Newspaper reading for primary school kids

[rocklee]

Hi Buds and all


Thank you very much for your valuable advice. My kids only like to read comic books . And whenever we go to the library, they will head straight to the section with books on dinosaurs and animals. Looks like they have not outgrown that age yet, still hanging on to their dinos and animals. I will always be the one busy selecting fiction chapter books for them to read. I like your suggestion of starting them with kids magazines. Will try it out, hopefully can stimulate their interest in reading.

Many thanks!

[cafelatte]

Hi all,


Is there anyone with children in upper primary or PSLE ? There’s a conversation component in the oral, is that right ? Will children who do not read newspapers daily have problems with this component ?

[buds]

kiasimom:

HI buds,

Thanks for your reply. Guess I will get my DS to read ST instead

Heyya kiasimom, it really depends on the individual family approach
and experiences. No hard and fast rule about this introduction. Like
schellen said, NP you should try to monitor the content and the kind
of writing style used in it. They do have interesting in-depth reports
about relevant stuff that can be good to let kiddies read. Just need
to observe that they aren't reading the not-so-good stuff... for now. :roll:
Plus, the NP pictures make the reports seem more interesting than
it reali is. The headlines too. :lol: Thats media for you.

[buds]

Eagle-Ladybird:

Why not Readers Digest - a much better option I think.


Articles in there are much higher quality than newspaper reporting, and less the unnecessary media exposure like Bust Enhancements, or NTUC ad spreading 4 pages mid section

Hahaa! I like how you sneakily add the Bust Enhancements part above. :lol:
I like to see those though. :oops: :lol:

Readers Digest can be quite an eyeful for children juuuust starting out.
But for confident readers... i'd say go for it!

[tutormum]

Actually, children can start reading Reader's Digest and Straits Times at bits size. Both of these are of very high standard and quality in terms of language used. If a child can read them very well, he will have no problem in his comprehension or PSLE English. I started reading the comic strips of Straits Times when I was in P2. DS3 followed my example and is now hooked on the Life Section. :lol: I slowly, slowly increase the scope and read the full paper by P5. I usually recommend reading the Home pages and move on to International/World news when the children are ready. Of course being boys, all my DS go for the Sports Section first. In fact, DS1 only read the Sports Section before covering the whole paper a few years later. Once the habit of reading the newspaper is cultivated, it'll become a daily routine. For Reader's Digest, I started with Laughter the Best Medicine and ancedotes. It's a great help in building up your vocabulary and general knowledge on the whole. The articles are very contemporary and well balanced. DS3 loved the jokes and by P4, he is able to read the whole magazine. Comics is the easiest read and the best spring board for any child. I think that's where we get our sense of humour. :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[buds]

tutormum:

Actually, children can start reading Reader's Digest and Straits Times at bits size.

Agree with tutormum on the above.

Forgot to input that in my last post. Cheh.. I too, started out with the
comics strips in ST... followed by Life then sports and Home and so on...
by example from my daddie. :love:

Start capturing children's interest early, provide bite sized portions
beginning with what may be of interest to them first and follow up
slowly to the heavy-duty ones later on when you find the child has
picked up the interest with other varying content...after which
reading the paper will come naturally (like eating and drinking)
and gradually..... (progression in reading dosage) 8)..... in future
being something they cannot do without daily... (like taking a crap). :lol:

I know a handful of people who can't crap successfully without
reading something..... anything..... at the same time.
Now... :idea: Somebody should come up with a product for
the sanitization of reading material; like an antiseptic-misty-
spray or something.. :lol:

[jedamum]

bumping this up for discussion.

appreciate more sharing of how to start kids on newspaper reading.

[Chenonceau]

I have never understood DS’ English teacher’s obsession with newspaper reading. Incidentally, this is the same teacher who makes spelling mistakes that even my DS does not make. Here are my reasons AGAINST newspaper reading…


(1) Newspaper style writing is a pared down and simple style. The words used are intentionally simple and the sentence construction equally so. This is not the place to pick up interesting vocabulary.

(2) Ideally, newspaper style writing is factual. Good newspaper reports strive to be impartial and to withhold opinion. Present the facts and let others who read, decide. Even if many reports fall short of the ideal, newspaper reports in general TRY to just give the facts… and present the opinions of those interviewed. This therefore, is not the place to imbibe the best of argumentative/persuasive writing.

(3) DS’ English teacher says he should read the reports about petty crimes so that he will be able to write realistic storylines in his PSLE compo. Frankly, how many petty crime reports can you read before you begin to discern a predictable pattern? Also, all the reports about prostitutes etc… I don’t find very good for character building.

A good grounding for PSLE compo from P1 to P4 should be built with fiction. Why? Because PSLE compo values the evocativeness of the language found mostly in fiction. Not just simple kids’ fiction… but fiction that is a few grade levels above the official age reading level. In P4, I was giving Little Boy Eoin Colfer and David Eddings. In P5 … PG Wodehouse. In P6, Sherlock Holmes unabridged… In P6, I started DS on newspapers, but we didn’t just read newspaper reports. We read Insight and other opinion pieces which modeled good expository and argumentative writing. He also started reading Newsweek and Time regularly.

When I told DS’ teacher that DS is reading Time magazine regularly, she looked at me blankly and asked "What is Time magazine?" You trust the recommendation of teachers who don’t know what is Time magazine?

[cnimed]

jedamum,

I show my kids interesting photos from the newspapers and ds2 is collecting comic strips from Life section. We also use newspaper photos to make his little alphabet scrapbooks. I tend to shy away from TNP for them since it’s of a more scandalous nature.

I love to go through the crime and accident articles with them, not for essay writing, but to inform them of the legal punishments for crimes and promote greater awareness of safety issues. Must keep them alive, and on the straight and narrow path.

[jedamum]

deminc:

jedamum,

I show my kids interesting photos from the newspapers and ds2 is collecting comic strips from Life section. We also use newspaper photos to make his little alphabet scrapbooks. I tend to shy away from TNP for them since it's of a more scandalous nature.

I love to go through the crime and accident articles with them, not for essay writing, but to inform them of the legal punishments for crimes and promote greater awareness of safety issues. Must keep them alive, and on the straight and narrow path.

deminc,
ds1 used to read online news..and he tends to be attracted towards local small news like road accidents, orchard flooding, dbs scams etc. i used to screen the news before selecting/bookmark for him to read, but it is too tedious and he prefers to select his own news to read. since exams draw near and he has been receiving his Little Red Dot, he reads them over lunch to save time. he reads mostly for general knowledge rather than english content/vocab learning.
ds2 will pick up ds1's little red dot. not sure if he reads as he only flips through them.
am thinking of getting outdated copies (1week late) of Today from Inlaws (as we don't subscribe to newspapers) and let ds1 read it as it is easier to browse hardcopies than softcopies.