Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[MummyofStars]

Dear gurus here,

My boy is turning 5. I did not teach him phonics at home since his CCC teaches. Its until last year in Sept, when i realise his progress to be really slow then I started teaching him some blendings.

For the past 6 months, we covered most blends and vowels, and some sight words. But till now, he is still unable to blend the words even though he can sound all single alphabets. He is unable to remember simple sight words like ‘IS’ , ‘The’, ‘And’ even daily practice. I’ve read some articles that some kids just can’t blend, and i really hope he is not one of them.

I’m started to get very worried now. Recently started phonics prog with a small montessori but no improvement. He is in K1 now, and most of his peers are reading books. Is there any programme that can help me and him ? I’m getting fraustrted and helpless.

[iLoveChubby]

Hi MummyofStars!

This is so familiar to me.. my DS also K1 and cant read much yet.
He is also attending montessori phonics.. i cant say there is great improvement but somehow there is... as montessori phonics follow the kids' learning pace/ability, unlike those structured programs whereby they will teach everyone at e same pace, irregardless whether your kid can follow or not.

haha stimes i also screamed until the whole estate can hear me when he is still unable to read the words that i hv repeated like a thousand times.. :rotflmao:
So i concluded that I cant be the \"complete\" teacher for him... can only follow up what the teacher in enrichment class has taught.

Just sharing, every night I will try to ask him to read phonics booklets to me (like a sentence or 2 per page, not too difficult types so he can build up his confidence fr there) and in return, i will read the books that he likes me to read to him (more difficult ones). You may wish to find out what kind of books he likes, eg animals, dinosaurs, funny, adventure etc.

As for activity books for him to do at home, you can try phonics-based types eg pelangi series (can be found in popular), usborne series, kumon series, scholastic series etc. There are actually many choices esp in kinokuniya.

I complete get what you mean when i also see other kids of his age reading so fluently.
By e way, my DS not only slow in english, even slower in mandarin!... :rotflmao:....
So patience patience perseverance perservence........ :rahrah:

[Dino_Mummy]

Hi ILoveChubby,


So you did not enrol your little one for any additional phonics class outside?

My DS is also in K1 and cannot read; much slower in Mandarin too… which worries me. I know i should let him have his share of fun now before he goes into Primary school but am worried he can’t catch up later!

Any good phonics class to recommend ?
Morris Allen - anyone tried? Any good?

Appreciate any feedback.

Thanks much!

[Dawnie]

There are a lot of on-line materials, DVDS etc and with the help of parents, young children can pick up Phonics at home. Personally, I feel it is not necessary to spend so much on English enrichment class.

[iLoveChubby]

Dino_Mummy:

Hi ILoveChubby,


So you did not enrol your little one for any additional phonics class outside?

My DS is also in K1 and cannot read; much slower in Mandarin too... which worries me. I know i should let him have his share of fun now before he goes into Primary school but am worried he can't catch up later!

Any good phonics class to recommend ?
Morris Allen - anyone tried? Any good?

Appreciate any feedback.

Thanks much!

Hi Dinomummy!
I sent my DS to montessori phonics.. small class, great teacher.. mostly i m glad he is enjoying himself.
Other popular phonics classes include i-creative-learner (v full!), Icanread, read-in-a-week phonics class, learning point (full too)...etc.
MA - they dont really allow you to see their materials and i dont know what they are teaching (they also hv their own phonics prog) altho they claim that they hv ways to generate your kids' interest in reading.
But they are v ex!.. :roll:

[Dino_Mummy]

Hi Dawnie,


Thanks. I bought a set of "Meet the Sight Words" last year and tried to watch with my DS but alas, he is not very interested… I also invested in Flash cards (English, Chinese ones) but again, he is not keen.

Think may have to do with me starting him on picture flashcards first perhaps… he just don’t seem keen on the words. He only likes pictures and animals in specific… I am a working mum so am afraid he is lacking behind - i only have weekends (energy) to try to coach him myself… Daddy can’t be bothered and thinks i am too kiasu.

Hi ILoveChubby,

Thanks. I will try to check out Icanread at Kovan and see if i can get a place for him. From the above poll results, IcanRead seems very popular - do you know if its because they have many branches or it really works?

Montessori phonics - can share where do you go to? Yours is K1 (5yrs old)?

[iLoveChubby]

Hi Dinomummy!

You may wish to read the thread on ICANREAD to find out more.
I almost put my K1 boy at ICANREAD last year but due to logistics problem, i ended up with the montessori phonics which is more convenient (will pm you more details later. ).

I thk for every class/centre, no matter how gd the program is, if they dont hv a good & passionate teacher to execute it, then it may not work after all. And also, hv to depend on your boy's rapport with the teacher.. once they enjoy the class/teacher, their learning curve will be less steep.
Popular & well-sought-after classes do not necessarily work on all kids, i guess we have to just trial & error and find out what works best for them.

[BigDevil]

My DS is also turning 5 this year. If you have seen my posts in the speech therapist thread, you will know that my DS is not a fast learner. We were so worried that we brought him to a speech therapist for assessment!


But he is now reading reasonably well. We never sent him to any English enrichment program. All we did was getting the set of 3 Leapfrog DVDs (Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, and Code Word Caper). The songs are catchy and DS enjoyed watching them very much. Heck! Even his P2 (then) sister enjoyed watching them! I guess interest is the most important factor to get him to pick up phonics.

So if your child is having difficulty, perhaps you can give the DVDs a try first before considering enrichment? You can always borrow them from the library first to see if your child is interested before deciding whether to buy a copy.

The only downside is that DS kept singing the songs over and over again! :frustrated:

[JAR]

BigDevil:

My DS is also turning 5 this year. If you have seen my posts in the speech therapist thread, you will know that my DS is not a fast learner. We were so worried that we brought him to a speech therapist for assessment!


But he is now reading reasonably well. We never sent him to any English enrichment program. All we did was getting the set of 3 Leapfrog DVDs (Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, and Code Word Caper). The songs are catchy and DS enjoyed watching them very much. Heck! Even his P2 (then) sister enjoyed watching them! I guess interest is the most important factor to get him to pick up phonics.

So if your child is having difficulty, perhaps you can give the DVDs a try first before considering enrichment? You can always borrow them from the library first to see if your child is interested before deciding whether to buy a copy.

The only downside is that DS kept singing the songs over and over again! :frustrated:

My DD is also turning 5. When she was 3, she can't even say more than 2-syllabus word. She never talk in class when she attended daily playgroup for the whole year and at home, only said words like eat, play. I was so worried that I almost sent her to see speech therapist. I hold back and told myself that I should gave both of us times(till she is 5, my target) to work something out. Like BigDevil, I bought her Leapfrog DVDs after reading lots of positive comments from KS forum. The Leapfrog DVDs are:
1. Letter factory (teaches A-Z alphabet)
2. Talking word factory (teaches how to blend the alphabet)
3. Code word caper (teaches how to blend silent sound and complex word)
4. Math Circus – teaches math concept
5. Math Adventure to the Moon – expand on math concept
6. Let’s go to school – show what is like to be in school
7. Learn to read at the story book factory – tell a story and act in play
8. The Amazing Alphabet – shows all the capital and small letters A-Z & a-z
alphabet and their correct sequence.
9. Numbers Ahoy – teach number in sequence

The first 3 titles are especially useful. My then 3 yrs old DD is able to pick up the phonics sound and relates to it, same goes for her older bros(then P1), he told me he is able to blend silent words better after learning the blending rules from the DVDs. After she've watched all the DVDs days after days(until some of the discs are almost damaged), she is able to tell me how each alphabet sound and can even spell some words(CAT-HAT-BUN....etc) but her pronunciation for some words are still not exactly correct. So, I sourced around for proper class for her. Wanted I-Creative-Learner but it was full. Almost tried LCentral/ICanRead/Lorna Whiston, but she can't made up what the native teachers were talking about then. Managed to find a teacher at Reads-in-a-week phonics which can cater to her learning pace and we stick to her for slightly more than 1 yr.

On top of that, I read to her. Bought her lots of story books with Dora the explorer(her favourite cartoon characters), Robin series and Ladybird Peter and Jane Series...etc. Also borrowed colourful books from library. Sight word flash cards are also useful. When doing flash card, needs to make it very interesting so that kid won't get bored by it. Tried explaining to them the meaning and how to use the words. If the kids like certain cartoon, try to get them interested by reading books from their favourite characters like Thomas the train, cars, chugginton....etc
Slowly she takes to reading and most recently, I've moved her to LCentral where she is assessed and placed in their Lauchpad class. She can read reasonably well by now.

[Chanielle]

I agree with you guys! Got my DS the leapfrog shows and within days, he knows the sounds of A - E… Downside is it may hurt their eyes…


Btw, anyone tried their tag reader? Need some views before purchasing…