How to improve english for 5 years old kid

[tamarind]

Teaching kids at home can be a very fun and enjoyable experience, if you don't even give yourself a chance, then you are denying your kids the best learning experience in the world. Kids can learn so much more at home, no enrichment classes can guarantee the same thing. In fact, my kids enjoy learning at home so much, they refuse to attend any enrichment classes which they think are boring. Teaching pre-school kids is actually very easy. Remember, if you want your kids to learn, then you must set a good example for them, and you must be constantly learning too. In fact, if you have good resources, then teaching at home is very easy, just spend 15 to 30 mins a day will do.


Most importantly, kids learn best when given one to one attention. Even if you send them to the most expensive enrichment classes, it is always 1 teacher to many kids. Many kids cannot do well even if they attend many enrichment classes. Also, not all teachers in enrichment classes are good. Note that these so-called experts may have just learned how to teach for a few months only, or worst, some may even be learning on the job.

Besides spending so much money, you also need to spend a lot of time and effort sending your kids to and from the enrichment classes.

Of course, if you are the type who gets angry very easily and tend to scream at your kids every time you teach them, then I do not advise you to teach at home. However, note that spending a few hundred dollars a month to send to enrichment classes does not mean that you can totally do nothing at home. You still have to make sure that your kids revise the lessons everyday, that means you still have to teach at home. Some enrichment classes require kids to do tons of homework at home, and you may have to scream at your kids to complete those homework. If you do nothing at home, attending enrichment classes will be useless.

[laughingcat]

I agreed with what Tamarind's experiences. It is actually fun & enjoyable and of course at times can be quite :frustrated:


When I was young, I used to envy my brother who was taught by my mum. I used to wish my mum does that for me but...... I saw what my brother's beautiful learning curve and to this this date I personally still stand by it. So now I am teaching my boys English, Chinese, Maths, piano and roller blading.

I always believe that once you taught your own child, at least you kno what is the child's capability. And hence do not unnecessarily set too high an expectation.

Learning with your child is the most beautiful bonding. You will feel the sense of the achivement.

[laughingcat]

wendy2006:

Time to worry for me. I do not know how to guide my child's education.

Hi wendy2006, your child just need to read alot of books. No amount of textbook study and assessment books will help much in the english synthesis or grammar.

Only through reading loads of good english books will help. Applying what you read through writing will helps much. Language is not like hardcore subject such as Science and Technology, it just come naturally if you apply it effectively.

[tamarind]

Hi laughingcat,

Wow you are teaching your boys piano ? I really envy you. I wish I can do that too, but I never learned piano

[laughingcat]

tamarind:

Hi laughingcat,

Wow you are teaching your boys piano ? I really envy you. I wish I can do that too, but I never learned piano

Actually quite easy lah. Get the books by the author of Lina Ng and then can learn together with your kids.

But if my boy wants to sit for the graded exam, I think I would leave it to the teacher bah. But I will still teach on a daily basis.

[tamarind]

laughingcat:

tamarind:

Hi laughingcat,

Wow you are teaching your boys piano ? I really envy you. I wish I can do that too, but I never learned piano

Actually quite easy lah. Get the books by the author of Lina Ng and then can learn together with your kids.

But if my boy wants to sit for the graded exam, I think I would leave it to the teacher bah. But I will still teach on a daily basis.

That's a very good idea I always want to learn piano myself

[Addoil]

Hi tamarind & laughingcat


Just wanna say well done to both of you Nowadays, not much parents are enjoying when teaching their kids at home. If parents can take it as a very fun and enjoyable experience, sure the kids will be enjoy in their learning journey. Keep it up, all kiasuparents! :love:

[mama_g]

Kuddos to u… its always a battlefield when i self teach my kids at home… is it something wrong with my method? Asking my 6YO to read is a nightmare…

[cherrygal]

Kudos to those who enjoy teaching their own kids. However, it could be easy for you but difficult for others since every kid is different. Also, not every parent is good at teaching and some may not have the patience nor the time.


So, let’s just do what we are comfortable with. Let’s not pass judgement that one method is better than the other. Like I said, do not perceive those who send their kids to enrichment centres as selfish parents who rather not teach their own kids.

Sometimes, for parents who are clueless, it is better to get started with an enrichment centre, then make use of those techniques to revise.

My kid did very well with help from enrichment centres so I support them. Of coz, I push him to revise when needed but I don’t pull my hair out if he doesn’t.

Each kid has his/her own learning style and personality. Some thrive with group competition (my kid does) while others learn better one-on-one. In fact, most kids above 5yo prefer to listen to teachers than their own parents when it comes to the core subjects - real nitty-gritty work.

Many of us have older children who don’t even budge at home when it comes to the core subjects. These kids are not stupid. In fact, they are so intelligent that they want to challenge their own parents. The funniest thing is, these kids excel under the guidance of external parties.

To those who experienced success with teaching their own kids, congrats! You have what the experts call "easy children" who adhere to parental authority. The majority of us have challenging ones… that’s why enrichment centres and tuition teachers have booming business.

[tamarind]

My younger boy used to be able to focus for less than 5 mins, and he is the type who needs to repeat the same thing over 20 times before he can remember. He is definitely not an easy child to teach. Every one of his teacher complained to me about him. However, he was reading long English novels of 200-300 words a page when he turned 5 years old. If I don't teach him at home, he would not be able to read even at P1.


In my blog, I described the resources and methods that I used :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

I sent my boy to Berries from 4 years old to 6 years old, after he completed K2, he still could not read any Chinese story book. I had enough of his teacher complaining to me about him not paying attention in class, so I withdrew him from Berries. After I started to teach him Chinese at home, he is now reading Chinese chapter books of about 300 words a page. Check out the resources that I use :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

The fact is that even my girl, who can learn effortlessly, and remember every word that she learned in Berries since 4 years old, was not able to read independently after she completed K2. By the end of P1, she can read long Chinese novels of over 70000 words, all because I teach her at home.

Using good resources and effective methods, all we need is to spend about 30 mins a day. It is not a lot of hard work at all.

The problem is that many parents do not know how to use good resources, and even if they have the resources, they don't know how to use them effectively. Some parents try to achieve too much in too short a time, making kids repeat the same thing 20 times in one day. This is definitely going to cause a lot of unhappiness.

In fact I spent much more time doing research on how to teach and looking for good resources, in comparison to time spent on actually teaching my kids.

As I wrote earlier, not every parent is suitable to teach kids at home. The parent must be prepared to spend some time reading and learning about effective methods to teach. For those parents who are too busy to teach at home, it is absolutely fine not to teach. No one is being judgmental here. There is no need to discourage other parents from trying to teach their kids at home.

Also note that many parents cannot afford to send their kids to enrichment classes, especially those with 2 kids or more. If these parents think that there are no other way to help their children except sending them to enrichment classes, they may think that they have failed as parents