All About Getting Help for Students Weak in English
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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.
Hi Ammonite, thanks for the tips! He’s 4.5 YO. I have my concerns too, on topics like war, death etc. In particular, the parts on how cruel and sadistic human beings can be… I find it extremely difficult to explain how/why there was the Japanese unit 731 and the gassing of the Jews/Holocaust etc. It is disturbing for me as an adult to read about such incidents and even more disturbing for me as a parent to be reading these to a preschooler. Honestly, I am wondering if I am polluting my child’s mind!
My hubby’s take is there is little point keeping such things from him, although we could introduce them when he is older. He said given our kid’s interest level in reading and finding out things, even if we remain passive, he would have picked things up. Hubby cited how son asked about the recent unrest in Egypt . I was like,”HUH????” Hubby said son must had picked up the information while he was doing puzzles in front of the TV when the news was on. So well…
Actually, I don’t know if his emotional age is in sync with his intellectual age (maybe not!). I read something about how children’s thoughts can be reflected in their drawings. So far, it seems ok and yes, I will continue to keep an eye on him in terms of his emotional reaction to such themes. Perhaps I should also read up about children’s emotional health… -
Hi Imami,
Yes, my son too asked about such things when he was that age because he picked it up from BBC News. It was the child psychologist who highlighted it to me that these things can cause general anxieties in young children who can understand intellectually, but cannot process them emotionally. My son was drawing many pictures of armies tunnelling through mountains in advanced machines to save those in trouble. Even adults have difficulties accepting the insanity of war as you pointed out. You are not polluting his mind, but some censorship may be appropriate. I definitely would not go into the details of death and torture.
On WWII, we turned the discussion to the importance of having a good leader, and what makes a good leader. We do not analyse the sadism of war, but highlight that what was done was wrong and this has been acknowledged. We also tell him what has been done to prevent such things from happening again, and the resilience of the war generation. I pointed out that his great grandmother survived WWII.
I could not prevent him from seeing photos of the tsunami and the Sichuan earthquake. Instead we explain the science, the rarity of occurence, and stress that we are in a safe location. We do not highlight the deaths but the rescue stories and survival tips, as well as measures taken to prevent another tragedy. I find that at the end of the day, my two children need to know that they are safe from these.
So always reassure that they are safe, they will be ok. -
My 6 yrs old girl started to read before she was 5 yrs old. She attends Mrs Angie's home-based Phonics/English class (N2-K2) at Sengkang under franchise I Creative Learner. http://www.icreativelearner.com.sg/ They have enrichment schools in Bedok and Clementi now. But previously it is home-based only.
Personally I think I have to credit this teacher 100% for teaching her well. This class usually starts in April when the kid is 4. I was on wait list when she was 2 yrs old.
She has just joined a new K2 school and the form teacher asked her to be 1 of the MC for her graduation concert. I was very surprised because she is so new in the class.
The teacher told me \" because she is the only one who can read the whole passage LOUD and CLEAR \". Heehee -
With the way parents are guiding and teaching children and the way schools are accelerating academic skills, it is not surprising to find kids who are able to read and recognise words at an early age. However being able to read and understand the words does not necessarily mean the child can truly process the information that they are getting. Their emotional maturity may not be quite there yet to cope especially with heavy topics like war, famine, abuse, etc.
My 2 fellas were not early readers. They started only in late K1 but picked up very quickly from there. For me, I tend to want to preserve their rose tinted outlook and steer them away from heavy topics. DD is hyper emotional and will be very much affected by news of people hurt or dying, etc. Her anxiety shows up in the form of moodiness and nightmares and she will keep asking questions like will war come to singapore, etc. We had to take special care to explain the Japan quake to her when it happened. Now at 9yrs old, she is better able to process such information. DS who is 2 yrs younger is better able to cope with such information. He is able to detach facts from emotion and rationalise the information he is reading.
So it is very important to match the child’s emotional maturity as well as cognitive development when introducing reading materials. Especially when they are reading independantly. -
Can anybody give me an example of the kind of books that a 6 year old should be reading?
For example, ORT Stage 7? Or some other book titles for me to have a general gauge of the level of difficulty that my daughter should be attempting now.
Thank you! -
theconstellation:
You might want to try Usborne Young Reading Series. It has Series 1, 2, and 3. Short chapter books with colourful illustration. Some shorter children classic written by Roald Dahl - Enormous Crocodile & The Minpins. Magic Tree House series is highly recommended too.Can anybody give me an example of the kind of books that a 6 year old should be reading?
For example, ORT Stage 7? Or some other book titles for me to have a general gauge of the level of difficulty that my daughter should be attempting now.
Thank you!
Btw, what is ORT? :oops: -
ORT should be Oxford Reading Tree.
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There are some workshop for teachers/ parents for compre, compo strategy, some named ‘compre strategy for weaker students’. Before you go, please take note that compre 阅读理解 is for pupils who can read阅读. If your child can read a passage, then I do have some effective techniques to recommend to you. If your child is very weak, P1P2 word also cannot recognize, then you should focus on the foundation, which is oral and listening, plus some reading of basic word ‘P1P2生字表’.
Please leave your questions here, I will try to answer. -
May i know when will be the workshop?
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include me in the workshop
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