All About Getting Help for Students Weak in English

[711mum]

jedamum:

FQW:

[quote=\"jedamum\"]Any one tried math hub english?

Huh? Since when mathshub ventured into English?

Their website indicate p5/6 english. Recent years only I think.
http://www.mathshub.com.sg/courselist/list.php?centre=9&term=136[/quote]Yes, started last year only.

I would like to hear feedback on their EL programme, any parent care to share?

[lovinglife]

slmkhoo:

lovinglife:

Hi all,


How do you practice reading with your child? Do you read out loud together with finger pointing to each word as you read? Appreciate any feedback. Thank you! :please:

There are many aspects of reading. Reading aloud and pointing at words will teach word recognition. Getting her to sound out words will practice phonics. However, kids who are just learning to read for themselves often understand much, much more than they are able to read. So in order to develop their comprehension and vocabulary, you should also spend some time reading books that are too hard for her to read herself, just so she can be exposed to more complex sentences and a wider vocabulary without the pressure of trying to make out the words. Also talk about the story, maybe stop midway and guess the ending, think of alternative endings, compare the story with similar ones etc. Hope this helps.

Hi slmkhoo,

Thanks for the feedback
If I am reading the more complex books (chapter book) for my child, do I still pointing to words? My DS is reading relatively well at his age (coming to 5yo) but a lot of time he doesn't understand the story. Is it gonna do with his age & experiences?

[Ran1977]

buds:

You need a language coach to run immediate intervention to solve this reading problem asap. This is not the first time i've had friends and parents comment that ICR was expensive and ineffective.


Aniwaes, just to share that I was coaching one boy who had difficulty pronouncing words & reading coherently at P4.. failed oral.. didn't understand anything he read (poor vocab).. failed spelling.. and got him to do one-to-one twice a week to address the reading issues immediately. It helped him tackle first things first and gave him more confidence to move on to grammar and comprehension.

Please do not put your child in a grouped setting anymore.

Hi Buds, you are right. I have many friends who said that ICR was expensive and not good. They spent so much yet it is not effective. I wonder why?? :shock:
I want to put my 5year old there but after hearing all their comments I have put in Montessori Phonics instead:)

[ammonite]

I pick out some words for my younger son to read to me as well because he is great at memorizing so he recites rather than read. But generally, it was easy for him compared to his elder brother.


On the general topic of reading difficulties, I would say if something doesn’t work, please try something else. There is no single method that works for all children, and if you are obviously hitting your head against the wall, please stop pushing and stressing yourself and start looking at other possibilities. Just because it works wonders for one child does not mean it will for another.

My first child had difficulties learning to read. One of the most important thing I did during those years was to read to him A LOT. I did not require him to look at the words - it was pretty futile and disheartening for him. I read a lot of fiction and non fiction to him while he underwent OT, and while he could not read, he had a very good spoken vocabulary and general knowledge which protected his self esteem.

When I did coach him in reading, it was very targeted one word at a time, about 20min each time. I was only aiming for survival standard for P1. I didn’t want to stress him out, or turn him off books. When all the OT and treatment came together and he could finally read, he took off quickly. Now he reads voraciously everywhere and he also reads to his younger brother. In the beginning, his spelling was atrocious. But one year after catching up on reading, his spelling too took a leap forward.

So don’t sacrifice the joys of books while pushing the child to read.

[lovinglife]

slmkhoo:

If you are reading at normal speed and you want to focus on the story, pointing out words will be a distraction. You can point out an unusual word or one that you want him to take particular note of for some reason, but mainly just tell the story! If he doesn't understand the books you are reading, perhaps you should find easier ones. No point reading if he can't understand them. He will progress with age.

Thanks for your valuable feedback! I kinda found my problem root. I have been too particular on his words recognition. I should emphasis on reading for our pleasure instead of pressure :thankyou:

[lovinglife]

ammonite:

So don't sacrifice the joys of books while pushing the child to read.

:goodpost:
Thanks for sharing!

[lovinglife]

slmkhoo:

Yes, separate out the various purposes for reading. My younger daughter loved being read to and her comprehension was good for her age, but flatly refused to learn to read until she was 5yo. She used to get very annoyed with me when I tried to sneak in some phonics or point out a word now and again, and would say 'just read!'. But when she started to learn phonics and reading, she progressed very fast and within a few mths surpassed other kids who had been learning to read for over a year. She is now a teenager and loves reading (and I used to worry that she would never take to reading!).

Last night I read 2 books for my DS and he enjoyed it. When I suggested to stop half way and to continue tomorrow but he insisted to finish the whole book. I have also observed that he paid much attention to hearing to the stories and was able to understand it rather than focused on the words. Visual and hearing are processed differently by the brain. Thanks for pointing out different purposes for reading :thankyou:

[Imami]

I supposed the journey of learning to read for every kid is different. My child loves to read too, but it didn’t happened until he was about 18 months old. While many folks swear by Peter and Jane series and those structured readers like sunshine books, Joy readers, my child was never interested in them. Initially, I tried to ‘read’ Joy readers to him, pointing to the words on the pages etc. But he was never able to sustain beyond page 3…. I thought he was just not ready. After all, not being able to read at before 3 is no big deal to me, hence I didn’t push him. Honestly, I myself find such readers a bore.


His lack of interest in reading did not discourage me from making books/prints available at home. I would continue to buy and source for quality books which I hope, he would read in time. Then one day, when he was around 18 months old, it happened. I found him sitting quietly, looking intensely at one of the books. He could not be reading, since he didn’t even know his complete alphabet yet. But strangely, that book engaged him for more than 5min.

For the next three years, we read every day. On my non-work day, we read three times a day. when I need to work, we read two times a day. Each time, we could cover from three books to 8 books, depending on our energy level and the thickness of the books. And I hardly point to the words as I read, as I find doing that is disruptive. These days, he reads on his own in the morning while waiting for us to get ready for work. At bed time, I would read the ‘more cheem’ books to him. The book at the bedside now is one of the Horrible History books. I am not sure how much he’s soaking up as I read this Horrible History book (on world war) but he was talking about Winston Churchill to his father the other day. So I guess he did pick up something after all.

I noted a gap in his ability to read and his comprehension skills. He could understand more than his ability to read and it is evident in the questions he has asked and things he has commented on as I read the ‘cheem’ books. Lately, I found him ‘looking intensely’ at Geronimo stilton and the magic tree house books. I had recently borrowed a few Geronimo and magic tree house books for myself to read. This is what I usually do – to read the books myself to have a feel of the writing style, the content before I decide if they are worth buying for my child. Initially, I thought he was probably ‘reading pictures’ since there are some graphics in the books. I left him alone and went cleaning the toilet. When I emerged, hey – he’s still at that book! There could not be so many pictures to examine, right? He couldn’t be still looking at the pictures after 30 minutes?! It could also be that his reading skills had improved without my knowing.

When I probed him, he replied that he could not read (the book). Upon subsequent probing, it turned out that he could understand what he had read in that book. So yes, if the child is learning to read for himself/herself, the progress will definitely be faster. as I look back at my child’s learning to read journey, I think my attitude towards reading (for both myself and my child) was instrumental in his progress. I love to read. While I believe reading helps in language proficiency, i think the joy and knowledge derived from reading widely is even more rewarding. So I was not really into pointing out the words, using phonic skills etc as we read every day. Not that I don’t subscribe to such ideas but I find them disrupt the reading. The only time when we stopped half way while reading, was to discuss about the plot and for him to ask questions.

so :celebrate: to our children's learning journey!

[ammonite]

Hi Imami, not sure how old your child is now but you may want to take note of your child's reaction to more \"mature\" themes. Part of the challenge of looking for books for early advanced readers is matching the contents to their emotional age, which can be different from their intellectual age. If they have problems processing a theme or scenario (e.g. war, death, pandemics etc), it may show up in their dreams, drawings or general anxieties. Sometimes it is inevitable as certain information may pop up on newspapers or mass media, but good to just be aware of the possibility and ready to handle it.

[pecalis]

cherrygal:

I don't think your sis needs to regret lah. It's difficult to inculcate the love of reading in kids nowadays... there are too many electronic distractions and toys... yes, we can read to them now, make them read when they are young etc but once they reach a certain age, they will know it's really not as entertaining as electronic media becoz most pple are audio-visual creatures.


I met many teenagers who don't even read or watch TV. They are all glued to the net. It is rare indeed to have older kids devouring books like we used to.

Anyone who actually has teenagers who love to read despite the various distractions? Pls share how you maintained the love?

my dd1 is in sec 2 n she not only loves books, she's addicted to them! just 2 wks ago, b4 eoy exam, she borrowed 6 thick books! her most feared punishment from me since young is NO READING OF STORYBOOKS FOR A WK! she started reading at around 5 and I don't worry abt her eng. However, I was worried about her eyesight as her myopia deteriorate quite fast till I started her on Ortho-K 2 yrs back.

my ds started reading even earlier, ard 4.5yrs old but i did not strongly encourage him to read too much, for fear his eyesight will be worse as he has high astigmatism since 5. now, when free, he rather play computer games and eyesight deteriorate even faster! He is also very weak in Eng. I believe his exposure to computer games did cause him to be lazy to pick up a book to read.

Btw, we don't have Wii, PSP, xbox etc, my kids only get to play free computer games online. And they have not asked that we buy them such stuff for them.