All About Getting Help for Students Weak in English

[parent_in_west]

yeomaylin:

Dear Parent-in-west,


I tried to contact Serena but to no avail. She must be very busy. I have emailed her too. Can you kindly ask her to call me? My no is 9821 2040. Thank you very much.

Hi, have you managed to contact Ms Serena? I received a pm from one of the parents asking about Ms Serena too so I msg her. She is busy with the setting up and registration of her own learning centre so she has probably missed your call. I think it is better to sms her and leave your contact details.

[cherrygal]

hi dokomo


Usually, kids from 4yo can start reading and blending already… for a K2 to be unable to read well after 2 yrs of enrichment is something the parents should be concerned about.

Take the boy for an eye check first. There could be vision issues.

The pple who posted replies in the previous page also mentioned that ICR is ineffective. So maybe you want to try another school?

My boy attended Zoophonics for 1 yr when he was 4yo and he could read very well without my help. I took him out once he knew how to blend words. He’s P2 already and doing well in English. I only help him occasionally with the difficult sight words.

[jedamum]

Btw, is it common for 4yo toknow blending n reading? I thought average is k1 or k2. :oops:

[Laughing Flower]

Hi all,


I face the same issue with my son who started P1 now. School has enrolled him to additional lesson during school time to coach him with phonic and reading.

But, we have to do more to find out why he is not able to articulate well and read. Need to perform some assessment with him to find out the root cause. No issue with his eye sight and pending to perform the hearing test, as if the kid cannot hear well, he/she will not be able to pronounce and read well.

Don’t delay if you notice there is a potential issue, get them to go through some checking and apply intervention as early as possible.

[MMM]

dokomo:

Hi,

Help! Any parents can advise pls! My K2 nephew has been with ICR for almost 2 years, still cant read simple words. (ok, sometimes can read simple words, sometimes cannot) 

After talking with his ICR teacher, found out he has difficulties with blending, even the teacher admitted that phonics-based teaching may not be suitable for him. :stompfeet: :mad: (now than say, aft much probing)

Do you know of any centres that teach english using the whole-word based approach? Thank you in advance!

My P1 did phonics with Jan & Elly from nursery. Very solid program. She only completed in mid K2. However, we observed that she cannot blend well as in, it doesn't come naturally unlike some kids. Another pal whose kid is also in the same program had the same observation.

From term 3 of K2, after she completed her phonics program, we switch her to Lcentral liftoff. Initial part was on phonics but they also include comprehension and spelling so it's more than phonics. But one observation is that they color code the phonics. For some reasons, her literacy level really pick up significantly after that. She is able to do those common sight words easily eg. through, thorough, difficult, between, etc... She is able to read difficult words as well. Now in P1, her FT's term 1 comments on her reading and word recognition skills is very good.

[Dino_Mummy]

Hi MMM,


Would you mind sharing how much is the fees at Lcentral?
Also, did you practice with your daughter further at home to spur the picking up on literacy level?

Can you please PM me?

Many thanks.

[dokomo]

Hi,


We have already stopped his ICR. :nailbite: Hope to find another centre which can teach him the foundation for reading.. that's where we were thinking of trying whole-word since phonics may not be suitable. It seems majority of english enrichment for pre-schoolers nowadays are phonics. If he has difficulties blending, and he goes into another phonics enrichment, the same problem is going to come back again. (or maybe not? then i will :spank: ICR!)

Ok, is time to get his eyes and ears checked too. Meanwhile, hopefully by exposing him to leapfrog dvds and reading books, he can pick up some blending skills there.. (while searching for another school :xedfingers: )

[buds]

jedamum:

Btw, is it common for 4yo toknow blending n reading? I thought average is k1 or k2. :oops:

No. It's not.

Usually K1. By K2 can finish Grammar foundation already.

A normal 4 year old can blend 3-letter phonetic words.

Sight reading should be included in good Phonics programmes.
Phonics alone is not enough to decipher all the English words in the world.

[Imami]

buds:

jedamum:

Btw, is it common for 4yo toknow blending n reading? I thought average is k1 or k2. :oops:

No. It's not.

Usually K1. By K2 can finish Grammar foundation already.

A normal 4 year old can blend 3-letter phonetic words.

Sight reading should be included in good Phonics programmes.
Phonics alone is not enough to decipher all the English words in the world.

3-letter phonetic words = c-a-n? N-u-t?

[buds]

Hi dokomo, your nephew has wasted 2 long years already in ICR. This isn’t the first few times i’ve heard parents and fellow frenz complaining about the ineffectiveness of ICR and the big group of children they take in. On top of all that, there were also observations of teacher being unable to handle the children and no gradual feedback on child’s progress.


I would not advise you to jump into another group programme anymore. He needs one to one and this intervention will help to zoom into his challenged areas. While there have been one or two students whom i’ve taken who were totally not cut out for Phonics (cos they really have no ear for it ie. just can’t listen and make out the sounds and its combinations… with the parents support we have not left any child behind being unable to read upon graduating from the programme. A good teacher can observe the weaknesses of the children and using other ways to tailor to the specific areas banking on their learning styles, to bring out the strengths in them.