All About Teaching and Learning Phonics
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BigDevil:
OK please PM me if you are interested.
:idea: Sell it to me?? -
Hi Tamarind,
My son has been attending MMI weekly phonics class (1 to 1 teaching) since 3 weeks ago. He doesn’t like it and often ended with crying. I have hard time to revise with him at home too.
He doesn’t like to learn the phonics way no matter how hard i tried. But he seems very keen to read few pages of P&J daily. He will be finishing reading book 1b this week.
I agree with you that phonics does help a lot to speed up a child’s reading ability. But for him, it is not. He doesn;t like it.
I think i will stop him for phonics and observe his progress. -
Dear Charmaine, one to one is supposed to make your son
learn faster than those children learning in groups. It is sad
that he is not able to click. Yes, do continue with P & J for
the sight words exposure and also provide and read to him
books of other genres that interest him. Reading is only one
of the activities he can learn. Mebbe introducing other stuff
and even outdoor play will take his mind off the serious stuff
and get him interested in reading later on.. jia-you.
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hi Charmaine,
If your child is crying and resisting, it could be better to stop it…rather than build resistance. My DS1 didn’t attend any formal phonics classes (he’s in ICL - but they don’t really do phonics), and he’s able and happy to read by himself (now going 6 y/o). Spelling also not big problem for him. I think kids will learn in their own special way.
BTW, my friend’s kid even better. He doesn’t attend phonics or any enrichment class, but mummy make sure he has access to loads of books. At a young age, he could break up the words and read them bit by bit (without anyone prompting him).
It’s good that he’s keen on reading P&J, keep it up…I believe that reading loads IS the key. -
Charmaine_chong:
Charmaine,Hi Tamarind,
My son has been attending MMI weekly phonics class (1 to 1 teaching) since 3 weeks ago. He doesn't like it and often ended with crying. I have hard time to revise with him at home too.
He doesn't like to learn the phonics way no matter how hard i tried. But he seems very keen to read few pages of P&J daily. He will be finishing reading book 1b this week.
I agree with you that phonics does help a lot to speed up a child's reading ability. But for him, it is not. He doesn;t like it.
I think i will stop him for phonics and observe his progress.
My girl attended the MMI phonics class when she was 4 years old, it is worksheet based where the child sits down for one hour to learn. My girl liked this style of learning, but I know that it is not suitable for every child.
Actually I feel that watching the 3 Leapfrog DVDs :
Letter Factory
Talking Words Factory
Talking Words Factory 2
are sufficient for a child to know the basics of phonics. Does he mind watching these DVDs ? If he does not mind, just let him watch them regularly, it will slowly sink in.
Also let him try http://www.starfall.com. My kids love the website.
It is great that he does not mind the Peter and Jane series now. Do persist in getting him to read every day, do not repeat the pages, just keep moving on. -
Hi Bud,
The teachers there are nice, caring and constantly give feedback about children’s progress.
The phonics lesson are taught based on worksheets, no fun activities, no break, no picture to show the words.
They sit on the floor and the lessons begin by getting my son to blend words by words, page by page for the entire one hour. He hates it.
This method does not suitable for children who is very active like my son. His form teacher in PAP also commented that he is very active in school. Luckily he still listen to teacher.
Hi Tamarind,
Sadly my son doesn’t like Leapfrog too. I do expose him few times a month.
He has his own interest and easily lose interest. I am happy enough since he get hooked on P&J.
Hi Hquek,
I feedback to the MMI principal about my concern and told her that i would like to stop the lesson. The principal advise that i shall let him continue. I think otherwise.
I will stop the lesson since he has no interest. Like BUDS said, phonics is only one of the approach to get child to read.
Thanks ladies. I shall continue to read to him loads of books and slowly encourage him to read after me for other books.
At the moment he is only willing to read P&J himself. -
Charmaine_chong:
That's good to know. :hugs:Hi Bud,
The teachers there are nice, caring and constantly give feedback about children's progress.Charmaine_chong:
Really? :!:The phonics lesson are taught based on worksheets, no fun activities, no break, no picture to show the words.
They don't use any materials? :?Charmaine_chong:
Honestly... i'd dislike it too.They sit on the floor and the lessons begin by getting my son to blend words by words, page by page for the entire one hour. He hates it.
That said however, there is no need for educators to be 100% technical
with the delivery. It is truly up to/depending on the individual person to
expand on the idea of the technicalities of the method using her own
creativity.... to encourage the learning possibilities.
That's why, each time when i get questions on how good a centre is or
how effective a method is... the answer is really subjective. It truly
depends on how effective an educator is with her delivery... how
passionate she is to encourage creativity and out of the box
moments for children under her care.
Like tamarind always says, parents can do it too. If you'd only try.
Even if it is just a mere 10mins to 15mins... honestly, that really is
all you need to begin the marathon. Learning is not a sprint. It is a
marathon... and a lifelong journey. Even i as a parent & an educator
still have lots to learn from new things, from others, from experiences
and definitely from life itself. Learning keeps us stimulated... keeps us
engaged/occupied... keeps us alert... keeps us updated and relevant too.
And there are those times when we also observe and learn from our
children. Pick up on their childlike vibes and learn to listen to them...
If we listen hard enough, we can feel what they're really telling us or
trying to tell us.
For me, I cannot teach with 100% paperwork. :shock:
I would die!
Too dry..Charmaine_chong:
That's another good thing to know too!This method does not suitable for children who is very active like my son. His form teacher in PAP also commented that he is very active in school. Luckily he still listen to teacher.
Charmaine_chong:
:rahrah: :ugogirl: :rahrah:Thanks ladies. I shall continue to read to him loads of books and slowly encourage him to read after me for other books.
I'm behind you on this one all the way. :celebrate:Charmaine_chong:
This is an extremely BIG achievement in itself Charmaine.At the moment he is only willing to read P&J himself.
Both your boy and yourself went through a very big hurdle..
A stressful one at that too... just to get here to this day. Be happy
for that. It is a fantastic inspiration to spur you on... your boy will
flourish under your patience, guidance and relentless efforts. :hugs: -
buds,
It really depends on the child. My girl liked her Montessori phonics class better than her Berries Chinese class where she was allowed to jumped around and play games. At 3 years 8 months old, she did not like to jump around aimlessly, she preferred to sit down and learn in a structured and predictable way. When I sent her to Berries class at that age, she often clinged on to me and refused to let me go. But for Montessori she happily ran inside on her own.
I remember that the MMI teachers (at Lakeside) showed parents that they used big pictures and wooden alphabets to teach, before they used worksheets for the kids to practice. There are lots of pictures in the worksheets too. But I am don’t know about the teachers in other MMI centers.
The MMI phonics is an express course that covers everything in 11 months. It is only one hour so they don’t have break or fun activities, because there is a lot to cover. It is not the same as those full day Montessori where they have lots of time to teach. My girl did learn all about phonics in this class before she turned 5 years old.
The class is for kids from 3 years 6 months old to 6 years old. It is actually more suitable for kids at 5 or 6 years old who have a longer attention span. The staff also advised that the materials get much more difficult in the later parts of the course, so they do not accept kids that are younger than 3 years 6 months old because the kids may not be able to understand the materials.
My younger boy day dreams in whatever class that he attends, whether it is fun or not, that is why I need to teach him at home. Kids below the age of 5 definitely learn much more when given one to one attention. -
Charmaine:
Phonics is non-negotiable. Kids who learn to read only by sight reading, that is, using the Peter and Jane series, may know how to read many words, but they will have problems when it comes to spelling and writing. A child who has a very strong foundation in phonics will spell very easily. Hanyu Pinyin will also be very easy for the child ! My son is able to pronounce Chinese words using Hanyu Pinyin even though he has never been taught before.
Hi Tamarind,
Sadly my son doesn't like Leapfrog too. I do expose him few times a month.
We must teach phonics together with sight reading (using Peter and Jane or other readers).
Does your son watch many other DVDs and TV programs ?
Between the age of 3 to 5, my kids only watch the Leapfrog DVDs and the Little Einstein DVDs. These are all the DVDs that they need. Leapfrog DVDs are the easiest and most effective to learn phonics, kids who watch them regularly will know the basics of phonics. In fact, my hubby says that he learned his phonics by watching Sesame Street.
As parents we cannot always allow the kids to stop learning something just because he thinks it is not fun. My son cries when I ask him to do addition and subtraction worksheets ! But I still have to try to encourage him to do them. -
tamarind:
:oops: :oops: :oops:
OK please PM me if you are interested.BigDevil:
:idea: Sell it to me??
So very sorry...found out my sister owns a copy of it.
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