All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[starz]

I am really inspired and motivate by you and ur kids. However, whenever i got home, i will feel tired and abit lazy. no motivation at times. Really impress by your girl who can draw and write so excellent and wonderful. When did you start to teach to trace or write alphabets n letters? my girl still yet to know how to write alphabets, not even trace. only know how to write numbers only.


btw i dun think i have the time to complete all vowels since i have been dragging for so long. Since my girl is now 3.4mths, 2 more month she is able to join the montessori phonics class, may i know which branch do u recommend? i m staying in the west. Thanks.

[starz]

May i know where did u buy the big picture book versions of Roald Dahl’s The enormous crocodile, the giraffe the pelly and me, and the Minpins?


Dunno when my girl is ready to read all these books…

seems like most of your books are from R.D. How about Enid Blyton?

[tamarind]

starz,

The Roald Dahl books are more suitable for kids who have completed level 10 of the Ladybird series. These books are available at Popular bookshop. I have not read any books by Enid Blyton but I think the books are fine.

My boy also read very slowly and monotonously at first. As he reads more, he slowly improves. Don't worry, you are doing a good job encouraging your girl to read in a lively tone. Kids are like that, they take time to learn.

It is perfectly OK if your girl does not want to read the old pages. The words are repeated throughout the entire series, so just keep moving on. Just make sure that she points to every word and tries to read it. Give her a few seconds to think if she cannot remember.

\"Mr Brown can moo\" is an easy book, you should try to let your girl read it herself.

The number of times you need to revise, depends on how well your girl is learning. Generally after 5 to 6 times, you can move on to the new words. Then when you finish all the words, start revising from the beginning if necessary.

I did not spend much time teaching my kids to write. I had some letter tracing and Kumon Maze books for them when they were about 2 to 3 years old. I just let them practice as and when they like. I make sure they have lots of papers and pencils so they can write and draw anything they want.

So long as you don't turn on the TV, just leave books, papers and pencils around, the kids will start to scribble.

My older girl attended the Montessori phonics class near Lakeside MRT.
http://www.modern-montessori.com/presch_centres_jw.htm

Note that they require parents to practice with the kids everyday.

[starz]

tamarind:

starz,


It is perfectly OK if your girl does not want to read the old pages. The words are repeated throughout the entire series, so just keep moving on. Just make sure that she points to every word and tries to read it. Give her a few seconds to think if she cannot remember.

\"Mr Brown can moo\" is an easy book, you should try to let your girl read it herself.

I did not spend much time teaching my kids to write. I had some letter tracing and Kumon Maze books for them when they were about 2 to 3 years old. I just let them practice as and when they like. I make sure they have lots of papers and pencils so they can write and draw anything they want.

So long as you don't turn on the TV, just leave books, papers and pencils around, the kids will start to scribble.

My older girl attended the Montessori phonics class near Lakeside MRT.
http://www.modern-montessori.com/presch_centres_jw.htm

Note that they require parents to practice with the kids everyday.

Hi Tamarind,

Thanks for your advise. U know at times my girl also has mood, dun even feel like reading even just 1 page of P&J. how to encourage her?

At times, when she comes to words she forgets or dunno how to read, she will feel very frustrated even i give her a few seconds to think, she will like give up and show anger. no patient.

Even i place thousands of paper, coloured pencils, crayons n etc, she still will not automatic to start drawing and writing Most of the time, she will wait for me to come back then will do actitivties with me. She alone will be playing or just lazing around. How to encourage? My mum is taking care of her. Also we rarely turn on TV, only wkends then i wil turn on awhile. mostly educational ones.

any idea how is the branch at Jurong east? good?

[Simply Mum]

Hi to all


I’m a newbie in this forum n also a SAHM. I have a girl 10 n boy 4.
Letter Factory from Leap Frog is great to learn to recognise the letters n the their sounds.

Just bought Hooked on Phonics (Kinder to 2nd Grade) to teach my son coz he already learnt all the letter sounds.

Anybody has comments on Hooked on Phonics. So far my son is able to learn a lesson per day n he finds it quite easy.

[tamarind]

starz:

Thanks for your advise. U know at times my girl also has mood, dun even feel like reading even just 1 page of P&J. how to encourage her?

At times, when she comes to words she forgets or dunno how to read, she will feel very frustrated even i give her a few seconds to think, she will like give up and show anger. no patient.

Even i place thousands of paper, coloured pencils, crayons n etc, she still will not automatic to start drawing and writing Most of the time, she will wait for me to come back then will do actitivties with me. She alone will be playing or just lazing around. How to encourage? My mum is taking care of her. Also we rarely turn on TV, only wkends then i wil turn on awhile. mostly educational ones.

any idea how is the branch at Jurong east? good?

I haven't heard about the branch at Jurong East.

Every child is different, and they are motivated in different ways.

The best way is to develop a love of reading in kids. It is very easy to say, but very difficult to do. Parents need to start reading to kids everyday since they are babies, and we have to find very interesting books for them.

We can also reward the child when she finish reading every day. You can make it such that she cannot watch any TV or play with any toys(keep her toys), and cannot eat any sweet, unless she has finished reading. In this way, you establish a routine, that she must finish studying before she plays.

Reading can become a routine, just like brushing teeth everyday

You should try to find a variety of books that will interest her. If she likes a book, she will want to read it many times. As for Peter and Jane, it is a \"study book\" for learning how to read, just like kids have to learn the multiplication table, it may not be fun, but kids still have to learn it.

Don't worry, your girl is still very young. You just need to have patience. If she does not know how to read a word, then just repeat it to her. You may have to repeat it 20 to 30 times. I have to do that for my boy too. I know it is frustrating and tiring after a full day of work. Just limit it to 10 to 15 mins every day, don't stress yourself too much.

[tamarind]

Just like to share this very good article.

http://www.classicalscholar.com/sight-words-phonics-homeschool-reading-success

Sight Words + Phonics = Reading Success


The above article supports my belief that teaching phonics and sight words at the same time, is the most effective methods of learning to read :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html


Another very good article :
How to Motivate Independent Reading
http://www.classicalscholar.com/motivate-independent-reading-home-school[quote]4. Model the behavior you want to see in your child.

I know that you know this, but your kids will pattern their behavior after the behavior that you model. In this case, that means that if you want to raise a child who enjoys reading, your kids need to see you and your spouse doing your own independent reading every day. You can certainly read the newspaper before they get out of bed, and of course, you are allowed to read your favorite novel in your own bed after the kids go to sleep, but make sure that during the day the kids see you reading. If all they see you do is watch television, then guess how they will choose to spend their free time as adults? Wind down at night with a good book; turn off the TV, and invite the whole family to grab a book and a comfortable position for reading on their own. One easy way to get your homeschooling husband and dad involved is to give him an illustrated classic for reading aloud to the entire family.[/quote]

[apple79]

Hi Tamarind,


My girl can recognise all the alphabets and their sounds but she is only coming to 22 mths. What do u suggest I do next? Maybe its too early to start 3 letter words?

[tamarind]

apple79:

Hi Tamarind,


My girl can recognise all the alphabets and their sounds but she is only coming to 22 mths. What do u suggest I do next? Maybe its too early to start 3 letter words?

Hi apple,
Your girl is doing very well ! I have heard of kids who are able to read 3 letter words at 2 years old.

You should certainly try to teach her. Try to make the simple word cards like in my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

Don't need to print, just write out on small pieces of paper. Let her play with the cards and see if she can arrange them correctly as described in my blog. If she is interested to learn, that means she is ready

If she shows no interest, don't stress her, you probably should wait until she is 3 years old.

[apple79]

Thanks! I will try it out.


In regards to the article u posted, do u think kids learn through sight words faster that phonics? If they see the words frequent enough, they don’t even need to try to make out how the words should read and will be able to read them instantly?