Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment
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starlight88:
Hi Starlight88, I brought my girl to Lcentral for the trial class-Preparation for school...She liked it very much and told me its more interesting than ICR...For the trial class, she was given 15 spelling words and a single scene picture composition with assisted words....For the composition, the teacher let her write the story on her own and later did the correction and explanation...You can see her original work and the corrections done....This is good cos you will know how the child construct the story....and not like 100% guided...She loved it and told me she wanted to start immediately but I told her we will only start after she finished her last term in ICR....Hope this helps...Happy Avon
Do share with us more on the Lcentral PFS program should you decide to sign your K1 kid for it. -
starlight88:
Hi starlight88,
Hi Tamarind
Thks for your recommendation. Will check it out. Besides, I have been following your blog. Thks for sharing all the wonderful ideas on learning phonics and Chinese.
I am also considering Kumon English since they allow the child to progress based on his own ability. However, Kumon English does not follow MOE syllabus. I wonder if it would be useful/practical from P1 point of view. How about Morris Allen? Do you know whether they follows the P1 syllabus?
You are welcome
Yes I think Morris Allen follows the P1 syllabus. I don't recommend Kumon, too repetitive.
Actually the best thing to do is simply to find interesting story books and let the child read as much as possible. Check out these wonderful books :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/picture-books-from-my-home-library.html
You will be surprised that a child who reads extensively, will have no problem with grammar, vocabulary, composition, etc by 6 years old. -
Dear all
I have a coming to 4-yr old boy …
Recently during the parent-teacher conference , the teacher feedback that my son doesn’t enjoy reading nor story-telling time …
In fact, all along my boy is "socially-shy" (i use this word cos he is not shy at home! just shy when he is outside!) and I have always thought of sending him for some speech & drama class … but held back as I was careful not to be too kiasu and pressurize my dear son inadvertently … however, after the discussion w his school teacher… I thought maybe its time I put my thoughts into action. And since reading is an important aspect of one’s learning, I have decided to send him to phonics class instead. I have asked around as well as read the first 10 pages of this thread (cannot read all 62 pages… too tedious
) …
It seems to me that back in 2008/9 Zoophonics garner lotsa "supporters" … Recently, my neighbour suggested Lcentral.
I’ve sent my son for the free trial at Lcentral; based on my neighbour’s recommendation. It went fine. But my concern was there were only 2 students in the class (some say good cos that means "undivided attention" but bearing in mind that my intention to send him for enrichment besides learning to read is also to allow him exposure to more peers his age at the same time … hence i thought 2 kids in a class won’t do him any good socially … I was looking at around 4-6 kids per class )
That was when I chance upon this thread … from the first 10 pages, it seems most parents are up-in-arms FOR zoophonics… but i also noticed that those comments were posted way back in 2008/9 … my question is … is Zoophonics still as good or even better ? ( i mean it is not unusual for enrichment ctrs or even preschool to be good in the initial years & dwindle in terms of standard cos of high turnover of teachers …whatsoever reasons… etc… one such eg i can think of after reading the thread is ICR… haha)
For a 4 yr old, would any kind parent recommend Zoophonics or Lcentral ?
Appreciate your response. Thanks a tonne! -
I think age is not a deciding factor. It is the intention of the parents that plays a part and of course the needs of the child.
If your intention of sending him to enrichment class is to help him overcome his social shyness, then it may be better to go for class that has more number of students and one that involves a lot of interaction such as speech and drama.
My humble opinion.
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Hi Maisy,
Just wan to contribute my tots.
From my point of view, becoming more sociable and able to be more confident outside is different objective compared to learning to read.
Phonics class is more academical while speech and drama classes are more physical, involving body expression and quite a lot of pretend play.
If you are concern on becoming sociable and confident, I think there are 2 form of enrichment classes that may be suitable.
1) If your boy love to move ard and enjoys music, maybe you can try music appreciation class like Kindermusik where there are plenty of phyiscal games with music during the 1hr plus session. Kids are encourage to perform and speak up during interaction with the teacher.
2) If you boy like to pretend play and act out his favourite character, speeach and drama class maybe more suitable as the session are usually with different themes and the kids are guide to speak out and act infront of their peers.
Both types of enrichments are more relax and suitable for energetic kids.
For phonics class, its more desk bound and requires longer concentration span. Teacher will focus more to establish the letter sounds, blending, writing. There will be short sessions in between when teacher focus on individual kid to give full attention in guiding. And since your kid is 4 yo, the session is usually 1.5hr, which maybe quite a long duration for some active kids.
I am not expert but happens that my gal 3.5yo has been attending both S&D class and Phonics Class so I roughly know the genetic difference between the 2. Though there maybe some enrichment out there that claim cover BOTH aspects, but I guess its not so possible to be able to focus on both in the 1 or 1.5hrs session.
Personally, I feel its important to build the interest of the kid first and from there they will explore more into the area. Overdoing may kill their interest and may make them dislike the subject.
Some tots to share. Hope its helps. :lol: -
Hi XK
Thanks for your input.
Yeah agree w what you mentioned.
Just to share, I started out wanting to send him for speech & drama ... but later changed my mind to phonics since the form teacher feedback that he doesn't seem to enjoy reading & goes completely silent when asked to read after her (In my heart, after discussion w his teacher, i was thinking could it be because he doesn't know how to read so he lacks the confidence - of course this is only my conjecture ) But in any case, i decided to send him for phonics just to ensure he is able to read ... and see if that makes any difference in his confidence level
Hi Bowie,
Thanks so much for your detailed input.
As per my response to XK above, I have decided to send my boy for phonics.
Incidentally, I just spoke to his teacher briefly this morning about my intention to start him on phonics enrichment ..... she said \"no harm trying\"... when I asked the teacher about S&D, surprisingly she told me \"S&D can hold back\" cos she said they have \"show & tell\" in school and it seems that my son is \"okay w that segment\"... the problem only came up when he is asked to read & repeat after her during phonics, that is where he will \"clam up\"....
I've also discussed w my frens, they agree that maybe start him on phonics first, when he is able to read, see if his confidence naturally picks up (fingers' crossed man)
So yeah .... now I have decided to send him for phonics.... my \"challenge\" is which one? Lcentral or Zoophonics ?
I have sent him for Lcentral trial - he seems fine & the teacher commented he is \"quiet but ready\".
But after reading the positive reviews on ZP in this forum, I am not sure if i should let him join ZP instead of Lcentral (since some parents commented ZP very \"interesting\" in the first few pages of this thread altho those reviews were posted way back in 2008) More importantly, there is a Zoophonics very near my house but doesn't allow trial so I am unsure if i should proceed without trial .... Sigh such dilemna. -
Normally for Lcentral the foundation group is rather small in the initial stage.When they have reach more advanced level the class size can be as big as 9 in a group.
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ICreative has started to ask for $30 deposit for my 2008 DS’ slot
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HappyAvon:
Hi HappyAvon sounds encouraging....thanks! Hopefully I could get such good results as you...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.... -
homeworkmummy:
Hi HappyAvon sounds encouraging....thanks! Hopefully I could get such good results as you...
Hi homeworkmummy, the teacher is very important.....a good teacher can deliver good results no matter which centre the child goes to...We had followed the same ICR teacher since she was in their PRP class..At that time, we attended the centre in Pacific Plaza, Orchard....When the school was moved to Harbourfront centre, we still travelled all the way there just to be with the same teacher....She is a good teacher..strict and no nonsense type....Some parents do not like it but we are okay with her..and most importantly, my girl likes her too.... Good luck to you and hope that you child can get good results with ICR....
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