Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[kola]

Hi buds,


I have been reading silently many many of your posts on Montessori teaching, and I have learnt a lot from you… I salute you :salute:
Thank you for all your sharing… :thankyou:
I would like to hear your advise on the following: :?:

1) My girl like to draw, at times she wants to write some words on her drawing, she will ask me how to spell…. Eg. Phone, Flower…I will try to spell the word and sound to her phonetically as much as I can, so that she can write the word on her own, but I have problem when
- I come across digraph that she has not learn, eg 'ph' or 'er', how can I move on?
- silent letter eg 'e' in 'phone' that she has not learn, how can I move on?
- sometime she will try to sound the word and spell 'phone' as 'fon', how shall I correct her?

2) When it come to sight word, eg 'the', 'from', etc
- do you think I spell 'the' and she write it down is better, or I write on a piece of paper and she copy, which is a better method for kid to remember...

3) She will bring her phonic book back home on Friday and return on Monday. Previously I only revise with her by asking her to read what was taught the past one week. Nowadays, after reading for a while, she refused to continue, she said it is boring.
- Could you suggest a better and more interesting method to revise with her, as the blue series is getting tougher, I want to make sure she really grab the concept and know the words.

My girl is in blue series Montessori phonics since mid this year.

Sorry for having so many questions.... :oops:
Hope you can help... Thanks in advance your time and effort...

[buds]

kola:

Hi buds, I have been reading silently many many of your posts on Montessori teaching, and I have learnt a lot from you… I salute you :salute: Thank you for all your sharing… :thankyou: I would like to hear your advise on the following: :?:

You are welcome and i am very happy that the sharings have been
helpful to you. Have been hearing from many silent readers these
days..

kola:

1) My girl like to draw, at times she wants to write some words on her drawing, she will ask me how to spell…. Eg. Phone, Flower…I will try to spell the word and sound to her phonetically as much as I can, so that she can write the word on her own, but I have problem when
- I come across digraph that she has not learn, eg 'ph' or 'er', how can I move on?

Usually, we explain it in simple context and only like a once through kinda
thing especially if the child isn't exactly doing the green scheme yet. But
it is imperative for phonics learners to have proper explanation to such
words instead of brush the issue aside. When you explain to her, it is
not so much to \"cover\" a lesson over those sound combinations with
her, but more for \"her info\" kinda approach.

\"Mom, how do we spell flower?\"

\"It is spelt as /e/... /l/... /e/... /ph/... /ant/.\"

\"Okie, got it mom... so it is eee... ell... eee... ffff... and 'ant'.\"

*Children in blue scheme usually already proficient with 'ant'
as they are under 3-letter phonetic words.*

\"Hey honey... the word elephant has one special combination
sound. It has the letter p and the letter h making the /f/ or /ph/
sound... so for special animals like elephant and dolphin, we use
the special /ph/ sound combination to spell/write them instead of
the 'f'.. So... shall we spell that again? Let's do it together...\"

\"eeee.... ell... eeee... ph for the /f/ sound... ant...\"

If your child fancies a go with the other special animal ie. dolphin..
you may go ahead as well.. of course we can always just tell them
that elephant is spelt or written with ph... or cancel the f and write
ph... for children who are undergoing phonics training, it can be
helpful to take the time to explain the one-off words they encounter
that is doubtful to them as they sound them out.. cos with my DD2,
not realizing much earlier that she was a fast learner, she remembered
the /er/ sound the minute she saw the combination in another word.
And so... when we came to the /er/ lesson, she said, \"I can read all the
/er/ words for you already, no need to teach me...\"

kola:

- silent letter eg 'e' in 'phone' that she has not learn, how can I move on? - sometime she will try to sound the word and spell 'phone' as 'fon', how shall I correct her?

For this word, it is a little tricky.. it has too many combinations to explain
to a child in blue scheme. I do have to spell out the word as a whole for
my DD in one-off cases like this since the rules applied here has yet to
be covered.

It has the /ph/ that's covered in green scheme and the 'split vowels' which
is also in green scheme. I think for this word, you can spell the word out
for her. \"The word phone is spelt like this... p.. h.. o.. n.. e..\" *fon* will
actually give us the sound like in the word, \"fawn\"... not \"phone\".. The
letter 'o' sound makes the \"orh\" sound rather than the \"Oh\" (as in OH NO)
sound.

kola:

2) When it come to sight word, eg 'the', 'from', etc
- do you think I spell 'the' and she write it down is better, or I write on a piece of paper and she copy, which is a better method for kid to remember...

For phonetic words like \"from\"... sound it out if she needs help.
It will help her remember better cos she is currently in the scheme
that helps her form double consonant blends.

For sight words like \"the\"... do it as per the alphabet/letter names
instead of the sounds... cos such words cannot be broken up to make
sense... so it is \"tee-aitch-eee\" makes \"the\"..

kola:

3) She will bring her phonic book back home on Friday and return on Monday. Previously I only revise with her by asking her to read what was taught the past one week. Nowadays, after reading for a while, she refused to continue, she said it is boring.

Yes, just reading through the word lists can be a dull activity. While some
children enjoy and thrive on that routine other children may not... esp if
they do not understand what the words mean.

kola:

- Could you suggest a better and more interesting method to revise with her, as the blue series is getting tougher, I want to make sure she really grab the concept and know the words.

Sure thing, lemme get together some materials and share with you some
activities to work with her. Gimme some time okie? Cos my girls are in
the midst of exams and we're doing revision together these days they
are home.

kola:

My girl is in blue series Montessori phonics since mid this year.

Yes, as they go into longer words with triple consonant blends it does &
CAN get trickier.. but not impossible to read should the child's earlier
foundations have been taught right and taught well with ample revision.

kola:

Sorry for having so many questions.... :oops:
Hope you can help... Thanks in advance your time and effort...

No worries. :hugs: The pleasure is mine. :celebrate:

PS : Psst kola, you forgot to tell me how old your child is..
It is important to know the child's age as they require different
show and tells to explain the rules effectively & something easy
for them to understand. Younger children will require different
way of explaining due to their maturity level..

[kola]

Hi buds,


Thanks for the fast response…

Thank you for your detail explanation on how to teach digraph before child is in green scheme, silent sound and sight words…
It is getting tougher… as I have no proper phonics background, I find it really hard to guide her along…especially words that are out of her blue scheme book. :scratchhead: It is really a challenge for me, but I will try your method out as much as I can.
Btw, does /f/ and /ph/ has the same sound.


Sure... sure…. There is no hurry at all…
Take your time, please only do it after your girls exams are over….
Thank you for still taking time to reply to the post...


My girl is currently in N2, will be in K1 next year…

[jaymeegg]

hello people!!


Im reading silently too!! heehz..

I would like to share. I called up Read in a Week 2 days ago. A lady named Liz (according to their webby, she is the founder) picked up. She sound very convincing...

I told her my DD situation. DD is 4, She can write, read and recognize A-Z in both cap and small letters. Can read a few words from storybooks that I read to her every night. eg. mummy, bubbles, Yippee....

She replied confidently \"well thats very good! Lets arrange to bring her down this Sun, i will access her personally. She should be able to read a no of words (forgot she said how many) in 3 lessons. I replied in \"Are you sure!!!\" she said \"YES!\" bring her down and see to believe!

I was like okies... since its free!! :lol: Cost is the same as Zoo-phonics. But she sound so confident that i really need to see. I will update after \"seeing\" ... btw, I'm going to the Bt Timah branch

[jaymeegg]

okies update, Read in a week centre at Bt Timah, they hold classes in My Learning Hub. It appears that they only rent a small room from them. Environment is rather run down. Thus, to me, fail already...


Then we went to Zoo-phonics. Their are kinda systematic.. nice environment and with all the good reviews i've read here, I've enrolled my elder DD, next week will enjoy my Younger DD.

[titank]

buds:

Heyya reiner, MMI Phonics should be available over at their Enrichment

Centres usually conducted over the weekends. That said, there are a
few of their childcare set-ups that run similar programmes during the
weekends as well. Some enrichment centres do conduct during week
days too, subject to availability of manpower.

The ability to already recognize the alphabets plus the 26 letter sounds
is definitely a headstart for a 4.5yr old child and yes, depending on the
availability of placement at the centre which offers it, she could join an
existing class (if they have an existing class at your child's level) which
may currently be doing the Pink Scheme (3-letter phonetic words) & of
course; subject to a simple assessment with the directress prior to
admission.

Do ensure that your child can sound out all the sounds and recognise the
alphabets without the need to reflect on the Letterland characters any
more as the wordbuilding and word family blending stage for Montessori
Phonics will not be associated with any Letterland friends. I'm sure if her
letter sounds are solid, she should not have a problem joining an existing
class provided they do have one at the moment; instead of joining a new
class and start it all over again. You can try...

Oh dear dear reiner... please please try not to make special long distance
travel arrangements for your child, especially not from your place to the
west! Unless you do have to visit your in-laws each week... or go for that
spa... :lol: ... etc... it WILL be extremely tiring for your child and will also
eventually take a toll on yourself.

Do call any of the centres near you to find out first. While the programme
is tried and tested to be extremely effective to develop and shape fluent
readers, it is directly dependent on the teacher quality.. do take note that
there will be teachers who may be a little rigid and non-flexible who does
straightforward no-nonsense teaching styles... and there are also those
who think outta the box and come up with some extras to make their
lessons more interesting.. hence, the quality varies between centres
even under the same management. Hope this helps somewhat.

Regards, buds.

Hi Buds,

Have MMI centre conducting M Phonics & M Maths during the weekend? Can't seem to find any around my area. Currently still with the homebased phonics where every week is a long distance travel for me. Ha.ha getting use to it where next time can travel to Penang by self drive.

[buds]

titank:

Hi Buds,


Have MMI centre conducting M Phonics & M Maths during the weekend?

Enrichment centres, yes.

A few childcare centres may offer but depends on the individual centre.
Few parents send their children for childcare on Saturdays, so some
childcare centres find it more cost & manpower efficient to run some
enrichment programmes.

titank:

Can't seem to find any around my area.

I think there is a childcare set-up in your area but am not sure if they
offer weekend enrichment programmes at their premise. You would
need to call them to make inquiries, bro.

Bt Merah is near to town right? Mebbe you wanna consider their Orchard
branch? > http://www.modern-montessori.com/presch_centres_oe.htm

titank:

Currently still with the homebased phonics where every week is a long distance travel for me.

That's why i have emphasized before time and again...
distance does play a part in this long term commitment.

titank:

Ha.ha getting use to it where next time can travel to Penang by self drive.

Self-drive to Penang? :laugh: Kua-zhang arh ni... :lol:

[titank]

Hi Buds,


I called up every MMI, in the end all told me they are childcare based.Do not have any enrichment type.

[buds]

Seriously? :?


Even the enrichment ones?

[titank]

Maybe I should forget about MMI, having to take 2 subjects is tough! See how my DD perform & get to by end of the year.