Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[buds]

JJ_T:

is it good to send my boy( 15mths) old for phonics class or self trainng?? using flash cards?

Don't worry about phonics for your baby as yet. :hugs:
There are many things that can be done @ home with
with your baby either with self-prepared materials or
those bought in the stores.

I'd suggest picture flashcards and matching, learning
alphabets using knobbed puzzles (to develop good
pincer grip for future writing) and also using songs
and rhymes to teach letter sounds. Children who are
proficient in their ABCs first tend to be faster phonics
learners... from my personal experience. They will not
get easily confused between letter and letter sounds.

Just sharing.

[DogDog]

Hi,


For 15 mth old, exposure is really what you need. Make the environment print riched by putting up alphabet flashcards. Refer to them as you sing alphabet songs or play/read alphabet materials. Through such exposure, you will lay a good foundation for the learning of alphabets when he/she is ready. I worked up my 18 mth old boy’s room the way I suggested. He loves Leapfrog Letter Factory and watches once in a while. I sing and pointed to the alphabets when changing him in his room. Now, he is able to sound the sounds of A, B, C and D when prompted.

[badgal]

hi mommies


Juz wanna vent my frustrations here on i-creative learner. I spoke to a lady this morning. Think itz mrs tan. I merely enquried whether for the clementi ctr new class for 2007 child, wld it b a new teacher tat will be teachg tis class. She dun wan to answer my question directly, kept sayg it will either be Teacher Jovin takg over or the new teacher will take over. I oso asked abt whether the new teacher wld hv the experience to teach a class. She simply replied me tat if I m uncomfortable, then I dun sign up at all. Afterall many ple r more than willing to take over my slot. So arrogant. R the ple in this ctr like tat? I noe fr the forum replies, tey are gd. Bt do tey need to be so cocky?

[titank]

Hi badgal,


Initially I also had enrolled for the I Creative Learner program for weekday evening class, due to some logistic problem I request for weekend slot. The staff said putting in waiting list is as good like TKK (等久久）no luck at all.

The best past is that there are some drop out from the weekend class & those who are lucky which called in get the weekend slot. Maybe I also do not have luck to join I-Creative Learner.

Yes their line is very hot & they don't operates on weekend. Even weekday sometime they don't also pick up the call. Maybe you should consider some other language centre.

[hquek]

badgal:

hi mommies


Juz wanna vent my frustrations here on i-creative learner. I spoke to a lady this morning. Think itz mrs tan. I merely enquried whether for the clementi ctr new class for 2007 child, wld it b a new teacher tat will be teachg tis class. She dun wan to answer my question directly, kept sayg it will either be Teacher Jovin takg over or the new teacher will take over. I oso asked abt whether the new teacher wld hv the experience to teach a class. She simply replied me tat if I m uncomfortable, then I dun sign up at all. Afterall many ple r more than willing to take over my slot. So arrogant. R the ple in this ctr like tat? I noe fr the forum replies, tey are gd. Bt do tey need to be so cocky?

hi badgal,

My kids (04, 07) are both in icl. I usually got in touch with Eva (I think she's admin staff). Mrs Treaz Tan is the principal (she came up with the idea and the icl program).

I was not privy to the conversation, but perhaps Mrs Tan was unable to convey the message appropriately. They may not have decided who will take this class. Then again, the materials used should be same throughout. I hear there are teachers who are more popular - but so far I have only heard good things whoever the teacher may be.

All teachers are supposed to have undergone their internal training before they start. If you are concerned about quality of teacher, I would say that new teacher may not be lousy in comparison. When I registered DS1, all I cared about was whether the location had vacancies - couldn't think so much. Fortunately it turned out well.

One thing I like about this school is that they don't collect deposits upfront - unlike many other places I go to. So parents can still cool their heels and think over carefully if they want to go on the program.

[badgal]

nw I start to wonder if tat mrs tan i spoke to is really the principal treaz tan. haha

[Jav]

Hi badgal,


I would guess that she is the principal you spoke to. She does sound like that. Take it or leave it !!

[chrismei]

badgal:

nw I start to wonder if tat mrs tan i spoke to is really the principal treaz tan. haha

Hi Badgal

Mrs Tan has been teaching my girl since the previous teacher resigned. She is a straightforward and strict lady. She is also very 'ON\" such as making phone calls to parents (child not improving-happened to my friend) and will meet every parent one by one after the lesson.

It is true that the waiting list is long as most registered their children 2 years before the class start ..

[homeworkmummy]

My gal will be joining the i can read prelim reading pogramme with teacher Catherine at Kovan. Any comments about her? also how long does it take to complete the Prelim reading skills to the actual ICR course. I saw the workbook for Prelim reading and seems they dont teach words at this stage at all. In fact my daughter school will start teaching them simple words from term 3 onwards, which means icr will be behind than the school schedule? :shock:

[HappyAvon]

homeworkmummy:

My gal will be joining the i can read prelim reading pogramme with teacher Catherine at Kovan. Any comments about her? also how long does it take to complete the Prelim reading skills to the actual ICR course. I saw the workbook for Prelim reading and seems they dont teach words at this stage at all. In fact my daughter school will start teaching them simple words from term 3 onwards, which means icr will be behind than the school schedule? :shock:

Hi homeworkmummy, here is my experience...My girl enrolled in ICR PRP when she was exactly 4 yrs old...It takes about 4-6 mths to progress to their 1 year structured reading programme which consist of Stage 1 and Stage 2..My girl completed stage 1 and skipped stage 2 as recommended by the teacher...She is now in the advanced reading programme which covers reading, writing, grammar and comprehension...In fact when she was attending ICR PRP, she learnt more than what she learnt in her preschool-zoophonics....We are very pleased with her progress in ICR but we will be switching her to Lcentral for their PFS programme which prepares the child for P1...ICR has strong reading programme and my girl really picked up alot from the same teacher since PRP....