Letterland

[LLTan]

Hi buds,


Thank you! Now I understand more about sight words..I have seen my friend's daughter bringing back homework from Pat's schoolhouse and they have some letterland words. Is the same Letterland, is Letterland a company or a way of teaching. :?

[pummanuel]

buds:

What you can also consider doing is focus on other skills as well... like

introduce thematic readers so that she can pick up some sight words..
practice tracing skills with her to enable her to write neatly and legibly..
There are also soft skills like improving her fine motor skills which are
needed for writing... like cutting along lines... start with straight lines..
zig-zag lines... then curvy lines... working with paintbrushes... and a
whole lot more.

Hi Badgal, I agree with Buds on this.

Before my dd attended school, my focus was on teaching her self-reliance skills ie to eat on her own, put on her shoes without help and be toilet trained, as well as building up her gross motor skills by letting her run on the pastures, climb on the various bars in the playground, jump on the hopscotch, cycle on her tricycle, blow the bubbles, etc. We did some simple art & craft like doodling, colouring (out of the lines), and food printing (use lady fingers, lotus roots)

Then after she started school, I took the cue from the teachers, i.e. when she brought home art pieces that required colouring, I would colour with her at home, and taught her gradually how to colour within the lines and in the same direction but she would decide on the colours.

When she brought home art pieces that required cutting, I started to cut with her. Every term, Pat's will provide a list of Scholastic books that we can order. There are many value for money art & craft books (paperback) that we can order. I bought one book on cutting, scanned all the pages and whenever I wanted to let my DD cut, I would print one copy. (This way, I can keep the book intact for selling or passing on to relatives) She learnt to cut curvy lines by turning the paper and not the scissors. In fact, I didn't know this before teaching her.

The list goes on for tracing, finger painting, etc. As an untrained mother, I didn't quite know what to do and thought it was safer to go along with the teachers as I didn't want to put the cart before the horse.

I feel that Pat's has a wonderful curriculum on Arts & Crafts. The children do all kinds of things with different mediums. It exposed the children to many possibilities and trained their fine motor skills too. My dd loves to draw, colour & write. Personally, I take pride in her 'Let's do it ourselves!' attitude more than her ability to read. For her friends' birthdays or Teacher's Day, she will make cards on her own and not 'Mummy, let's go and buy present.' Of course, for Teacher's Day, I will help her. I see this as a result of doing tons of A&C.

As for teaching her to read, I think if you want, you can go ahead but it will be good for us to partake in it. In the process of teaching my dd to read, I experienced many challenges along the way and read books on how to overcome them. It shed light on the mistakes I made and most importantly, made me learn to see things from my dd's perspective. This is why I encourage parents, if they can, to teach their children by themselves as before primary school, without exam stress, we can turn this 'academic' process into a discovery journey - which will be ongoing.

Sorry, :offtopic:

[pummanuel]

LLTan:

Hi buds,


Thank you! Now I understand more about sight words..I have seen my friend's daughter bringing back homework from Pat's schoolhouse and they have some letterland words. Is the same Letterland, is Letterland a company or a way of teaching. :?

Hi LLTan, you can refer to the UK official website, http://www.letterland.com for more info. And yes, Pat's is subscribing to this Letterland for her phonics lessons.

Quoting from the website,

\"Letterland International Ltd is a leading independent publisher of educational books, toys and games for schools and families.

Our bright range of phonics products makes learning to read, write and spell both effective and fun. For over 40 years, we've worked with teachers, early year's professionals, parents and children to develop a simple learning system that helps children achieve reading success.\"

Besides the distributors that Buds mentioned, you can also get Letterland products from Kinokuniya, but the collection will not be as comprehensive. Popular carries some of the titles too but not as many as Kinokuniya.

[buds]

Thanks pummanuel! :celebrate:


Yes LLTan, Letterland is its own company also a phonics teaching method
famous for its fun way of learning to read... through stories, rhymes,
books, puppets and songs. In fact they also have their own Science
curriculum plus all the interesting crafts children can do while learning
how to read too!

Elm Tree shops are also located in town if you wanna recce around first
through their products which are @ Paragon (shared by mummyof2) &
also @ Suntec City.

[izu]

Hi anyone knows if brmck montessori programme for N2 teaches phonics? is the methodology good? If I send my kid to montessori for only a yr, is it too short since phonics need at least few years to master? Sign her up as i thought a blend of montessori teachings/playing would be great as a complement to her regular curriculum - IB inquiry based.


Also, will a child be confused if she is exposed to letterland for a year and then move to jolly phonics and montessori method for next few years? Is it ok to mix the various materials? Love the letterland songs and thinking of buying.

thx for advice.

[pancake77]

My child is also learning letterland in Pat's. Very good indeed. My child can remember all the letter sounds. But I've never seen my child bringing back homework....

LLTan:

Hi buds,

Thank you! Now I understand more about sight words..I have seen my friend's daughter bringing back homework from Pat's schoolhouse and they have some letterland words. Is the same Letterland, is Letterland a company or a way of teaching. :?

[buds]

For anyone interested in pre-loved Letterland products.. got one lobang here.


> http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/449183/6488627.html?1324489907

[princesskaris]

Hi, my daughter is learning letterland phonics in school too. I’m trying to reinforce learning at home atthe same time but I’m stuck at word blending. I’ve tried to introduce 2 letter word blending e.g is but she can’t seem to get the tactic. Any tips to share? tia!

[empressplace]

Hi Buds, Pummanuel and other expert mothers here


My son is aged 4+ with Pat’s and learnt the alphabet names, capital and small letters, and seems to know most of the sounds after some revision. I am training him to distinguish the beginning sound of words. He seems to be getting it. Now, I am thinking of trying blending using the Tamarind method. Is that the correct progression?