All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[jacsplace]

Dear Tamarind,


I’ve been reading your blogs and some of your posts at this forum. I just want to say you are a tremendous blessing to all parents. Your devotion to your children’s reading is incredible, and the rewards are obvious: your daughter is really creative and your son is quite smart.

My daughter is a struggling reader. We signed her up this year for Literacy Circle but she is hardly making any progress. In fact, it’s quite stressful on her as she has spelling from her on top of spelling from her kindy. So young and so much work (yes, she has homework from both places too).

I hope to be able to start doing what you do soon. Have not started yet as I’m trying to figure out the best time. My daughter is quite stubborn and pretends not to hear when I ask her to do things like brush her teeth, etc. She prefers to watch TV or draw.

[smurf]

it takes a lot of patience to teach a child how to read. I dun mean teach them words, but how to get them to read.

My boy hates reading. no matters what, he just refuses to read. Only when I give baits, such as sweets, ice cream, then he 'entertain' me by reading few pages. but I hate using baits, cos in the long term, he will only read if there is a reward.
I dun think he has problem recognising words, but he reads very slowly...and i doubt he understands the story.or even what he is reading.
very very difficult to get him to read.

[tamarind]

[quote]My girl is doing average, she also picks up some phonics, but she is better at sight words. I remembered when I started her with P&J last year when she was 3, she didnt like it & she gets tired from reading. I only started her in April this year with book 1.


Both of your kids are doing very well! Which primary school is your girl will she be in next year?

I hope to be able to start my twins soon too. I will try out the 3 letter word with them too. Hopefully they can read & enjoys reading![/quote]i3mum,
You mean your girl progressed from book 1 to book 8b between April and September this year ? That is very impressive ! You are doing a great job and I am sure your twins will be able to read well soon.

My girl will be going to West Grove Primary School next year

jacsplace:

Dear Tamarind,

I've been reading your blogs and some of your posts at this forum. I just want to say you are a tremendous blessing to all parents. Your devotion to your children's reading is incredible, and the rewards are obvious: your daughter is really creative and your son is quite smart.

My daughter is a struggling reader. We signed her up this year for Literacy Circle but she is hardly making any progress. In fact, it's quite stressful on her as she has spelling from her on top of spelling from her kindy. So young and so much work (yes, she has homework from both places too).

I hope to be able to start doing what you do soon. Have not started yet as I'm trying to figure out the best time. My daughter is quite stubborn and pretends not to hear when I ask her to do things like brush her teeth, etc. She prefers to watch TV or draw.

Thank you for your compliments ! It's a pleasure for me to share my experiences with other parents, and I benefit a lot throughout the discussions too. As a child, I could not read very well in English until I was in junior college. Now that I have kids, I discover that using effective methods to learn to read, can enable a child to read at a very young age. I believe that all kids can also learn to read well using the same methods.

Phonics will enable kids to spell very easily. Both my kids also have spelling in their kindergarten now. They can actually spell all the words without the need to learn them. They are able to write the words by listening to the pronunciation. My girl has some difficult words like \"evaporate\", \"vertebrate\" in her spelling tests. The very first time she wrote \"evaporate\", she spelled it as \"evaperate\" using phonics techniques. She only has to remember instead of \"per\", it should be \"por\".

The fact is that I do not spend any effort teaching my kids to spell. My efforts are only spent on teaching them phonics, and reading all the Ladybird Peter and Jane series. A strong foundation in phonics really helps to make spelling very easy. In order to build a strong foundation in phonics, kids will have to read consistently from a good reader like the Peter and Jane series, as they read, they practice their phonics skills.

I have established a daily routine with my kids, they must read a few pages out loud to me everyday. They know it is something that they must do, just like they have to eat and sleep everyday. It is not easy to establish this routine. Your girl is still very young, this is a good time to start.

smurf:

it takes a lot of patience to teach a child how to read. I dun mean teach them words, but how to get them to read.
My boy hates reading. no matters what, he just refuses to read. Only when I give baits, such as sweets, ice cream, then he 'entertain' me by reading few pages. but I hate using baits, cos in the long term, he will only read if there is a reward.
I dun think he has problem recognising words, but he reads very slowly...and i doubt he understands the story.or even what he is reading.
very very difficult to get him to read.

smurf,
I do use rewards at the beginning. But I think it is more effective to establish a routine. My kids do not get to watch their favourite DVDs(we only have leapfrog and little einsteins), and they cannot go for any outings, unless they read. It works because when I am at work all day, they do not get to watch any kids' programmes on TV, they do not get any sweets/chocolates, and they don't get to go out to nice places. They must wait for mommy to come back to do all these things with them. I would even keep all the toys if they still refuse to read, but that never happened. They used to need to read only one page a day when they were younger, so they don't mind reading.

Later my kids like to read because they want to find out what happens next in the story, not because of the rewards.

Try to find interesting books that your boy will love. Every child is different, so parents need to keep trying to find out what their kids love. It is not easy ! I actually started when my kids were 3 months old, by finding books which will interest them even when they were babies. Checkout my blog about the books they love before 3 years old :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2008/03/books-they-love.html

They learn that books = fun It also helps that I do not buy very fun toys for them, every toy is educational. They have mostly Lego blocks, and some cooking toys. So when they are bored with toys, and there is no TV to watch, they naturally turn to books They soon discover that reading opens up whole new worlds to them.

[i3mum]

Hi Tamarind,


Yes, my girl only started the P&J book 1a in April this year. She started with as you mentioned in book 1a, 1b, 2a,2b.. and now she is in 8b. When she is feeling happy, she can reads up to 8-10 pages in a day, or sometimes only 1 page when she is tired. I also used the \"High Frequency book\" which you have mentioned, and she also completes it at about 3 months. But she could not spell out all the words like your son I hope to let her learn the phonics way.

I am sure your gal will excel in her new school!

tamarind:

[quote]My girl is doing average, she also picks up some phonics, but she is better at sight words. I remembered when I started her with P&J last year when she was 3, she didnt like it & she gets tired from reading. I only started her in April this year with book 1.

Both of your kids are doing very well! Which primary school is your girl will she be in next year?

I hope to be able to start my twins soon too. I will try out the 3 letter word with them too. Hopefully they can read & enjoys reading!

[/quote]i3mum,
You mean your girl progressed from book 1 to book 8b between April and September this year ? That is very impressive ! You are doing a great job and I am sure your twins will be able to read well soon.

My girl will be going to West Grove Primary School next year

[jacsplace]

I guess the key is control. I remember you wrote in one of your blog posts that you have a good maid. She must be if she listens to you and is firm with your kids to do what you want. No TV must be tough, no fun toys even tougher. Particularly for school-going kids (peer pressure).

[i3mum]

Hi jacsplace,


I know how you feel, do you have an elderly adult to supervise your child, other than maid? Just to share my experience, I have a maid & my mil comes to hep occassionally with my 3 kids, 4 .5yr, & a pair of twins turning 3 in nov. I drafted a timetable for kids & ask my maid to follow it strictly. I know for sure my kids or my maid is unable to follow 100%, at least 75%, I will be happy. I felt that at least time will not be wasted.

I have seen some parents remove the TV cable/ plug when they are not around. HHee in some ways it help, the kids will not be able to watch the TV programmes.

jacsplace:

I guess the key is control. I remember you wrote in one of your blog posts that you have a good maid. She must be if she listens to you and is firm with your kids to do what you want. No TV must be tough, no fun toys even tougher. Particularly for school-going kids (peer pressure).

[jacsplace]

Hi i3mum,


Yes, my mil is around. But she spends most of the day cooking as some of her family members live nearby and eat at her place too.

She’s old so I don’t expect much beyond a safe place for my children where they get tlc and good food.

TV has become a necessary babysitter. Otherwise, my kids will fight each other.

[tamarind]

i3mum:

Yes, my girl only started the P&J book 1a in April this year. She started with as you mentioned in book 1a, 1b, 2a,2b.. and now she is in 8b. When she is feeling happy, she can reads up to 8-10 pages in a day, or sometimes only 1 page when she is tired. I also used the \"High Frequency book\" which you have mentioned, and she also completes it at about 3 months. But she could not spell out all the words like your son I hope to let her learn the phonics way.

It's great that your girl can read so many pages when she is feeling happy My boy, who is 5 years old now, can at most read 4 pages, then he will say he is tired.

Yes it is best to make sure that she has a strong foundation in phonics techniques.

I find that it is good enough to know up to Stage 2, refer to my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

My boy can easily spell many words, even though he still does not fully understand Stage 3(long vowels and silent \"e\").

jacsplace:

I guess the key is control. I remember you wrote in one of your blog posts that you have a good maid. She must be if she listens to you and is firm with your kids to do what you want. No TV must be tough, no fun toys even tougher. Particularly for school-going kids (peer pressure).

For my maid, it is definitely my way, or no way. After all, I pay her to work for me. I am fortunate to finally find a good maid (after sending back many maids), who is very keen to earn money so that she can send her own daughter to university. I do reward her very well when she performs to my satisfaction, and she is happy to work for me.

For the kids, it is definitely tougher. I believe that we have to start when the child is still a baby. We never turn on the TV for our kids before they turn 3 years old. They play with their toys all day long, but they do need adult attention. So my mother, my maid, me and my hubby took turns to play or read with them whenever they were awake. They started to play on their own when they were more than 3 years old. They don't mind not watching TV at all.

After they are 3 years old, I bought educational DVDs for them. We only have Leapfrog, Little Einstein, and Richard Scarry DVDs. My kids learn all the phonics letter sounds from the Leapfrog DVD, and they learn how to count from \"Richard Scarry's Best Counting Video Ever\". I don't mind them watching the DVDs, but it is limited to about 30 minutes each day.

jacsplace:

TV has become a necessary babysitter. Otherwise, my kids will fight each other.

Kids will naturally prefer TV to reading. It is so easy to sit back and watch TV, compared to reading. But it is necessary to reduce the amount of time watching TV. My kids do fight with each other sometimes, and we always punish them. For example, the child who hits first will not get to go anywhere for a long time. My kids love to go out because my mother and the maid cannot bring them to fun places faraway. But then every child is different, and the same methods may not work for every child. I understand your difficulties !

One thing my mother is very good at, is nagging. She does not scream, and she does not get angry. She only raises her voice slightly, and she goes on and on and on... It works on me, and it works on my kids too ! My older girl is now quite scared of her nagging and would rather quickly finishes what my mother wants her to do. My younger boy still drags, but he also understands that he must do what she says otherwise she is not going to stop.

[i3mum]

Hi Tamarind,


Yes, i am trying to teach her phonics, and I hope she will be able to learn through the phonics way. In this way, she can pronounce any new word which she has never seen before.

Is your son a year end child? My twins are year end babies, I am so worried for them. Worried that they cannot cope in school, they are turning 3 in Nov 09, and in Jan 10 they will be in Nursery level. They cannot speak well yet & can't even know how to hold the pencil. Gotta pray that they can pick up soon.

tamarind:

It's great that your girl can read so many pages when she is feeling happy My boy, who is 5 years old now, can at most read 4 pages, then he will say he is tired.

Yes it is best to make sure that she has a strong foundation in phonics techniques.

I find that it is good enough to know up to Stage 2, refer to my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

My boy can easily spell many words, even though he still does not fully understand Stage 3(long vowels and silent \"e\").

[jedamum]

i3mum:

Is your son a year end child? My twins are year end babies, I am so worried for them. Worried that they cannot cope in school, they are turning 3 in Nov 09, and in Jan 10 they will be in Nursery level. They cannot speak well yet & can't even know how to hold the pencil. Gotta pray that they can pick up soon.

i3mum.
my turning-3-in-nov son cannot speak well and can't hold the pencil to write any letters yet (but scribbling and making messes super good). he can't answer my questions to him, so it is difficult for me to find out from him how he feel and what he does in school. academic aside, i hope he can understand soon that in school, he can't behave as carefree as he is at home - he has been on the naughty chair for the past week for being rough to this friends, reason why he resists going to school these few days.