Q&A - P1 English

[RRMummy]

Adam Ma:

Yes in fact the sentence is easy words but only needs time to practise and the more difficult in fact is those words hard to break like rescue, inside, heavily which is not formed by simple pattern and my son has very bad memory but very little interest in memorizing words.

HI Adam,

These were some of the ways we used to practice when DDs were first having spelling.

1. First, go through the word by breaking them down into syllabus.. that way kids \"remembers\" it in smaller chunks.. eg \"res-cue\" \"in-side\" or \"in-si-de\". Sometimes, I will purposely pronounce it funny like \"ton-gue (ton-gew)\"

2. Let them jump the squares of tiles at home/walking home for every letter of the word the are spelling. Target is to get across the room or home etc...sometimes, i say for every word she gets correct I have to move how many steps back..see who reaches the other end first..

3. I will get them to play kinda like hangman but with some letters given.

4. Like number 2 but with no helping letters just dashes.. (this is when they are more confident with #2)

5. For some words, make up silly memorable way like \"eye\" i traced her one eye and said \"e\" then a \"y\" whilst tracing the joining of her eyes to her nose (making a Y) , then tracing her other eye and say \"e\". this is a very simple example but just to give you an idea..have to adapt accordingly..

eg. \"heavily\".. \"heavy\" disguised \"y\" as \"i\" because \"ly\" is always enemy of \"y\" and never want to stand side by side. (This is assuming he has no trouble with spelling \"heavy\") otherwise for \"heavy\".. \"he\" (coz man can carry heavy things) \"a\" (made a sound while lifting the heavy stuff) \"v\" (almost fell down but got up again).. etc

6. For some words I tap on what they have already memorized the previous week.. eg. if they already learnt \"bright\", new word is \"flight\" then no need to learn \"every single letter\" over again.. just highlight \"ight\" to show them the similarity and pshyco them that they just need to learn \"2 new letters\" - \"fl\"..

But whichever method above I use to supplement, i will still get them to write each word out at least 3 times, 2 days before the test. Then I'll just test them once at night and once again the morning before they go to school on spelling/tingxie day. (Maria Montessori said what goes through the hands, goes through the brains, so I insist they must write not just verbalize )

Any mistakes would be re-tested. I use a white board I bought from Daiso. They get to choose what ever colour marker they fancy on that day. Good thing is me testing them spelling is a now a weekly norm, so no struggle. When I say tingxie/spelling, they will go get their white board and marker..

Just my cents of sharing.. Hope some will work for your son too..

[Adam Ma]

Hi, RRMummy


Thanks for your reply and at least there’s something I can try out.

[sharon.010936leemc]

Wanna follow this valuable thread…

[potentialkp]

Question :

My sister and I _____ studying in the same school.
(1) is (2) am (3) are (4) was
My DD choose (3) are
Answer Sheet is (2) am

I ask around and there are many arguments, so i am very confuse now. Pls help…

[buzzlady]

The answer is definately " are ", how can it be "am".

[catherineleesg]

potentialkp:

Question :

My sister and I _____ studying in the same school.
(1) is (2) am (3) are (4) was
My DD choose (3) are
Answer Sheet is (2) am

I ask around and there are many arguments, so i am very confuse now. Pls help....

ans: \"are\"

[Curious mum]

Hi All,


I’m new to this forum…
My DS will be going to P1 next year. I am worried as he is having difficulties in his reading.May I know what is expected of a P1 student? Are they expected to write in sentences on their first day?

[Jing Wen]

If you no sure about what is expected from your kid, see the top 10 primary school exam paper for Primary 1 to 6. You can download it free from http://www.testpaper.biz. Share it with your friends.

[micollh]

thanksa Jing Wen !! downloaded all… hee

[sagacious.04440sg]

Hi, just curious. Do parents send their kids for phonics when they are 4 yrs old? Does it help them during P1? Is there a lot of reading required at P1?