All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[clarabella]

tamarind:

clarabella,

Perhaps Jolly phonics sounds are different. I have never used that before so I cannot comment. My girl attended Montessori phonics class, and my boy attended Zoophonics for a few months (he did not learn anything, but his mommy did learn their sounds) The phonics sounds taught at both schools are exactly the same as Leapfrog

There are different methods of teaching phonics. I guess the most important thing is that our kids learn to read.

Ghoti is funny!
I don't know anything about Montessori, but Zoophonics is from U.S. so it does make sense that the phonics sounds are the same as Leapfrog. (Jolly is from U.K.)
But, yeah, I agree that the end of the day the important thing is learning to read; phonics is just a means to an end to help them sound out decodable words... I just read a study that claims that phonics don't always work for some kids who are more right-brain learners; they seem to do better learning words the sight-reading way. Interesting.

It's too bad we can't decode Chinese characters a la the phonics way!

[buds]

Heyya clarabella,


Yup, you are right. The sounds from Jollyphonics have
slightly different pronunciation esp for the vowels /u/
and /a/. Likewise for Letterland. The vowels sound
deeper going by their accent.

Anyways, since different countries have different twang,
in the way they communicate there isn't reali much of
right and wrong with regards to pronunciation. We meet
many people in our daily lives who speak English okay
but some may think the pronunciation sounds too Singlish.

For example... storytime with schellen and sashimi results
in two different character name twangs. As for schellen like
myself, got the angmoh accent so we say Al-er-din but sashimi
says it as Al-aah-din... which in this case both still correct,
cos its their own unique slang. Heheeeheeee... :lol: :lol:

[ChiefKiasu]

buds:

...As for schellen like

myself, got the angmoh accent so we say Al-er-din but sashimi
says it as Al-aah-din... which in this case both still correct,
cos its their own unique slang...

So is alamak al-a-muck, ae-ler-muck, or ah-lah-mak?

[clarabella]

buds:

We meet

many people in our daily lives who speak English okay
but some may think the pronunciation sounds too Singlish.

For example... storytime with schellen and sashimi results
in two different character name twangs. As for schellen like
myself, got the angmoh accent so we say Al-er-din but sashimi
says it as Al-aah-din... which in this case both still correct,
cos its their own unique slang. Heheeeheeee... :lol: :lol:

Er, but oral exam how? Will schools be sticky on British pronunciation huh?

[clarabella]

I remember an advertisement talking about Boat Quay… Boat Kway!

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


Ya know the ghoti joke too?
All right, girl! Cute how they
put it, aye?

Ya, its true. Many rules to grammar.
Many different steps to reading
efficiently. The words in English
are all different and some are
derived from words of other
languages… like from French
words. As English is that complex,
the proven way to be in good command
is to read a lot and use it a lot…

Phonics IS another aide meant for
words that can be decoded but for
others that cannot be so, its just
plain sight.

Clarabella,

You’re right agn abt some children who
cannot learn reading via Phonics. I ever
came across one student who simply does
not have the ear for it. As much as i helped
him, he couldn’t hear the sounds the way we
hear it. But when i worked with him via sight
reading he could tho he was a little slow with
spelling it out or writing the spelling word down
on paper… So, i truthfully brought the mum into
the class and worked the Phonics way with her and
explained to her that Phonics may not be the right
method to teach her boy. Sceptical as she may cos
since its almost unheard of within her closest friends
and relatives’ children that a child cannot learn reading
through Phonics, I worked closely together with her to
prove my point. I didn’t want the parent to be thinking
that the centre just collect money kinda attitude - we
observe and care with regards to the progress of the
students esp. the high result-driven enrichment centre
obligation parents always have upon us… In the end,
she realised i was right and found it weird that her son
is such an exception. I assure her its ok. Its more
important that we find a more suitable learning style
to accommodate the learning style of her son.

So, yes… there will be occasions where there are kids
who may not have the ear for it. Observing your child’s
progress with reading and school work would point to
the inclination of learning styles. Hence, parents are
always encouraged to be hands-on when it comes to
teaching the child or with revision. And those who may
not know how to help the child or cannot afford the time
to help the child, have the option to turn to tutors - be it
private one-to-one coaching or within a learning centre.
This again - some children learn better one-to-one, but
some others thrive when working in groups.

[buds]

clarabella:

buds:

We meet

many people in our daily lives who speak English okay
but some may think the pronunciation sounds too Singlish.

For example... storytime with schellen and sashimi results
in two different character name twangs. As for schellen like
myself, got the angmoh accent so we say Al-er-din but sashimi
says it as Al-aah-din... which in this case both still correct,
cos its their own unique slang. Heheeeheeee... :lol: :lol:

Er, but oral exam how? Will schools be sticky on British pronunciation huh?

Depending on the teacher i suppose, hahaaa...
If she thinks the child trying to show off that
he is reading more Queens English way which
sounds better than hers, then the child is in
the pits!

But if the teacher understands that people of
different cultures come with different accents,
can be accepted.

One old colleague sent her mostly Malay speaking
niece for lessons at Lorna Whiston. Coming out
from her mouth after 3-mths from there, were
all the angmoh-ish thick slang kinda English which
became too thick to understand... the poor girl was
penalized for it.

If you have such doubt, good to check with the school
whether they find it acceptable for a child to read in
the manner of the Queen. Just to play safe...

But Jollyphonics in general is a good Phonics pgrm
which doesn't require the children to sit still all the
time. So kiddies find it interesting!

[buds]

ChiefKiasu:

buds:

...As for schellen like

myself, got the angmoh accent so we say Al-er-din but sashimi
says it as Al-aah-din... which in this case both still correct,
cos its their own unique slang...

So is alamak al-a-muck, ae-ler-muck, or ah-lah-mak?

Al-a-muck = British twang
Ae-ler-muck = Fed-up version of \"what the....?\"
Ah-lah-mak = Proper Malay pronunciation

[RRMummy]

haiyo u guys really funny leh!! can make serious point come across like that! :rotflmao:

[buds]

Laughter IS the best medicine, babe.