I Can Read - Discussion

[miza mummy]

Hi all, i just want to share my experience with I Can Read - the English enrichment course kids.


My daughter is going to be 6 soon, and she can read book independently, if you know the series Reading with Robin, she actually had completed the whole range of series.

She attended Kumon as well for the past 8 months, for English and has no problem with writing and reading.

The reason we want to enroll her to I Can read is to have more exposure with the native speakers, so she can pick up the proper and correct pronunciation. On top of that we also want to expose her with critical thinking, involve with discussion and more on communication/ oral activity.

We took the appraisal test and during the test to my opinion she was doing quite well. she can read, pronounce all the objects shown on the table correctly even mention the first sound of the object. she also can read about 30 common words and make 3 mistakes because of wrong pronunciation. when come to the test to read about 30 uncommon words, she makes about 5 mistakes.

I am quite happy with the test, However I am very disappointed with the placement result. They put her under the I Can Read level which is for 5+ years old and start from reading again. And this program last in 1 year.

To me, it is a repetition for her, she reads already she needs to go to the next level! beside she is going to be 6 and next year P1. She will have to waste 6 months worth of exposure if we take up this path.

But I can say this because i don't know what this school is actually doing for the level of I can Read.

any parents have experience with I can read program? maybe you can share with me what they are actually doing for this level so we can rest assure we are making the correct decision.

thank you.

[Monster Mummy]

Hi,


For my son, before he went for placement test, he got some foundation in the phonics. Eventually, he also been placed in the ICR and he taken up the ICR around the age of 6 yrs plus.

For the ICR class, it is actually placing them in the way that they start from the scratch of short vowel and decoding the words where I found it quite useful for him. Even sometime, he encounter difficulty in reading, he is still manage to read out.

Only disadvantage, he might not be able to understand the meaning.

If you are looking for the kid to pick up slight skill in grammar, i would say that maybe you would like to try out on LC as I understand that some parent taken out their kid from I can read to place them in LC where they also teach the kid on grammer.

[miza mummy]

Monster Mummy:

Hi,


If you are looking for the kid to pick up slight skill in grammar, i would say that maybe you would like to try out on LC as I understand that some parent taken out their kid from I can read to place them in LC where they also teach the kid on grammer.

thank you for the reply! i really appreciate it

may i know what is LC? is that from the same ICR school?

[tree nymph]

miza mummy:

thank you for the reply! i really appreciate it

may i know what is LC? is that from the same ICR school?

LC = LCentral

There are a few good ones (good feedback) around. There's Seed D'learning (in the East), The Alternative Story (North) and Learning Horizon (Orchard). LCentral, I believe, has a few branches around.

[steffi88]

Nanachan:

just my 2cents worth..... my dd was in ICR TCS class for almost a year.

As she will not want to talk when face with a unfamilar face. before u can be promted to the next class, their rule is tat u need to be tested by a native teacher. My DD will not want to speak when she see a new native teacher as her teacher in TCS is a local.

My view is, the teacher should decide if she should be promoted and not a native teacher who have never seem / teach my child.

so my conclusion is, ICR is onlu good if yr kid is very outspoken and will not shy fm strangers.

Hi
Took my gal for the assessment 2 mths ago and she was placed in TCS. Yesterday, the teacher informed that she can be promoted to PRP. There wasnt any need for a test by native teacher..think that varies from centre to centre?

[laughingcat]

delete

[gaagaa]

miza mummy:

Hi all, i just want to share my experience with I Can Read - the English enrichment course kids.


My daughter is going to be 6 soon, and she can read book independently, if you know the series Reading with Robin, she actually had completed the whole range of series.

She attended Kumon as well for the past 8 months, for English and has no problem with writing and reading.

The reason we want to enroll her to I Can read is to have more exposure with the native speakers, so she can pick up the proper and correct pronunciation. On top of that we also want to expose her with critical thinking, involve with discussion and more on communication/ oral activity.

We took the appraisal test and during the test to my opinion she was doing quite well. she can read, pronounce all the objects shown on the table correctly even mention the first sound of the object. she also can read about 30 common words and make 3 mistakes because of wrong pronunciation. when come to the test to read about 30 uncommon words, she makes about 5 mistakes.

I am quite happy with the test, However I am very disappointed with the placement result. They put her under the I Can Read level which is for 5+ years old and start from reading again. And this program last in 1 year.

To me, it is a repetition for her, she reads already she needs to go to the next level! beside she is going to be 6 and next year P1. She will have to waste 6 months worth of exposure if we take up this path.

But I can say this because i don't know what this school is actually doing for the level of I can Read.

any parents have experience with I can read program? maybe you can share with me what they are actually doing for this level so we can rest assure we are making the correct decision.

thank you.

Hi Miza Mummy,

I withdrew my dd from ICR 2 mths ago as I don't believe in the teacher and I feel their curriculum is not very tuned to the P1 curruiculum. Like what others say, their ICR level does not cover the grammer part and it's true that the words in the reading text is very difficult for a 6 yrs old kid to understand. They do focus a lot of reading but if the kid can read independently already, I wouldn't recommend this school.

I've switched to LCentral after that to give it a try after seeing their curriculum and their workbooks. Of course their methodology is different but their coverage is better. However, it was my luck to have gotten a new teacher who does not meet my expectation. I do not want to bad mouth any school or teacher but I was really disappointed with the teacher since day 1. I guess which ever school you choose, the most important factor is the teacher, which he/she is competent and is willing to go the extra mile....

[gaagaa]

Celyw:

gaagaa:

[quote=\"Celyw\"]Hi,


how about ICR at West Coast Plaza? Any parent send their children there?

:?:

Hi Celyw,

My gal was with ICR West Cost Plaza... I didn't really have a good experience with the new teacher. She won't entertain you after the lesson unless you make an appointment with her. Today, I just saw 2 spelling errors in my gal's workbook that were not corrected by her in last week's class. I was really disappointed with their standard/quality

Hi, May i know the teacher name? I will try my best not to let my boy get into her class :P[/quote]so sorry, not sure if it's ok the mention names in this forum? pm me if anyone wish to know the name of the teacher...

[weekender]

Hi,

My child is in K2 now, he will be entering P1 in 2011. We went to Bt Timah ICR for an assessment and he is placed in the preliminary level, PRP.

I am wondering if the PRP + ICR programme is appropriate for my child as he will be in P1 in a few months’ time. Are we too late in starting the programme now? or should we look for an exam-focused curriculum instead?

The teacher said that the ICR provides the strong foundation for writing and comprehension, are there any parents here who are able to testify to this?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Cheers

[Monster Mummy]

Hi,


I think that like others have said, it varies across the centre and also depend on children.

Just like some children can pick up fast and some might still need to make extra effort or longer period to pick up.

For me, the purpose is to let the children to pick up the reading first and of course, I also worry that they does not have grammar foundation. So far so good but I would need to observe what the boy fare during school assessment.