All About Montessori

[soomum]

buds:

Letter names or the alphabets must come first.

Then comes letter sounds to make connection
or to be of relation to the letter names.

ie. This letter b makes the sound /b/... (b-uh).

If you learn the sounds first, especially for young
children... they will get confused and WILL slow
down the progress of writing efficiently.

Cannot possibly say, /b/ makes this letter b, right?
ie. b-uh makes this letter b-(ee), tio-bo?

In Phonics enrichment classes especially, they don't
do both. They only focus on the sounds. Not letters.
So ensure that your kids are equipped with knowledge
and recognition of the alphabets prior to attending a
Phonics enrichment class. This will ensure that your
child does not require to go back to basics when he
or she has difficulty making connection/relation with
the alphabets during the course of the programme.
Imagine a child who already can read well with the
Phonics decoding but yet doesn't know the abc's...
I have personally encountered this problem. And
i tell you, the child was very demoralized.



The parents? Confused and lost. They didn't realize
it cud be THAT detrimental to his progress.


This is due to the fact that the process was not done
systematically/in order and also not age appropriate...
Children should be allowed to grow and learn at their
specific age range. For example, we cannot possibly
make a three month old crawl when they're just
learning to turn their bodies, right...?

....

So, i truly honestly encourage parents to please introduce the
alphabets first, just like how we did when we were little... Dun
need to advance teach reading when cognitively there are many
other things that the child has to learn in his time.... at his age.

Unless of course, child is gifted. Okie?

Hi Buds!
I've been following your thread and can say a fan pf yours . Was reading the thread and got a shock :!: when i read this post. I have been having the understanding that i should only introduce letter sounds first to the child and not letter names. As such you are right that my child is starting to get confused when she is being introduced to letter names. Its really tricky to be teaching letter names after she had learned the letter sounds. How can i help her to learn the letter names now??? I am now at a lost as to how to proceed or maybe should i even proceed on with her. i.e. has taught her letter sounds - introducing letter names *now made her confused * - next step is building words is it? this to teach in conjunction with learning to write the letters or need to already be able to write?

You are absolutely right! :? I am super confused and also very very worried that I have done it wrongly. Please HELP us :?:

[phankao]

buds:

Letter names or the alphabets must come first. Then comes letter sounds to make connection or to be of relation to the letter names. ie. This letter b makes the sound /b/... (b-uh).


If you learn the sounds first, especially for young children... they will get confused and WILL slow down the progress of writing efficiently.

<snip>

So, i truly honestly encourage parents to please introduce the alphabets first, just like how we did when we were little... Dun need to advance teach reading when cognitively there are many other things that the child has to learn in his time.... at his age.

Hmmm... my youngest ds3 was taught reading by sight only. He wasn't taught alphabets, but he certainly knows them (how? I don't know). And he figured out phonetic sounds himself too. I realised he could recognise words by 10mths old and that he could read phonetically by the time he was around 15months' old, I think.

So how can it be detrimental not to start with alphabets?

[dimsum]

phankao, your boy is waaaay advanced for his age (i think he's gifted!). Thus, the normal way of teaching normal kids of course doesn't apply to him because somehow, he can figure out all by himself!

[phankao]

dimsum:

phankao, your boy is waaaay advanced for his age (i think he's gifted!). Thus, the normal way of teaching normal kids of course doesn't apply to him because somehow, he can figure out all by himself!

actually from my own observation, I don't find him gifted. Just that he's been exposed to way more. So in a way, it's a form of nurture as opposed to nature.

[MLJ]

buds:

Heyya MLJ! YES! I am indeed a very fun and bubbly person even in real life!

And YES too! I am a SAHM and i'm lovin' it. :celebrate:

Although I dont know you, you feel like a friend, can imagine your 'bubbliness' in real life!

Its a privilege to be able to stay at home, ya?

I think you should start something with all your knowledge about preschool phonics and education. Sayang to only have 1 or 2 benefit.
I myself am a bit loss when it comes to this. We just came back from france and there, the parents are not too 'on'. So we happily cruised along and then came back here and found that dd has difficulty coping. Older one, ds, is ok but his chinese is quite a nightmare! :!:

Was thinking of ICR for dd but now may check out Montessori.

Btw, do you know anything about Eton school vs Pats schoolhouse?

Would appreciate any feedback. I heard that Eton is not as academic as Pats but they give the kids more exposure to things outside the normal curriculum?

[Tika]

Wow. 6 months pregnant yet still very mobile and without domestic help (I presume)! I was like a hippo on my couch majority of the time when I was 6 mths preggie.


Thank you so much for replying with some book titles! I will definitely check them out.

Anyone got feedback on Twinkle Star Montessori at marine parade?

My girl was in Dynamic World montessori for 2 months. I posted something about them many months back and sang praises. It was really a good school, curriculum wise. However, we had to pull her out because we weren't allowed to approach any of the teachers if we had any enquiries about our girl. We were only allowed to talk to the Principal and the Admin person. We approached our dd's teacher once and we were given the cold shoulder lah. How rude. We first thought nothing about it, till we realise it was tough to get through to the Principal too! It was really disappointing.

I'm really very glad that I found this forum (and bud's blog)! Its been a really informative experience by far. I am however, sadly, still looking for the suitable Montessori preschool for my 2.5 year old girl. I think hubby and I may be too fussy and it may be affecting our girl cos we keep going for trial classes and everytime she sees a school setting she starts to whimper.

I've sat in classes at Great Beginnings and San Lorenzo, am not impressed at all. Seems like the children in their playgroup class (the one my girl will be in if she joins) were given freedom of choice WITHOUT limits. But the children were all VERY independent. A 2 year old girl, with a body of an 18mth old, really small, was eating all on her own, washing her own hands, carrying her own big (or huge, in comparison to her body size) mat, doing her own work, pattering about talking to everyone. It was really adorable. That was Great Beginnings.

San Lorenzo has a nicer environment, cheerful friendly teachers, but we did not like the fact that only the principal (only does admin) and 1 teacher was Montessori qualified. Plus, it seems that independence is not one of their main areas of focus.

We went to Paper Scissors Stone Monte to have a look and was really impressed with their curriculum but was shocked by the way the teacher cheryl 'assessed' our 2.5 year old. When we entered the house (those semi d kind), we were told to leave our child to her as she wants to see how well our child would adapt to her. We were told to go into the room and leave our girl outside as teacher cheryl tried to coax her to remove her shoes on her own. Usually our girl WILL do things on her own but upon seeing her parents leave her at the door to go into the office without warning, she started crying. Then the teacher tried to touch her to assure her but it turned into a full screamfest. I had a bad headache after that. Teacher cheryl then told me we had to work on my child's stubbornness if she were to enrol into their school.

Stubbornness?! But I thought if you were to put any child in my dotter's situation, wouldn't they scream their head off? I really don't get their idea of 'assessing' toddlers on the first meeting.

We've been to these preschools (monte or not)
-dynamic world montessori
-great beginnings montessori
-rosemount kindy
-schhousebythebay
-pats
-paper scissors stone monte
-san lorenzo monte
-treasurebox
-starlearners
-mothergoose (doesn't serve halal meat)
-columbus
-whitelodge
-east coast children's house
-MMI
-leapsch house
-learning vision changi
-my first schhouse
-brighton monte (ex man)
-odyssey (super ex man)
-montessori for children (so rigid man)

Truth be told, my hubby and I are getting really frustrated with our preschool hunt.

We're looking for something that is full montessori (till they start worksheets in k1/k2 that is) with friendly approachable teachers who advocate independence in children, runs a 3 hour programme, have annual concerts and once in 3 mth field trips.

Is that too high an expectation? Or maybe no Montessori preschool has such a programme.

Parents plsssssssssssssssssssssss tell me how you chose your child's preschool. Did you just settle somewhere because its at a convenient location or did you choose a preschool based on what you really want for your child??

I apologise for this truly long whine of a post and i thank those of you who bothered to read it!

[buds]

Heyya Tika, you've definitely come to the right place to whine and share

the battles of pre-school shopping here... especially when it comes to finding a
Montessori one at that too! Can be frustrating i understand.

I cannot afford to be just a hippo and a couch potato at the same time. Yes, you
are very right. I am without domestic helper... but am harbouring some thoughts
for the coming year pending discussion with my folks (as i will only consider if
they are willing to be my EYES... ie. provide supervision on helper.. )

Here's the truth. Parents are fussy for a reason, sweetie. :hugs:
All we want is the best for our children. In my opinion, as long as the
requests or the expectations of what we want are within understandable
limitations, plus also bearing in mind that we do have to also respect the
nature and try to understand how each centre is run based on their own
system and beliefs which i try to positively think, it IS for the benefit and
sole good of the children under their care. Centres also cannot take to
having to accommodate parents' whims on demand... it will be a tough
job to remember everyone's preferences. Whatever we act on or think
upon, it should be justifiable & fair to both parties. ie. operator & customer..

Dynamic reminds me of an employer i knew who told me specifically that
i am not to be in conversation with ANY parent, regardless of the nature
of their doubts or queries. That all feedback MUST be re-directed to her. :?
My immediate stoic reply was... but... i AM teaching the child, so i know the
child best. At that retort, she reiterated that i AM to report to her everything
i know of the child to her and that SHE will be the ONLY one to convey any
matters to parents. Very puzzling and a weird system it is.. which eventually
rubbed off on the parents. They had to accommodate because they didn't
want to gimme a hard time. But as and when the boss isn't around, i try to
catch up with the parents as much as i can and we managed to maintain a
cordial relationship. It WAS difficult to work when i felt like i wasn't given
the freedom to speak... so ... that was that. :roll:

From your description of Great Beginnings, it does sound as its name suggests..
grrreaat! I can visualize a whole new meaning of independent learning.
As for the part on without limits... :idea: ... i would deem an environment
so only if there isn't sufficient supervision/observation catered to the children
by the facilitators/directresses and that it MAY pose/cause danger in any way
to any child within their care under their watch. Apart from that, directresses
should also be around to exercise their individualised lessons for each child
within the given time... plus opportunities for children to also work in groups.

As for the teacher mentioned in the last portion, it kinda leaves a sour taste
in your tongue kinda feeling... noe what i mean. I mean like :whut: cud
she be thinking... 1st timers are and should always be welcome to be assessed
if need be... in the presence of the parents (esp the young ones)... unless
of course if the child him or herself chose to follow the teacher at first instant.
Then, that would be an entirely different story.

Since you mentioned halal meat, i'm assuming that you would be looking into
a preferably no pork/no lard or best still an all halal provided snack/food
provision within the centre. My Muslim friends recommended Hanis Montessori.
They have a few branches. Here's the link. > http://ehanis.com.sg/
They provide quality Montessori education plus Islamic teachings within a
3-hour timetable, lovely year-end concerts and festive gatherings and all
that at only $200.00 last i heard. More kindy based set-up, not childcare.

Pre-school is a time where children should have fun learning and growing.
I hope dearest Tika... that you find what you are looking for that your child(ren)
will be happy and safe in. U take care.

Best Regards, buds.

[buds]

MLJ:

Although I dont know you, you feel like a friend, can imagine your 'bubbliness' in real life!

:celebrate:

MLJ:

Its a privilege to be able to stay at home, ya?

I didn't start out thinking so.... but i definitely did after i found my rhythm.

MLJ:

I think you should start something with all your knowledge about preschool phonics and education. Sayang to only have 1 or 2 benefit.

Hehehee.. hokie.. hokey.. i am.. i am! Like i said, it's in the works.
Still not planning to have that many as i believe in low
student:teacher ratio especially if the set-up scale is
small.

MLJ:

I myself am a bit loss when it comes to this. We just came back from france and there, the parents are not too 'on'. So we happily cruised along and then came back here and found that dd has difficulty coping. Older one, ds, is ok but his chinese is quite a nightmare! :!:

A relative of ours lives in France! Like half hour to 45 min ride to the Eiffel,
which she says she could get sick of bringing guests to after a while. :lol:
Well, for suakus like us... we :drool: at the notion of even being there... but
guess for her she's sooo used to seeing it there it doesn't mean as much ba.

MLJ:

Was thinking of ICR for dd but now may check out Montessori.

The choice is yours to make, sweetie. It also depends on your child's personality
and also the ability of the teacher who would be teaching your child herself..
I always tell parents, a good teacher will be able to deliver lessons regardless
of the methodology used, in absolute passion.. These are the ones who
find tremendous joy from teaching and being around children.

MLJ:

Btw, do you know anything about Eton school vs Pats schoolhouse?

Would appreciate any feedback. I heard that Eton is not as academic as Pats but they give the kids more exposure to things outside the normal curriculum?

Pat is one of my mentors during my trainee days. She's good. Her creativity
and her guidance has provided me much inspiration. As always, it is not just
the centre itself... go down and see the teachers who will be in charge of caring
for your child.

Eton offered me a career with them. I find they aren't too shabby either.
Their plus is also the native teacher part. I know some of our local parents
who prefer to have native teachers teach their children so as to provide exposure
to good spoken and written English. Well.. to each his own really. The preferences
can narrow down to a lot depending on what the parents want for their children.
In my opinion, Eton and Pats have merits in their own set-up and that both
are equally good in terms of providing quality pre-school education.

Best Regards, buds.

[buds]

phankao:

Hmmm... my youngest ds3 was taught reading by sight only. He wasn't taught alphabets, but he certainly knows them (how? I don't know). And he figured out phonetic sounds himself too.

Heyya phankao! Thanks for this feedback. Here's sharing my observation
in relevance to yours.

Like your DS3, that was how i just caught up on reading. Surprising? No.
It should not be. All children are different. Each child has his or her own
learning potential, sometimes obvious to the naked eye... sometimes
hidden.

My mumsie (who wasn't even English speaking to begin with) made tremendous
efforts to read to me... all the Ladybird books that she could afford to buy
with whatever spare cash she received from daddie's monthly maintenance.
She is not Phonics trained definitely, for Phonics knowledge hadn't really surfaced then. :lol:
She would repeat reading ANY book i fancied. She didn't force me to read
or point or anything. She read beautifully. Expressions and all the different
voices she used entertained me much. Due to that amazingly fun repetition
reading sessions, i just picked up reading. How? The words that i see her
point to or read to are seemingly imprinted in my mind/memory and stays
there. The next time i chanced upon another word that looked like that i
would immediately know it. Due to the variety of books she offered to read
to me, i was exposed to a few hundred words a day. The only difference with
your DS3 was that she taught me the alphabets. The significance of the
alphabets to me then was more for the letter shape than its sound. Mumsie
just seemed to make extra emphasis on the beginning letter sound as she
read the books to me and i sorta picked up (once again) that the sounds she
made would sound the same in other words (i've not seen before) as well.
Sheer logic? Mebbe... It's like seeing the word sheep in a book and trying to
independently decipher, that hey... this new word sheet looks like sheep that
mumsie showed the last time... and the only difference was the letter t which
she made some emphasis (i observed) when she said the word 'it'... and so...
that was how i caught on.

So in a way... i suppose i can relate as to how your DS3 sorta just figured it out.

phankao:

I realised he could recognise words by 10mths old and that he could read phonetically by the time he was around 15months' old, I think.

While it is not often that we've heard or observed children who CAN actually
read (meaningfully) at the age your DS3 figured it... there are children who
actually can... and dearest phankao, you have one in him. :celebrate:

As a fellow parent and also educator, i find that you too have made a
good observation as a parent. With children who have older siblings to
learn from and observe... parents sometimes find they cannot remember
the exact details of how these young ones actually began picking it up...
Like my DD2, i didn't recall having to physically sit down and really drill or
teach her what she knows now... Most times, i have realized that while
teaching jie-jie and she's around us playing... she was really listening &
absorbing everything. We later found out she had super memory powers!
Much to my delight of course! Easy mah! She's the sort you teach once or
twice and it'd sink in... aaaaahhh... bliss... :love:

I remember guiding jie-jie with blends and we were attempting the word
bl-a-ck... There i was with LMA and materials and while i had to repeat very
slowly... b-uh and uhlll.... makes the sound....? :whut: and received a blank
from jie-jie.... DD2 playing with her materials at the back of the room quipped
\"black\". Just like that. You can imagine the frustration on jie-jie and the pressure
to perform after that. :lol: DD2 just blossomed into reading independently and
picking up books from the shelves all on her own. :love: But to date, jie-jie
reads better than DD2 cos DD2 is not an avid reader despite reading that well and
fluent at an early age.. so like i said each child is different. The ways they pick
up learning concepts can be different and at times inclined to their learning
styles.

phankao:

So how can it be detrimental not to start with alphabets?

It can be if not taught with care. In some cases, instead of escalating
a child's reading interest, it has possibility of slowing the child down instead.

Parents these days are more pro-active than our parents' times before.
These days parents teach their own children prior to attending pre-school
and some even homeschool too. :celebrate:

Not all parents however DO know how to teach effectively unfortunately.
At times, in the excitement and in the haste of wanting a child to learn
quickly... the teachings may not be as effective. As some parents delve
into it for the first time without prior experience to fall back on, in cases
where the child may get confused and they try to back track, they may in
turn confuse the child further and slowly the child may lose interest
having thought that it seems they never get it right since they do not
actually understand what is being introduced to them or asked of them.

Citing an experience where not teaching alphabets became detirmental
was this boy i was teaching when i was on an overseas stint. He could
only associate the letter shapes (ABCs) with only letter sounds. Meaning
that he was one of the few who couldn't write down the letters c-a-t
when it is said as per the letter name... ceee.... ayy... tee. He scored zero
for not being able to recognize/write alphabets as required to be noted
in that centre's report book.

However the puzzling thing was, this same boy was also one of the few
who WAS able to read fluently. So, i decided to give it another go with
him before his teacher marked the egg on his report book.

This time i said the sounds of the letters. \"c-uh\"... \"aaaah\" .... \"t\" .... and lo
and behold, he wrote all three letters down on the line.

He resisted learning the alphabets after that cos the teacher had to make
effort to get him to do well for the alphabet recognition part of the score
sheet, ain't it... cos he knew he jolly well could already read. He found it
a sheer waste of time and went into a recluse each time he was asked to
read. He did lose a wee bit of interest in reading entirely for awhile and i
had to come in to do intervention with him plus also round up his parents
to help me along to help him at home. The eventual results were positive
but challenging and to add on.... much more time consuming as compared
to the other children in the class who went ahead with the curriculum with
ease, despite knowing the letter sounds much later than him.

There are a few other case studies but just sharing one to reply to your
query, phankao. Hope this clarifies.

While not all children WILL per se be like the boy i shared above... in a
classroom like setting where every child has a different pace in a Montessori
environment, directresses can cater to the individuals. In cases of big group
kinda classes of 25 or more... :shock: ... it is still fine to learn concepts at
age-appropriate phases of the child's growing years.

\"In short, there's is no one way-fix all method so to speak.\"

Depending where our child is learning, and the methodology the school is
adopting to introduce these concepts to them.... will be the variation of
lesson delivery... duration of time taken to learn those concepts... and of
course how much fun is being included in all that learning as well.

Learning should inspire...
lifelong education as the learning journey is forever.

Best regards, buds.

PS : If you haven't already read my sharings earlier... here's how
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/how-i-started-reading. Cheerios! Catch up with ya again...

[buds]

soomum:

Hi Buds!

Heyya soomum!

soomum:

I've been following your thread and can say a fan pf yours .

:thankyou:

I'm happy to have you as a fan! :snuggles:

soomum:

Was reading the thread and got a shock :!: when i read this post. I have been having the understanding that i should only introduce letter sounds first to the child and not letter names.

I usually wouldn't suggest parents of very young children to go straight
into teaching letter sounds. Even in our enrichment classes, we cater
to children aged 4yrs old. In phonics enrichment classes, focus is given
to learning letter sounds and not the alphabets/letter names. The idea
is to introduce and enhance the reading process using phonics, not letter
recognition.

For younger children, do expose them to the alphabets and the shape of
the letters... do tracing activities... craft activities... matching activities &
singing alphabet songs and many other stuff together when they are
home with you.

soomum:

As such, you are right that my child is starting to get confused when she is being introduced to letter names. Its really tricky to be teaching letter names after she had learned the letter sounds.

May i know how old is your child again, soomum?

soomum:

How can i help her to learn the letter names now??? I am now at a lost as to how to proceed or maybe should i even proceed on with her. i.e. has taught her letter sounds - introducing letter names *now made her confused *

I will need to know the age of your child before i make some suggestions.
One way will be, YOU teach the letter names ie. the alphabets. Let the
teacher teach the sounds..... for now. Until your child is more comfortable
handling both simultaneously from you. In the meantime, what you can do
is not to say she is wrong but instead, reiterate that for example... 'b' makes
the sound /b/ : b-uh.

soomum:

- next step is building words is it?

Yes, it is. Wordbuilding is helping children to listen to sounds in words...
beginning with 3-letter phonetic words. During this stage, i usually
encourage parents to read rhymes with children llike these ones...

Diddle Diddle dumpling, my son John..
Went to bed with his trousers on..

One shoe on, and one shoe off..
Diddle Diddle dumpling, my son John.

or

One, two...
Buckle my shoe..

Three, four...
Shut the door..

Five, six...
Pick up sticks..

Seven, eight...
Lay them straight...

Nine, ten...
A big fat hen.

Mother Goose has aplenty!

Also try to read books with phonetic rhyming
like those from Dr Seuss' HOP ON POP for example..
or kiddie board books that encourage similar rhyming
words, preferably with large fonts so that with repetition,
children will find reading three-letter words from word families
ie. pop, hop, cop (etc) more fun than just a means to get them to
practise reading.

soomum:

... this to teach in conjunction with learning to write the letters or need to already be able to write?

This can be done for both learning writers and confident writers. This is
where the initial alphabet activities comes in extremely handy and timely,
especially if they were to start Phonics lessons around 4yrs old... earliest
would be 3.5yrs old. Children who are confident writers from what i have
observed can even do independent spelling with simple 3-letter words the
centre has covered with them. They can easily associate writing down...
c-a-t when the directress says please spell for me c-uh... aaaahhh... t.
They usually have no issues co-relating alphabets and letter sounds.

soomum:

You are absolutely right! :? I am super confused and also very very worried that I have done it wrongly. Please HELP us :?:

I will try my best, ok? :snuggles:

Meanwhile, hope this helps for now.