jedamum:

mn:

[quote=\"jedamum\"]Fish e.

wipe clean books, i search for the letters/activities or do it myself(MS word) and print out and slot into clear folders. the kid will trace onto the clear folder pockets with erasable marker and erase after use so can use multiple times.

Wow! This is interesting, my kid likes to use marker. Thanks.

mn:

jedamum:

Fish e.

wipe clean books, i search for the letters/activities or do it myself(MS word) and print out and slot into clear folders. the kid will trace onto the clear folder pockets with erasable marker and erase after use so can use multiple times.

Wow! This is interesting, my kid likes to use marker. Thanks.

mn:

jedamum:

Fish e.

wipe clean books, i search for the letters/activities or do it myself(MS word) and print out and slot into clear folders. the kid will trace onto the clear folder pockets with erasable marker and erase after use so can use multiple times.

Wow! This is interesting, my kid likes to use marker. Thanks.

mn:

jedamum:

Fish e.

wipe clean books, i search for the letters/activities or do it myself(MS word) and print out and slot into clear folders. the kid will trace onto the clear folder pockets with erasable marker and erase after use so can use multiple times.

Wow! This is interesting, my kid likes to use marker. Thanks.

jedamum:

Fish e.

wipe clean books, i search for the letters/activities or do it myself(MS word) and print out and slot into clear folders. the kid will trace onto the clear folder pockets with erasable marker and erase after use so can use multiple times.

Paulyn Y:

dear fellow parent, i feel the same anxiety too. my 4yo boy is also more or less the same by the way. he can't sit still, but when he is on youtube watching abc songs, number songs and nursery rhymes, i note that he actually learnt something from there.


he can recognise most of the alphabets, upper and lower case; recite ABC song.
count to 15, but recognised number only upto 10.
countdown from 10 - 1.
memorise some nursery rhymes.

but both his teachers and me have trouble getting him to sit down and hold a pencil. are we too anxious? is 4yo too young to be doing writing exercise? last night, we spent some time doing his worksheet from school (his teacher gave me his worksheet, supposed to be done in school for the month of August. to my horror, not a single page was done!). anyway, he was as dead as a pig doing it. but the moment i said storybook time, he quickly ran into the bedroom and got his storybooks out ...... ??? why?...

can any more experience mummy/daddy share your story on this?

Fish_e:

so there's no focus enrichment class for toddlers?

schen:

According to prof in KKH child development centre, 4 years old kids only need to hav 4 mins of concentration. Parents r expecting too much! My boy visit him once every six month

jedamum:

Fish_e:

my boy is almost the same as Paulyn Y's.. he can memorise all nursery rhymes, abcs, numbers, what exactly is tt character gg to say, songs even lyk 'Teenage Dreams'..


His monthly worksheet tt are brought back from sch are always completed.. but sometyms I feel that his work are not done by him judging by the way my son do his homework at hm with me. He don't want me to hold his hand and write tgt - it's a good sign.. but his writing will be way off the line which is normal I think???

he will take the initiative to do his homework; he will run to me and say \"mama, I wane do my homework\" and he will run to his bag and take out his homework for me to photocopy his homework before we sit down tgt. we are really quite pleased and glad tt he is taking this initiative. but we are just to worried abt his short-lived attention and focusing span. he is gg kindergarten nxt yr, thus the worrying of not able to catch up with other children.

Jedamum, your page mentioned some fish oil.. what kind of fish oil do you give your child? Is it effective? & is there some focusing enrichment courses that we can enrol them to? I tried to search online but it seems lyk those focus lessons are always for those older children

some kids have problems with the regular thin pencils.
i gave my boy fat crayons for tracing homework.
work on his motor skills. some kids dislike writing because it is tiring. finger motor skills include playing with playdoh or even tracing templates just to get them to draw also helps. i also make my own wipe clean book and gave him markers to trace letters, maze, dot-to-dot. routine of 10-15min seat work (including play time at a designated seating area - not on the floor). we do not give him any handheld games (no hp or ipad games; except maybe suduko online) until much later on when he goes onto P1.

i go for the most affordable fish oil! lol. because i gave my boy fish oil since 2.5yo, i give those burstlets form as he could not chew then - i squeezed out the insides for him. now he still takes them. i find that it is useful. you can go and try out some to see which you like.

i am a sahm, so i worked on his attention span. we dont go for any courses. but i go to the library to look for books for my self-reading. we have a shelf of books and craft stuff, so he is free to go there to look for stuff to do.

jedamum:

mn:

I don't know whether this is normal. Due to short attention span do they forget what they learnt? I taught my son ABCs, he will repeat after me but when I point to a letter and ask him to say out, he will say the wrong letter. When I show him pictures he is able to say what the picture is but not for letters or numbers. I'm very worried.

ruling out any special case like ADD, or ADHD, i also feel that short attention span is not link to retention rate.

some kids may find it difficult to learn from cards alone. you can try using a variety of materials. my boy learn better when he is up and going (maybe more blood flow to the brain?). i used to lay cards on the floor and get him to jump beside the letter i said and shout out the letter. be creative. any thing goes so long as you have the luxury of time. i cannot emphasize enough about a structured routine. you can schedule physical learning games after written seat work. stop the seatwork say 10-15min later before the kid gets tired - key is to keep him interested. even if he said he wants more at the end of the session, tell him that there will be another session tomorrow.

for learning numbers, you can use UNO cards or poker cards (kids/cartoon version). can also use playdoh to make these numbers/letters.

if you are teaching letters by yourself, Leapfrog letter factory is a fantastic tool to intro letters; for numbers, Richard Scarry's Best Counting Video ever is the best counting video ever for us! lol. to move on to simple phonics eg C-A-T, i referred to tamarind's blog (google it)

mn:

I don't know whether this is normal. Due to short attention span do they forget what they learnt? I taught my son ABCs, he will repeat after me but when I point to a letter and ask him to say out, he will say the wrong letter. When I show him pictures he is able to say what the picture is but not for letters or numbers. I'm very worried.

Fish_e:

my boy is almost the same as Paulyn Y's.. he can memorise all nursery rhymes, abcs, numbers, what exactly is tt character gg to say, songs even lyk 'Teenage Dreams'..


His monthly worksheet tt are brought back from sch are always completed.. but sometyms I feel that his work are not done by him judging by the way my son do his homework at hm with me. He don't want me to hold his hand and write tgt - it's a good sign.. but his writing will be way off the line which is normal I think???

he will take the initiative to do his homework; he will run to me and say \"mama, I wane do my homework\" and he will run to his bag and take out his homework for me to photocopy his homework before we sit down tgt. we are really quite pleased and glad tt he is taking this initiative. but we are just to worried abt his short-lived attention and focusing span. he is gg kindergarten nxt yr, thus the worrying of not able to catch up with other children.

Jedamum, your page mentioned some fish oil.. what kind of fish oil do you give your child? Is it effective? & is there some focusing enrichment courses that we can enrol them to? I tried to search online but it seems lyk those focus lessons are always for those older children

nansk:

mn:

I don't know whether this is normal. Due to short attention span do they forget what they learnt? I taught my son ABCs, he will repeat after me but when I point to a letter and ask him to say out, he will say the wrong letter. When I show him pictures he is able to say what the picture is but not for letters or numbers. I'm very worried.

How old is your son?
I don't think non-retention is due to a short attention span. You just have to keep reviewing the letters till he gets them. Start with 6 letters at a time. Once he has them down, introduce 1 new letter at a time. Keep reviewing the earlier letters regularly - first daily, then alternate days, then less often - all the while introducing new ones.
Use a multi-modal teaching process - see the letter, hear its sound, write it, and repeat its sound.
Short, regular lessons.

Fish_e:

he is gg kindergarten nxt yr, thus the worrying of not able to catch up with other children.

nansk:

mn:

I don't know whether this is normal. Due to short attention span do they forget what they learnt? I taught my son ABCs, he will repeat after me but when I point to a letter and ask him to say out, he will say the wrong letter. When I show him pictures he is able to say what the picture is but not for letters or numbers. I'm very worried.

How old is your son?
I don't think non-retention is due to a short attention span. You just have to keep reviewing the letters till he gets them. Start with 6 letters at a time. Once he has them down, introduce 1 new letter at a time. Keep reviewing the earlier letters regularly - first daily, then alternate days, then less often - all the while introducing new ones.
Use a multi-modal teaching process - see the letter, hear its sound, write it, and repeat its sound.
Short, regular lessons.

mn:

I don't know whether this is normal. Due to short attention span do they forget what they learnt? I taught my son ABCs, he will repeat after me but when I point to a letter and ask him to say out, he will say the wrong letter. When I show him pictures he is able to say what the picture is but not for letters or numbers. I'm very worried.