All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[pummanuel]

tamarind:

Sorry for the late reply. I am now working in China. The government blocks http://www.kiasuparents.com, so I cannot access it at work. I don't understand why they do that, they don't want their parents to become kiasu too ?

Hi Tamarind, that's the cyber life in China. I cannot access many websites when I was living in China. But I realised there are some inconsistencies as I can access a particular website at some provinces or at a different time. Hehe...

In 2008, it was much easier as China was hosting the Olympics and to counter foreign claims on lack of media freedom, many restrictions were lifted and I could access many Singapore websites then.

[tamarind]

[quote]
Btw, did you buy the complete set of Nardia? Which chronicle did you buy?[/quote]Hi pummanuel,
My hubby bought the complete set of the chronicles of Narnia, all 7 books in one very thick book. But I found the words too small. My SIL gave us a read-aloud version of the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe that has bigger words.
[quote]I'm also impressed by the quality in children's literature, which seriously transcends all ages. [/quote]I think many parents, even those who grew up in English speaking families, probably have not read all the wonderful classics of children's literature, even though these books have been around for many years. I have heard parents comment that some children's classics may be \"dated\". Does that mean that children must read books that talk about TV, computers, iphone, etc ? The children's classics have been around for so many years for a good reason. The stories are timeless and meaningful, and children can learn the beautiful writing by authors like E.B. White, Oscar Wilde, etc. I have also heard of parents who said that their kids read voraciously, but their creative writing is still not good, because they read books like Diary of a Wimpy kid, Beast Quest, etc. If we want kids to do well in English, it is important to make sure that kids read all the great classics of children's literature.

[tamarind]

pummanuel:

tamarind:

Sorry for the late reply. I am now working in China. The government blocks http://www.kiasuparents.com, so I cannot access it at work. I don't understand why they do that, they don't want their parents to become kiasu too ?

Hi Tamarind, that's the cyber life in China. I cannot access many websites when I was living in China. But I realised there are some inconsistencies as I can access a particular website at some provinces or at a different time. Hehe...

In 2008, it was much easier as China was hosting the Olympics and to counter foreign claims on lack of media freedom, many restrictions were lifted and I could access many Singapore websites then.

Besides kiasuparents, websites like blogger, youtube, facebook, etc are also blocked. But I think they have their own Chinese versions, probably controlled by the government.

[tamarind]

pummanuel:

I heard raving reviews on Momo from a cousin in her late 30s. I will borrow from the library and read it. I think my girl is not ready for it yet. Now besides P&J, she's reading Usborne children's books which I bought for $2/book at MPH sales. I regretted buying them as the language is not that proper but she likes the illustrations so I thought just let her choose what she wants.

pummanuel,
Momo is suitable for kids at least 8 years and above, the reading level of the book is about our P4/P5 standard. Kids need to have a certain level of maturity in order to appreciate it. Before reading Momo, kids should read the Neverending Story, another fantastic book by the same author. This book is very thick, the reading level is higher than Peter and Jane level 12, but the story can be easily understood by kids as young as 5 years old. The book is highly imaginative and original. Quote from an Amazon review : \"It is one of those rare children's classics that can be read by anyone, of any age. Once you've read it, you can no longer imagine the Universe without it. \"

Kids below 6 years old should read all the books in this page :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/03/picture-books-from-my-home-library.html

[sunset_dae]

Hi Tamarind


Thanks! Understood!
U now in China? yr children must have miss u so much!

[lisa9841]

hi Tamarind


Just want to say that I am very motivated after reading your postings and buds postings on phonics would like to start teaching phonics to my DD who is 3.5 years now. I have posted a similar question on Buds thread but would like to ask you the same question as well as I would love to hear your views too! You both are very inspirational and also very generous to share so much with the parents here! Thank you very much!

I have been teaching my DD to read via the flashcard (aka shichida/Glenn Doman) method to read since very young. She can recognize most of the sight words on the dolch list and is beginning to read simple story books.(3-4 lines per page kind).

But as you know, the cons of the shichida method is that kids can only recognize words that are already taught to them.When it comes to a new word that they have never seen before, they would not be able to pronounce.

For my DD, I will be starting her with the single phonics sound first as I would want to teach her the basics. But My query is: For example, I want to teach her the sound of the letter "C" ==> since she already know the word "Cat", by sight, should I still use the word "Cat"? From my understanding from your blog, the reason for choosing a word is to get the child to try and sound out these words using phonics method right? In my case, am i right to say that i should choose some "C" letter words that she has never seen before? What is your suggestion in my case? How should I proceed with her? I am also taking your suggestion and bought her the "peter and Jane" books to read.

Also, I have never formally taught her the alphabets. She knows most of them from watching DVD. Should I just do a "revision" with her first as she sometimes will get confused with certain letters, say "b and d" and "m and n"?

Lastly, do you think 3.5 years is too young to start and learn how to write letters? Her school teachers seem to think so and advise me just to let her doodle. Was just wondering what is your views on this? I am very impressed with one Mummy’s posting in the previous pages that her 3 yr old son can already write letters and would write them on her whiteboard! I know I am not supposed to be comparing but my DD cannot hold a pencil very well yet. I can’t help but feel a bit stressed and am beginning to doubt if I am doing/teaching her enough!!

[Wesim]

Hi lisa,


My DD is 3.3 years old now. She can write freehand. I taught her myself. I realised that some centres do not teach them to write at this age. I think they are afraid their little fingers are just not ready to hold the pencils. I started my girl with Kumon write-and-wipe cards. Not a lot of strength is required. You might want to give it a try.

[kaitlynangelica]

tamarind:

sean wife:

Hi Tamarind,


I search for the Winnie the Pooh book that you recommend and found several similar ones in Amazon...can you advise which is the one you recommend?

http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Pooh-Original-Milne/dp/0140361219/ref=pd_cp_b_3_img

http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Pooh-Milne/dp/B00375LM0W/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282441627&sr=1-1

Thanks!

Yes these are the original. I advise you to get the book in the second link. The printing of the first book is quite bad. I know this because I bought both books amazon.

You can try to look for the original versions of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh corner at Popular bookshops.

Kinokuniya is also selling the book :
https://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/guest/cgi-bin/bookseaohb.cgi?ISBN=0525477683&AREA=04&LANG=E

But quite expensive compared to amazon.

Hi tamarind,

Don't the prices come up to a lot after adding in shipping charges?

[tamarind]

lisa9841,

The shichida method is teaching by sight words, that is, kids memorize the shape of the word. Kids who know only sight words may know how to read the word, but they may not know how to spell it. Since your DD has learned many sight words, I would suggest that you use this approach to teach her phonics :

1. First make sure that she knows all the phonics sounds of the 26 letters very well. This is different from the letter names. Checkout this webpage :
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/play.htm?f

2. Next, instead of giving her the whole word, use the individual letter cards, for example, \"a\", \"b\", \"c\", etc, one letter on each card. Say c-a-t, ask her to pick out the correct letters to form the word.

3. Continue with all the other 3 letter words containing \"a\". Then move on to the \"e\", \"i\", \"o\", \"u\" words in stage 1 in my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

This method is essential, because kids who are trained this way will be able to spell words effortlessly, without the need to practice writing a word many times.

As for writing, I think that it all depends on the child. My girl is able to write very well before 4 years old, and I spent very little time teaching her, she learned to write mostly on her own. My younger boy, on the other hand, can only write legibly at 5 years old, and I also did not make him practice writing. By 6 years old, his writing is fine. Some kids have excellent fine motor skills at 2 years old, while others develop slower. Personally I do not think that it is necessary to make a 3 year old child practice writing everyday. Instead, develop his fine motor skills, using toys like Lego, or even teaching him skills like how to button his shirt, how to tie shoe laces, how to put a thread through beads, etc. In fact, I remember that my mother used to let my younger girl pick up tiny red beans before she was 2 years old. We made sure that we have lots of paper and pencils around, so the kids are free to draw or write anything at any time.

When a child's fine motor skills are well developed, he will naturally know how to write. If we try to make them practice, it will be quite frustrating for both the parent and the child.

I also think that it is quite pointless to make a child practice writing the same word many times. A child who has a strong foundation in phonics will know how to spell most words just by listening to the sounds. What parents should do is to encourage kids to write whatever they want, for example, take a look at these little stories written by my girl at 4 to 5 years old :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/02/written-by-chloe.html

Before the age of 5, parents should focus in teaching a child to read very well. It is possible for a child to be able to read long novels by 5 years old

[tamarind]

kaitlynangelica,

For hardcover books, it is still cheaper to buy from amazon.com after including shipping cost(direct shipping). Hardcover books are very expensive in Singapore. Paperbacks are cheaper in Singapore.