All About Teaching and Learning Phonics
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tamarind:
Hello Tamarind,
He will be 6 years old next month, and now he is reading Charlotte's Web. He reads very fluently, and he knows most of the words, I rarely need to help him.
Was wondering whether can you share your experiences in getting active boy to read. At the start, do you face any difficulty getting your boy to read books other than P&J? Also can you share what are your encounters when you tell your boy to read such a \"thick\" book? I was thinking how I can counter such fear should my boy be in that stage.
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laughingcat:
Hello Tamarind,tamarind:
He will be 6 years old next month, and now he is reading Charlotte's Web. He reads very fluently, and he knows most of the words, I rarely need to help him.
Was wondering whether can you share your experiences in getting active boy to read. At the start, do you face any difficulty getting your boy to read books other than P&J? Also can you share what are your encounters when you tell your boy to read such a \"thick\" book? I was thinking how I can counter such fear should my boy be in that stage.
Hi laughingcat,
My boy reads thick books only after he has completed the Peter and Jane level 11 books at 4 years 10 months old. Book 11 has about 150 to 200 words a book, take a look at this page :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-do-i-manage-to-find-time-to-teach.html
After book 11, he started reading these books :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/09/books-they-love.html
The Peter and Jane books are the best books for training kids to read thick books with hundreds of words
I started the Peter and Jane book 1 when he was 3 years old. There were only a few words a page, and I only asked him to read at most 2 to 3 pages a day (for books 1 to 4). Since he only had to read for a few minutes, he did not mind.
Since book 5, he read only one page a day. As he progressed through the levels, the number of words in each page increased, although he was still reading one page a day.
By book 11, he was very used to looking at pages with many small words. So when I asked him to read thick books, he did not mind at all.
That is why I highly recommend the Peter and Jane books Of course, both my kids have a very strong foundation in phonics, and that really helps them to remember new words easily.
When teaching a boy who cannot sit still, the trick is only teach a few minutes a day using an excellent reader like the Peter and Jane series, and also teach a very helpful technique which is phonics. Many parents think that we must make a child sit still for at least an hour everyday to read, that is not necessary. We only have to teach a few minutes a day, but it is important to persist and teach every day between the age of 3 to 6. If we stop for one or two days, the child may forget the words. I brought the Peter and Jane books with me even when we travel overseas.
Different kids will progress at a different pace. In the case of my girl, now in P1, she read Charlotte's web at 5 years old.
When my kids were reading the Peter and Jane series (note that they read every word out loud from the book, I did not read to them), I did not make them read any other books to me. They always have the freedom to pick any book they like from our home library of a few hundred books, and read quietly on their own. -
It is also important to note that after kids completed the Peter and Jane series (meaning they read every word out loud from the books, do not read to them), parents should continue to read other story books with them for as long as possible. Don't just throw them a thick book and expect them to read.
Check out my blog about how to motivate your child to read.
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-motivate-your-child-to-read.html -
Hello Tamarind,
Thanks you for the great advise. Wah! :udawoman: I am impressed with your method. I will take note of this when my boy reaches that level. Now he is on level 7 of P&J but I would like to go slow for him given his age.
On the note that [quote]parents should continue to read other story books with them for as long as possible. Don't just throw them a thick book and expect them to read. [/quote]....does it mean that I will read some pages from the thick book with the child and then get the child to read some pages as well?
Once again thanks for the advise, seeking early advise from expert is really good as I hope not to thread into something drastic that puts off his reading aloud to me. -
laughingcat:
Hi laughingcat,....does it mean that I will read some pages from the thick book with the child and then get the child to read some pages as well?
It is up to you. In my case, I am too lazy to read to my kids, I ask them to read every word from the entire book to me, they read a few pages to me every day. I have heard of parents who read the entire book of a few hundred pages to their kids.
Personally I think that when the child reads out loud, he is able to remember new words better, and his brain is working harder because he constantly needs to think about how to read the words. This is definitely more effective than reading to the child. -
Hello Tamarind,
Thanks! I know what to do now.
So far my boy is very willing to read to me 3-4 pages of level 7 P&J. Already I am very grateful for his gesture. However I did not push on to get him to read other books for me yet.
But I noticed that each time when I read to him other types of books and I read very slowly.....he will somehow also read together with me as well.
I guess I will get him to read \"thick\" books at a later stage, when he has finished reading level 11 bah. -
Hi tamarind,bud and other mummies,
I need ur advice, feeling so frustrated cause i am like stucked when it comes to teaching my ger letter names and phonics.
After reading the forum sometime back, i bought the leapfrog dvds to tach my ger phonics abt half yr ago. Now she is 2.5 , yes… she is addicted to the leapfrog dvds however she is a bit confused betwwen letter names and sounds.
There are a few problems here:
1) she is confused betwwen letter names and sounds.
2) she does not seem to recognise all the letters, sometimes when she does she will either tell me thir sound or sometimes names.
3)she does not seem to be interested in learning, any other ways to teach her to differentiate between e names n sounds?
4) i myself is not gd at phonics, i am pretty confused of the sounds a, o , u and l. any other ways to learn them? i tried watching starfall so many times but still cant get it…
I need help for all these, just a bit upset that after half yr still stucked.
How? Now i have a nb to take care so even less time with my ger, so hoping to spend quality time to teach her.
desperate mummy -
hi tamarind,
i have another qn, is it too early to introduce P and J to my 2.5 yr old.
To be honest , P and J can be quite a boring book with not so exciting pictures, how do i read to her? How many pages a day?
since she is still learning phonics now( but i think a bit stucked) how to associate the phonics w reading, i dun she can read based on phonics, should i train her to remember the sight words/ memorise words instead?like doing flashcards?
I am really impressed that ur kids can read books of sec 1 level at 6 yrs old!! its amazing, i dun think my ger can do that but i just want her to like reading n be able to read on her own prob by 4 yrs old.
We do read everynight and in fact she likes to read but its moe of me reading the stories, and she will be more interested in the pictures, flipping e pages n interrupting me. How? if i force her to look at the words as i read, she will seem bored....
dunno what to do. -
Hi Tamarind,
How do you get your kid to read other wordy books when they are able to read up to P&J level 11? Do they also just read a couple of pages everyday? Will they remember what they read yesterday to remember the plot of the story?
My kids (turning 3 in Sep) are currently reading one page of book 11a each day. I treat P&J as some kind of study book, more for systematic introduction of new words than for reading for leisure. I am still pointing out the words for them to read. For other fun reading, they are reading much simpler books (colourful and much less wordy). I tried wordier books from the library but they do not seem to have the ‘stamina’ to finish the books at one seating. But the good thing is they enjoy taking those simple few liner books and read by themselves… -
sean wife:
Hi Tamarind,
How do you get your kid to read other wordy books when they are able to read up to P&J level 11? Do they also just read a couple of pages everyday? Will they remember what they read yesterday to remember the plot of the story?
My kids (turning 3 in Sep) are currently reading one page of book 11a each day. I treat P&J as some kind of study book, more for systematic introduction of new words than for reading for leisure. I am still pointing out the words for them to read. For other fun reading, they are reading much simpler books (colourful and much less wordy). I tried wordier books from the library but they do not seem to have the 'stamina' to finish the books at one seating. But the good thing is they enjoy taking those simple few liner books and read by themselves...
Hi Sean Wife,
When my kids finished the Peter and Jane series, both before 5 years old, I continued to let them read one or two pages out loud from thick novels. Now they read about 4 to 5 pages, and sometimes up to 10 pages out loud at one time (each page about 200 words).
They have always been reading many other books of their choice silently on their own, some books are simple, other books are very thick.
Are your kids able to read out loud from book 11 very fluently, without any help from you ? If they can do so, then that is very amazing for 3 year old kids.
However, do note that many thick English books may be too difficult to understand for 3 year old children. You still have to find books that they can understand. I don't advise you to let them read Charlotte's Web, that book is better appreciated by children who are at least 5 or 6 years old.
Also note young kids should still read lots of picture books.
Quote:
\"No matter if they are reading above grade level when they are between the ages of 5-9, their books should always contain some pictures to help them develop their comprehension. He may be able to read at 5, but the development of visual perception probably isn't at the same level. Pictures will continue to help develop this very important skill.\"
Try the original Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. Also try these books :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/picture-books-from-my-home-library.html
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