All About Teaching and Learning Phonics
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I bought at expo John Little/ Popular fair
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This is my sharing on how i began reading.... with my mum.
I did not learn reading via Phonics. My mum who wasn't even an English
speaking parent read to me everyday without fail. Many times a day in
fact. Sometimes requested by me... or when she's done with work (she
was a SAHM and a work-from-home-seamstress) she will initiate a story-
telling session for us. She pointed the words to me each time she read
and i would just listen attentively. She never forced me to point to the
words. During that time, i love to point to the pictures/illustrations which
accompanied the stories and ask A LOT of questions for her to answer,
which she DID! From her answers, i began to feel more and more
interested to learn what those alphabets represent. I began to capture
the words she read everyday and when i grew older, i initiated my
interest to take over the role of pointing to the words. Mum let me...
So, i began pointing to the words but didn't really verbalize them...
Mum still let me be...
Then, one day as she was reading the same story i just read it along with
her. As my interest in capturing the words escalated, i eventually began
reading with her as she read. She didn't stop reading the books though
she knew i could already read some of them... We read together. This
gave me confidence. It gave confidence that i would not read it wrongly
cos mum read with me. Finally came the phase where i verbally told
mum, \"I can do it myself, mum...\" And mum let me. She sat with me
throughout the time and listened attentively. She wasn't a
loud-compliment-kinda-mum. She was more of the silent-praiser.
Her smile... and the warmth from that acknowledging smile spurred me
on.
I didn't get rewards nor praises. Being able to spend time with her daily,
just reading together... in itself was a rewarding experience for me. For us.
This nature is now practised by some parents who may believe that the
nature of over-complimenting children is not healthy.Over-complimenting
in the sense that, anything the child does... regardless how small, is
being highly praised.
For example :
Mum : Oh! Wow! You managed to write letter a. Fantastic. I'm so proud
of you! Mummy's clever boy! You did so good!
For the parents who believe in self-satisfaction, the children grow up to
learn that success in itself IS the satisfaction. These parents find in the
long run, one will run out of praise and the child will not be motivated to
pursue on his/her own with confidence. Not advocating here, but only
mere sharing..
Likewise for the reward system. As children, my parents never
implemented the reward system mainly due to the fact we couldn't really
afford much of a physical reward aniwaes... It will be just that from time
to time, we'll all go out for a good meal outside... or get to play at the toy
shop... (only play, not buy anything) ... or have a fun day out having a
family picnic... (etc) Even going to grandma's house was a treat. We were
raised to enjoy the simple pleasures in life which in turn felt highly so
rewarding without knowing it was a reward.
Parents who do not practise the reward system find that a child should
not do something just to be rewarded.... If for example in the aspects of
learning... the child should learn cause he/she has to and likes to... not
for the sake of rewards. Again not siding this characteristics but only for
mere sharing.
Phonics is but only one of the ways to nurture a reader. Not necessarily a
fantastic method, but one of the methods...... as i have highlighted in a
few of my posts, the delivery of the teaching person is imperative - for a
successful delivery in the effectiveness of learning reading using the
Phonics method.
Phonics has also been known to slow down the reading process of a
handful of children as they had to keep deciphering and decoding the
words to keep on reading. Phonics does however, improve diction...
in our pronunciation. Phonics can help a child read clearly and speak
clearly. And for a true Phonics believer and reader, children can be
trained to speak ala Queen's English as a result of all the phonetic
lessons!
Then lastly i would like to add that in my line of work, i have met the few
who do not have \"an ear\" for Phonics. No matter how you try, the child or
parent, just cannot make out that the letters can represent sounds. These
unique few can manage individual letter sounds, but can NEVER put sounds
together to form words. No matter how hard these guys try, they cannot
seem to make the connection between the sounds.
So, there isn't a hard & fuss rule that a child MUST learn reading only via
Phonics.... As parents, WE know... and WE understand our children best.
Use our children's learning abilities and learning strengths to best
showcase & maximize their learning potential. Go with how our children
learn best. Do not worry if your child just cannot seem to master a concept,
or a language.... or a skill.... if at first they don't succeed, try other ways!
Besides, there isn't only one Phonics approach in real time... (ie. now) ...
Just my dose of honest sharings.. -
concern2:
Thanks for highlighting this, concern2... every child is born different andSomeone I know (true story) never trained her daughter how to read. She used to work long hours and her daughter was taken care of by a maid who hardly spoke to her daughter. So all day long, her daughter sat in front of the TV watching Magic English (Disney) CDs. She'd watch the same CD for weeks until she gets tired of it and her mom will let her go on to the next CD - never attended any enrichment lessons.
She was probably about 2 going to 3 yrs old, when one day, she read the word 'Potex' off - you know where. Her mom's jaw dropped. That was when she discovered her daughter could read.
Well, I am not saying we should all let our children watch Magic English the whole day nor am I promoting the program...but it is amazing how a young mind learns a language...
have different learning strengths. What you have shared is just another
example of how children are exposed to learning words. Phonics is but
one of the methods used for teaching, BUT not the ultimate way in
learning to read. -
concern2:
concern2,Hey Tamarind,
Just popped into your blog and realized that's what I've been doing doing with my kids at home too!
Well, at least we know our method works...I used to be diligent about his spellings until I started forgetting and realize he does fine without my 'intervention'!
Glad to know that we are both using similar methods
And it really works for our kids !
Phonics play an important part, and reading the Ladybird series is equally important, because he reads the commonly used words many times and the images of these words get imprinted in his mind. It is much better than having to write the same words over and over again many times. In fact, I don't think I can get my boy to do that because he simply sit still.
My hubby said he learnt phonics by watching Sesame street once a week. He finished reading Lord of the Rings at 11 years old.
buds,
Thanks for sharing about your childhood.
I am much more pathetic. My parents do not understand a word of English. We only speak Cantonese at home. Needless to say my mother never read a single english book to me. I was never taught phonics in kindergarten or primary school. As a result, I could not read Charlotte's Web at 13 years old. That was the english literature textbook, and our teacher simply assumed that we should all know how to read it. She did not even bother to teach us to read every word from the book. I distinctly remember how I struggled for that subject.
It is only after I have kids, then I learnt about phonics. And I am amazed that when we teach phonics, and use the Ladybird Peter and Jane series at the same time, a child can learn to read chapter books (100-200 words a page, total about 300 pages), within 1 to 2 years. I could not read those books fluently until I was about 16 years old. So the correct method of teaching is really very important.
Phonics is definitely useful. But phonics alone is not enough. The most effective method is to combine phonics and a graded reader like the Ladybird series in order to learn the sight words.
Many parents put a lot of effort into drilling kids to learn all the advance techniques of phonics. They force the child to decode every English word using phonics. This is a big mistake. There are so many words in English which do not follow phonics rules. This is something that many parents fail to understand.
As for the reward system, I grew up getting small rewards, like a small steam bun, when I get perfect scores for my tests. I was always happy to eat the steam bun, because I seldom had the chance to eat outside food. It did not have any negative effect. In fact, it taught me that I need to work hard in order to get anything I want.
My kids' rewards are as simple as an ice cream, or a pack of nice stickers, when they finish reading a book. Or an outing to the bird park. This works because I am so busy, I rarely bring them out.
The reward system works, when the parents make sure that the child strictly gets nothing unless he/she has worked hard. If the child does not learn, then he/she gets nothing at all. Not a single toy, not a single outing.
The problem is that most parents are not strict enough, they give in to the child too easily. They give the child whatever he asks for. Of course the child will keep asking for bigger rewards. -
tamarind:
The reward system works, when the parents make sure that the child strictly gets nothing unless he/she has worked hard. If the child does not learn, then he/she gets nothing at all. Not a single toy, not a single outing.
:!: Wow, tamarind, you sound very tough.. -
tamarind:
I tried to be strict, but sometimes ds2's no tv penalty 'spilled' onto ds1 who became a victim under no fault of his
The reward system works, when the parents make sure that the child strictly gets nothing unless he/she has worked hard. If the child does not learn, then he/she gets nothing at all. Not a single toy, not a single outing.
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RRMummy:
I work all day, even on weekends. So it is easy for me not to bring them out at all, except to their Berries class. I need to rest !tamarind:
The reward system works, when the parents make sure that the child strictly gets nothing unless he/she has worked hard. If the child does not learn, then he/she gets nothing at all. Not a single toy, not a single outing.
:!: Wow, tamarind, you sound very tough..
I also seldom bring them with me when I do my shopping. So they have not much chance to ask me to buy things too.
My kids are not deprived lah. They have tons of toys, which they get on their birthdays. But kids always like new things. So if they want something new, they have to work for it, like finish reading a book.jedamum:
My penalty is usually one stays home, one goes out with me.
I tried to be strict, but sometimes ds2's no tv penalty 'spilled' onto ds1 who became a victim under no fault of histamarind:
The reward system works, when the parents make sure that the child strictly gets nothing unless he/she has worked hard. If the child does not learn, then he/she gets nothing at all. Not a single toy, not a single outing.
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I do agree with parents who think that children should learn because they love to learn, and not because of rewards. If they can motivate their kids to learn without any rewards, that is certainly wonderful.
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Reward system
I don't quite believe in reward system. Told my girl she's studying for herself, not for my sake. When she managed to overcome some obstacles in her language studies, I would ask her 'do you feel happier with your accomplishment?'
If she exceeds expectation, I always say 'good job!' and plant lots of kisses on her cheek. For her SA1, I bought her Enid Blyton story books at her request but I didn't promise her any rewards before exam
There isn't any penalty in placed if she refuses to do her homework (happens frequently!)
Told her she's already punishing herself by not learning -
sleepy:
Wow, sleepy, how does your daughter normally take to that? Ask because I am doubting if it'll work on my son.Reward system
...When she managed to overcome some obstacles in her language studies, I would ask her 'do you feel happier with your accomplishment?...Told her she's already punishing herself by not learning
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