing, beading, playing pick up with chopsticks, feeding herself and many other activities that can strengthen the childs fingers to the pencil grip/pincer grip ... I even let her use kids' scissors to cut paper since 3 years old. She has excellent fine motor skills from a very young age. I do not have to let her practice writing at home. Somehow she just knows how to write, and very neatly too.

My boy on the other hand, only starts to respond to stimuli after the age of 3. He also does the exact same activities as my girl to train his fine motor skills, though his development is far slower. But he is progressing well, slowly but steadily so I just let him develop at his own pace.

I think that stimuli is important, the amount of stimuli should depend on the child's ability. And it is also very important to focus on developing their fine motor skills.

buds:

Children who are exposed to some phonics and
also are early readers to simple books will be
able to manipulate this material with much enjoy-
ment. If child is only exposed to Phonics but doesn
read a lot, may not be able to make out the words
efficiently. Reading is the key to improve children's
vocabulary, so must try to read to them everyday
and also get them to read to us!

I agree My girl reads a lot so she is very familiar with sight words. I teach my younger boy to use the color code to help him spell words which are not phonetic. For example, a green tile goes on the green rectangle, blue tile goes on the blue rectangle, etc. He can guess the spelling on his own. The best thing is he thought he is playing, and did not realize that he is learning

[shylyn]

Allo Buds

Me also haven't been posting as i did not hv internet access..else is i dun hv the time to reply..btw, how r ur girls?? Hope they r better now..what happened to them?

buds:

Didn rcv reply PM. Many apologies. Bummed with 2 not so well kiddies
and an extremely busy hubs this week. Plus lately with P2's teacher out
since last Friday, P2 has been bringing back LOADS of work, like can you
believe it? 8 pages of Maths homework??? All in the same workbook?
Gawd, is the substitute even doing anything? P2 is only too happy to do
it with me, cos she says in school the class is given only 10 minutes to do
5 pages or else, NO RECESS!!!

Hmm..no wonder i hv not received any replies from u & another mummy..ok..will drop u the pm again..do let me know whether u received it this time.
Oh dear..can see tt ur P2 girl is stressed by the piling work..is her teacher back oredi? How many hrs does she spend with tt subsitute teacher?? It must be a whole load of writing to hv cause e blisters..poor darling..did u go & find out exactly what was happening??

buds:

Ok, now the good part... been doing research on how to best answer
some of the questions being posted to me the best i can. Some of which
are pretty challenging too... a bit rusty now i suppose, not being back to
the actual circle, hahaa... BUT i know i'll be on track soon enuf, esp when
my kiddies are better (in health).

I'm glad to hear that..let e o buds return....

buds:

Think can only see you guys again next week by the looks of it.
I try to read up to catch up but may need actual sitting time to
reply to all... Late better than never? Can like dat or not?

Aiyoo...of cos lah...own time own target..rem? Hee..somemore u r not paid..so no obligations lah..u r doing many of us a great favour by sharing ur thoughts/ideas etc...(cant speak for the rest) but i would rather see a well rested & energised Buds back in action! :lol:

[shylyn]

tamarind:

smurf, shylyn,

I bought the Scrabble for Kids at Kiddy Palace

shylyn,
My kids play with it whenever they like. My older girl can spell independently without any help. My younger boy is very motivated to try on his own and refused any help from me. Both of them spell using phonics. No memorizing needed.

Taramind
hmm..how come i didn't see it..do u hv a picture of the cover??
It's gd to let the kiddos learn spelling in a fun manner..via games! Think my boy still dun understand the concept of playing games..heheh..

[shylyn]

buds:

The word \"bush\" for example, only the /sh/ is
a phonetic combination - but the /b/ and /u/
put together is actually - baaa sound.

Heheh...u r talking to a mummy who know nuts abt phonics..hehehe..honestly, i think my boy knows his phonics much better than his mummy..

buds:

Reading is the key to improve children's
vocabulary, so must try to read to them everyday
and also get them to read to us!

Oh yes..it's my boy's habit prior to sleeping..read at least 2 books b4 he is willing to sleep..of cos, he knows this is only so when he is with us..cos when he is with my in laws, who aren't able to read English, he wont even ask them to read.

buds:

Most time nowadays, parents are too focussed on achieving these
milestones faster than the child's age and hence this creates the so-
called very advanced child.
The more parents find their child can do certain things ahead of peers
their age, the more they push the limits... and slowly the children have
less of the time for their childhood to really enjoy being the child that
they are...

I agree with u that there is a drive for parents to let their children achieve their milestones earlier..it's somehow a boost to their confidence & a source of pride to them. Honestly, i don't deny that i, myself is really proud of my boy..not only for his intelligence but also for being so adorable. Ok..i know it is NOT ok to booast abt oneself..but being a parent, i'm sure u will feel pride whenever ur kid does/excel in some areas..of cos, all these are not at the expense of pushing the kids to their limits. Childhood is still to be enjoyed.

buds:

But as for writing, its a physical
process where if he's still of a child's age, he'll be able to carry out
child related activities. Prior to that will also include fine motor skills/
games like lacing, beading, playing pick up with chopsticks, feeding
himself and many other activities that can strengthen the childs fingers
to the pencil grip/pincer grip - thumb, pointer and tall man.

I didn't really give him training in this aspect..partially i didn't know the imptance of that...he does some lacing, chopsticks, beading etc either during his Shichida or CC time..at home, we usually spend time playing games, reading or let him engage in free play.

buds:

legible and able to put words from
his mind/reading onto print..

Hmm..my boy surprised me yest by writing (w/o any help from those tracing lines of alphabets) a few more additional letters like \"T', \"E', \"F', 'J', \"V', \"U\" & \"X\". In fact, I find his writing of \"U\", \"F\" & \"E* very well written. I'm not sure whether this is a sign of being ready to write..

buds:

As a safeguard to keep child's interest in reading but yet trying to nurture
the writing process, i wud suggest to introduce both on a level scale and
not so much more reading activities than written activity. Provide oppor-
tunities if not for writing, at least colouring, shading, cutting, tracing shapes and pictures... etc.

Oh yes..he loves to use the scissors to cut! In fact, i can rest assured passing him a pair of scissor to cut..he will becareful w e scissor..colouring, erhh..dunno whether it is typical guy thing..dun really colour well..hehehe..

buds:

I always remind parents - teach everything age-
appropriately. Like the slogan says, everything in moderation is fine
and healthy. As too much of something/anything may pose side effects...

Hmm..if u read taramind's link...i did point out that i'm worried (in such a way) that my boy will get bored when he goes to class in future as he knows a lot..not that i intentionally teach him materials that r not his age grp..but rather, i'll deem whether the material is suitable & of interest to him 1st.. i guess, no matter how much we teach, there will always still be new knowledge somewhere..

[tamarind]

Shylyn,

Here's the box.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3256121091_24351d64e8.jpg\">

I help you to look out for it when I go shopping.

[buds]

Heyya guys,


POPULAR and Metro has this.
You guys Jurong people can find
it at JP’s Toys R Us, shud have…
Biggest toys store wud have everything
right? Tamarind, how much you bought
that, mebbe for people who wanna
compare prices… Thanks in advance.

[smurf]

Hi Tamarind,


er, my 4 YO can read simple words, but he reads very slowly, like robot. :lol:

just want to check, the scrabble game is suitable for him in this case? cos I think a kid needs to have certain level of command of language before he can play the game right? :?

[tamarind]

buds,

I forgot the price :oops: Bought it more than a year ago. I will post the price here if I see it in the shops.

smurf,
There are a few levels of difficulty for this scrabble game. Level 1 contains very simple 3 and 4 letter words.

A child should first know all the phonics letter sounds very well, and be able to join letters to form 3 letter words. He should first learn to spell by listening to the phonics sounds, so there is no need to memorize. Like buds say there are sight words, which must be memorized but these are at the higher levels and can be done when the child is older.

For free and excellent phonics resources, check out this web site.

http://www.starfall.com/

[shylyn]

tamarind:

Shylyn,

Here's the box.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3256121091_24351d64e8.jpg\">

I help you to look out for it when I go shopping.

Hi Taramind
Hmm..unable to view the photo leh..wonder why..btw, thks for helping me look out for it..let me know if u happened to see it somewhere..gam xia! :lol:

[shylyn]

buds:

Heyya guys,


POPULAR and Metro has this.
You guys Jurong people can find
it at JP's Toys R Us, shud have..
Biggest toys store wud have everything
right? Tamarind, how much you bought
that, mebbe for people who wanna
compare prices.. Thanks in advance.

Buds
Toys R Us in JP is undergoing reno now...sad..only got Kiddy Palace to satisfied this shopping mummy's quest for new & exciting pdts for her kiddo.