N2 but still can't recognise numbers and letters

[nonKiasu]

Lili 22:

Teachers of my younger boy have always feedback that his learning progress is very slow since last year. Currently in N2, he is still not able to recognise numbers 1-10 and letters A-Z, not to mention about writing them. I am going through 1-5 with him everyday but he just can't seem to remember.


...I am worried that when he has spelling in K1 next year, it will be difficult to learn the words by sound right?

Hi, Lili22. Hmmm, I just wonder is there a need to push so hard for a N2 child? Or I am not a good enough mum? My triplets boys are in K1 now and at the begining of this year, they are still not sure how to write 2-10 and upper case and lower case A-Z. In N2, I would say they know nothing much and I believe they are slower than their peers. But now, within half-a-year, I think they have leaped and bounded. Now, they even know a handy of sight words - enough to enjoy reading LadyBird 2a. My thought is...we try our best to expose them but if they are not ready, sit back and relax a bit. In no time or out of a sudden, before you know, they know more than you expected!
Btw, do we expect spelling in K1? If so, then certainly mine are not there yet. Should I be worry? Maybe not now but half a year before they are in P1? Any advise are welcome.

[jedamum]

nonKiasu:

Btw, do we expect spelling in K1? If so, then certainly mine are not there yet. Should I be worry? Maybe not now but half a year before they are in P1? Any advise are welcome.

My ds1 was in pcf. He was the one who is 'linguistically more advanced' than my ds2 at the same age. His pcf does not have spelling at all. They have short writing occasionally of which the teacher encourage them to spell the words they want to write phonetically. Even if the kids want to scribble words against the pictures in their worksheets, the teacher let them do so and only amend them if they spelt wrongly just for their info - ie no marks involved. He had his 1st spelling test in P1.
At end of his K1, I was still wondering how a small puny, immatured and blur blur kid can start P1 in a year's time. But by the end of K2, he has grown so much!!
The time during K2 is where you can see a giant leap in abilities and maturity (ie not so childish).

[Lili 22]

Thanks for all your advice, will give the website, video and CD a try.


Sometimes it is really a struggle whether to relax a bit or not as he is only 3.5 yo. However, when all the teachers feedback that he does not know this, does not know that, it is really disheartening especially that most of his friends are doing well and he would cry ocassionally when he does't know his work. When he was in N1 last year, his teachers and myself agreed that we would not push him too hard but it is time now for us to spend more time and effort with him before his lose his confidence.

Many times, find it very hard to balance between work, household chores and 2 boys. Ds1, who is in K2 this year, is a fast learner, though still need to guide him in spelling, tingxie and abacus. Ds2 is slower and prefer playing with his cars rather than learning and reading. Frankly speaking, I did not spend as much time with ds2 as compared to ds1, hence feeling very guilty now.

Both boys are in the same childcare where students have 5 spelling words in K1. K2 is worse, 10 spelling words is ok but it is the 10 tingxie words that kill as it may consist of few short phrases and even 1 sentence. Ds1 used to cry every night when we have to learn tingxie but now we can relax a bit. Come to term with myself, as long as he learns the words it is ok he gets some of the words wrong in school. Don't think a child (and even some adults) can remember a word if he is not writing constantly, especially those chinese characters which too many strokes.

[jedamum]

Lili 22:

he is only 3.5 yo.

Is he a year end kid?

[tamarind]

Lili,

My boy also cannot completely recognize all the 26 letters at 3 years 3 months old. Now at 4 years 8 months old, he is reading and spelling very well.
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-they-are-reading-now.html
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/05/spelling.html

He is an average learner who needs many repetitions to learn new things, and his attention span is less than 5 minutes.

Children at this age can learn amazingly fast, if you use effective methods, and learn consistently. I only let him learn phonics and reading for less than 15 minutes a day. Check out my blog about the methods I used.
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

So don't worry ! I think your boy is right on track. He is only 3.5 years old ! All you need is patience, and setup a routine to study consistently everyday.

nonKiasu:

Btw, do we expect spelling in K1? If so, then certainly mine are not there yet. Should I be worry? Maybe not now but half a year before they are in P1? Any advise are welcome.

Personally I think it depends on the ability of the child.

My older girl's premium PCF kindergarten has spelling at K1. My girl has a very strong foundation in phonics, and she is able to spell words by listening to the sounds. So she actually enjoys spelling. She also has tingxie for difficult words at K1. Checkout the words in my blog (scroll to the bottom)
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/pcf-kindergarten.html

She has good fine motor skills so writing is no problem for her.

My younger boy is a much slower learner. So I decided to move him to a normal PCF. He is in K1 now, but still does have spelling. I am happy with that. His PCF emphasized on reading books and word recognition, which I think is the correct method of learning English. My boy now also has a strong foundation in phonics, and he is able to spell many words without the need to memorize the spelling. So long as I know that he can spell, it is good enough, don't need for spelling tests in kindergarten.

His fine motor skills is still not very good at this age. I am very relieved that his PCF class does not have tingxie. I actually don't let him practice writing in English or Chinese at home because I don't want to stress him too much. I only make sure that he reads in both English and Chinese everyday. I believe that when he grows older, his fine motor skills will naturally improve. It is quite sad to force a child to write many words a day if he is not ready.

jedamum:

I use Richard Scarry's Best Counting Video Ever.

I have this video too. My kids used to ask for it eveyday, before they have the Leapfrog DVDs. I like it that it teaches counting up to 20. Although the animation is very old fashioned, and some kids may find it very boring, my kids still enjoy watching it very much.

[fxchow]

Hi,


My son also in K1 and he studies in My First Skool at Tmn Jurong since this year. (Former name was NTUC Childcare).

They practise learn through play. My son has no homework and no spelling.

Up to now, he still doesn't know how to read simple story book.
I'm planning to send him to phonic class but he refused and asked me to teach him at home. :?: ha! ha! I don't think I can, so I will persude him again.

[tamarind]

fxchow:

Up to now, he still doesn't know how to read simple story book.

I'm planning to send him to phonic class but he refused and asked me to teach him at home. :?: ha! ha! I don't think I can, so I will persude him again.

Any adult can learn to teach phonics very easily ! Jedamum has listed some good resources above, like the Leapfrog DVDs. Just watching the Leapfrog Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, Code Word Caper will give you a good understanding of what is phonics.

We cannot depend only on enrichment classes to teach our kids phonics, attending class for one hour a week is not going to be enough. When my older girl attended Montessori phonics, the teacher actually taught parents how to practice phonics with the kids at home. So parents must learn phonics and practice with their kids at home !

[Lili 22]

jedamum, you are right that ds2 is a year end kid, so got excuse for being a slow learner, haha... that's what I told his teachers , however teachers still feel that he should buck up.


tamarind, thanks for sharing as I also have worries about putting him in PCF next year, now think it might be good for him.

[jedamum]

Lili 22:

jedamum, you are right that ds2 is a year end kid, so got excuse for being a slow learner, haha... that's what I told his teachers , however teachers still feel that he should buck up.

My ds2 is also a year end kid, and i am preparing myself for such feedback too, and also given his cannot-sit-still-and-easily-distracted behaviour. It doesn't help that he actually is as big in size as his Jan peers (if not bigger!). No doubt some http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1289&highlight=year+end+kid can do just as well, but i still think sometimes maturity makes a big difference and 10-11mths gap from the peers makes up for the different milestone and developmental progression.

[jedamum]

fxchow:

My son also in K1

Up to now, he still doesn't know how to read simple story book. .

fxchow,
other than tamarind's method, have you also seen http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2963&highlight=year+end+kid?