How to improve english for 5 years old kid

[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

[pummanuel]

wendy2006:

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

Hi Wendy, my daughter's first language is Mandarin as my husband and I believe in inculcating our values through our mother tongue and she spent her first 3 years in China where my husband was working.

When she entered playgroup in Singapore, her teacher told her to sit down on the first day of school. She stared blankly at her teacher who had to resort to sign language. After 1 year, her daily interactions with her English teacher and dominantly english-speaking classmates helped to improve her English but there was still a big gap.

I spent some time finding a good method to teach her. Finally I stumbled upon Tamarind's blog and I adapted her method to Letterland phonics, which is the phonics system my daughter's preschool is using. (I didn't turn to external enrichment classes as very few conduct their reading classes using Letterland.) After a year, my daughter can read chapter books under my guidance and all those princessy, fairy tales on her own.

I think enabling her to read is a big leap forward. With reading, it helps to improve her grasp and feel of the English language. It makes it easier to teach her grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary. I bought assessment books for her to do but realised it's too dry for her after a few exercises. Instead, I encourage her to draw and write things that happened around her. Through her writings, in addition to reading, she will be able to pick up the technical aspects of the English language. Also, if she just learnt a new phrase or word from her reading, I will try to incorporate it in our daily lives so that it becomes her 'permanent vocabulary'.

My daughter used to see me as 'Mama' only. If I tried to correct her in her languages or Maths, she would brush me aside as I'm not her teacher. After a year + of coaching, she sees me as her 'Mama' and 'Teacher' too. It makes coaching much easier as I've earned her trust in my teaching.

Of course, I've nothing against enrichment classes as many parents are working and their working hours can be very demanding. However, as Tamarind pointed out, revision and coaching will still have to be conducted at home. My daughter's classmate attends 3 academic enrichment classes and his mother told me she will make her son do his homework/revision everyday from 8 to 9. Her son also showed great improvements after some time.

It's a matter of choice and I think whichever route we take, we will still have to coach our children at home given their young age. Coaching can be stressful. I had my hair pulling, books throwing period too. However, coaching also allows us to understand our child better, and in a way understand ourselves better too. In due time, we will find a method that suits our child.

[Wan]

I felt obliged to reply bcos I benefited much from KSP mummies who share their exp generously. I’m a FTWM, not much time to read, research & prepare materials to teach at home. But thru sharing of links & mummy blogs, I can download materials easily & use it during wkends with kids. Reading, crafting & music r our favourite bonding activities. The presch stage is enjoyable & I’ll miss it soon when my eldest go pri sch next year. I’ll continue to research on coaching Pri level kids & stages ahead


Back to Presch English, my son was Mandarin/Cantonese speaking at home. It was a deliberate move as I was told English can be picked up in sch. My son started nursery at age 4, within 3 mths, he picked up phonics & spoken English. Well, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t exposed to English at home. He sang ABC song & read English board books. But bcos he needs to communicate with grandparents who are the main caregivers when we r at work, they speak mandarin & Cantonese fluently. After he started sch, grandparents "complains" little boy speaks too much English at home.

Some pointers for Preschoolers English:
1. Incorporate in everyday life- we may not have time to sit down & read, but when we go grocery shopping or driving, we can read road names, labels, signage & advertisements. When there is a need to understand the content, there is a need to learn to read

2. Start from their interests- my boy likes animals so we read books on animals to find out more. Actually he reads animal kaiser cards too (blush**) my girl likes princesses, so we have snow white stuff to entice her to read & activity books to play

3. Watch cartoon- okok, I’m not saying no control in screen time but after watching cartoon (eg. Mickey mouse clubhouse or Disney movies), I "follow up" with books & yes, merchandises. Ok, not the best way but have fun while learning

4. Play computer/ apps- again, not saying play whole day, but there r good phonics & reading programme online. While waiting, I would rather use "starfall" apps to occupy my girl then screaming at her. But watch their eyesight problem closely

5. Singing- it’s free & can be done anywhere. Car rides, bedtime, anytime. Action songs r the best to reinforce learning. 5yo may find it too "childish", but my 6yo son is singing together with 3yo sister. From the lyrics, get some keywords. When u chance by the words again on newspaper, magazine, books, challenge them to use phonics to blend the alphabets

6. Role playing- after a long day at work, I enjoy being the "student" to my children while they teach me new words & songs they learn in school. Instead of "interrogating" them on what they learn, they naturally leak out the content thru play. From there, reinforce learning they learn in sch by asking questions. If there r reading materials from sch, use them. Otherwise just write down a few words on cards/ paper & play card games (snap or happy family style)

7. Reading- go to the library if there are not enough books at home. If the library books r too old & tattered, try serangoon library at nex, esp on wkdays. I found many new books & interesting titles. Of course my son will "research" on dinasours & carnivores

just to share my exp as u dunno the exact prob u r facing. If it is phonics, guess tamarind’s method & enrichment may help. But I do it my way (but we read Peter & Jane too), u can combine any method. The best way is ur way bcos u know ur child best!!

Kudos to all mummies!

[tamarind]

pummanuel:

However, coaching also allows us to understand our child better, and in a way understand ourselves better too. In due time, we will find a method that suits our child.

pummanuel,
I absolutely agree with this. I am a full time working mom, and my kids are with my mother and maid most of the time. I find that teaching time allows me to spend quality time with them, and I can truly bond with them intellectually.

For those parents who are not confident to teach, it is absolutely fine to send to enrichment classes. But do note that it is important to develop the skill of independent learning. Kids who attend too many enrichment classes may lose the ability to learn on their own, since they know that mommy will always pay to have someone teach them.