When was/is your 1st child can begin to read English?
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My 5 yr old DD’s treat every night is to get us to read to her. She seems to enjoy listening to stories more than reading the books herself, though sometimes she would pick up her favourite books and read the story to herself.
She is now able to read more and more by herself but I do not wish to make it too ‘clinical’ by forcing her if she really didn’t want to. Sometimes we are so tired to read but I guess the love for listening to stories and reading together is also a great time for bonding. Better cherish these moments before she grows up! -
Don’t worry, as long as they can read before Primary one it’s ok. One of my neighbour’s children only learnt to read in Primary 1 because she didn’t teach him before. The most important thing is to keep the interest alive and to find materials suitable for your child.
My son is a visual spatial learner with vision issues who hates rote learning. There is no way I could have used flashcards or readers. I never made him read or look at a book from birth but he will always ask to be read to from 3 - but he won’t look at a single page of words. I later learnt that it gave him a pounding headache. At the start of K2 he had trouble with the simple readers. By June his reading age was tested to be 8 years old. 10 months later, after we resolved his vision issues, he now reads chapter books comfortably and secretly under his duvet. His late start was no hindrance.
DS2 is supposed to be N2 now. He doesn’t read either and I’m only just teaching him the phonic sounds very casually now. -
my option is one.
No worries...the key thing is not merely knowing how to read but to develop such an interest in reading that they will keep on reading till old ...
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deminc:
My DD hates rote learning too so flash cards and repeating not very helpful. Could you please share more about the spatial visual issue.Don't worry, as long as they can read before Primary one it's ok. One of my neighbour's children only learnt to read in Primary 1 because she didn't teach him before. The most important thing is to keep the interest alive and to find materials suitable for your child.
My son is a visual spatial learner with vision issues who hates rote learning. There is no way I could have used flashcards or readers. I never made him read or look at a book from birth but he will always ask to be read to from 3 - but he won't look at a single page of words. I later learnt that it gave him a pounding headache. At the start of K2 he had trouble with the simple readers. By June his reading age was tested to be 8 years old. 10 months later, after we resolved his vision issues, he now reads chapter books comfortably and secretly under his duvet. His late start was no hindrance.
DS2 is supposed to be N2 now. He doesn't read either and I'm only just teaching him the phonic sounds very casually now. -
Thanks Mommys and Daddys for the great advice. Actually my DS1 & DS2 llike reading too. And they often ask me or my wife to read. Sometimes we are too busy or tired after working. Fortunetaly my wife is SAHP. Perhaps I will need to spare my time for them for reading as i want to keep them to love reading.
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1amber:
My DD hates rote learning too so flash cards and repeating not very helpful. Could you please share more about the spatial visual issue.
Visual-spatial is a learning style, it is not a problem or issue. My kid is a VS learner, with vision issues (the irony!). They think in images and usually prefer multisensory learning. On the VS side, he can read and write words upside down and mirror image, which may sound great but makes early learning really difficult e.g. b,p,d are all the same, \"was\" and \"saw\" are the same, \"it\" and \"ti\" are the same. The other learning style is auditory-sequential. The learning styles run on a continuum, and children can adapt to an extent. But if you can find something that clicks well with your child, the learning process will be much smoother and fruitful. Classrooms are usually more suited to auditary-sequential learners especially for languages.
If you think your child is a hands-on person, you can incorporate manipulatives - wooden or magnetic letters, playdough, writing in sand etc. I used manipulatives with a reading programme called Reading Reflex for my child and it taught him how to read very quickly at a time when his vision issues were still a big factor.
You can go through the Dolch words list with your child, picking out words that you think are of special interest to your child.
They can learn to read or spell by using these manipulatives. You can expand this with word cards later for sentence forming though I only did that for Chinese.
Once they are reading you can choose books that will engage them. I would ask ds to read a page or two, and in return, I will read the next two chapters to him. The key is regular practice with interesting materials.
Because my son had vision issues, I was very protective of his eyesight and he started late (well, by local standards) for all formal academics, including seatwork. I know so many kids are reading at such a young age now, but if yours doesn't, I really feel it's ok to let them go at their pace, and nurture other aspects of their beings in the early years. Just read regularly to them to ensure they have a good spoken vocabulary, and spend time talking to them and doing interesting things with them. -
deminc:
Thanks for yor advice. I agree that we should let kids go at their pace and work with their style of learning. I would also add their personality style should be taken into account as well. In the end, we want our kids to be as happy as they can be! Be who they are.1amber:
My DD hates rote learning too so flash cards and repeating not very helpful. Could you please share more about the spatial visual issue.
Visual-spatial is a learning style, it is not a problem or issue. My kid is a VS learner, with vision issues (the irony!). They think in images and usually prefer multisensory learning. On the VS side, he can read and write words upside down and mirror image, which may sound great but makes early learning really difficult e.g. b,p,d are all the same, \"was\" and \"saw\" are the same, \"it\" and \"ti\" are the same. The other learning style is auditory-sequential. The learning styles run on a continuum, and children can adapt to an extent. But if you can find something that clicks well with your child, the learning process will be much smoother and fruitful. Classrooms are usually more suited to auditary-sequential learners especially for languages.
If you think your child is a hands-on person, you can incorporate manipulatives - wooden or magnetic letters, playdough, writing in sand etc. I used manipulatives with a reading programme called Reading Reflex for my child and it taught him how to read very quickly at a time when his vision issues were still a big factor.
You can go through the Dolch words list with your child, picking out words that you think are of special interest to your child.
They can learn to read or spell by using these manipulatives. You can expand this with word cards later for sentence forming though I only did that for Chinese.
Once they are reading you can choose books that will engage them. I would ask ds to read a page or two, and in return, I will read the next two chapters to him. The key is regular practice with interesting materials.
Because my son had vision issues, I was very protective of his eyesight and he started late (well, by local standards) for all formal academics, including seatwork. I know so many kids are reading at such a young age now, but if yours doesn't, I really feel it's ok to let them go at their pace, and nurture other aspects of their beings in the early years. Just read regularly to them to ensure they have a good spoken vocabulary, and spend time talking to them and doing interesting things with them.
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no great advice, just sharing experience.
All I know is my son was not, and cannot be, an early reader, and the teaching methods commonly used in classrooms and enrichment classes do not work for him at all. And if I had that expectation, we would both had been miserable and anxious, especially since he is also a very sensitive child. I'm sure there are many other children like him. -
deminc:
And if I had that expectation, we would both had been miserable and anxious, especially since he is also a very sensitive child. I'm sure there are many other children like him.
Eventually the kid will learn how to read when they reach primary school. For those early reader, it is just a bonus -
In one school I know, children are assessed in P1. If they can’t read esp high frequency words, they will be given extra ‘lessons’. PVs will help with these 2 programs (low ability and very low ability readers). In a way, kids need to be able to read before P1.
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