All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[tamarind]

A systematic review of the research literature on the use of phonics in the teaching of reading and spelling

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[pea]

tamarind:

pea:

I really want to say thank you to Tamarind for her inspiring posts. They were a great starting point for my attempts to teach my boy phonics at home. However my boy (almost 3.5yrs old now) still struggles with phonics... He prefers to sight read and does not like to slow down to decode a new word using phonics. Just wants me to tell him what the word is, memorise it, and move on. So impatient :roll: .


Siak, are your girls in K1 and N2? So close in age, must be fun for them.

pea,
You are welcome
There is no need to ask your boy to slow down to decode a new word using phonics if he does not like to. If he can remember it by sight, then let him read by sight. In fact, I do not ask my kids to decode the words in the Peter and Jane series at all

Kids may be able to read by learning sight words alone, but when it comes to spelling, they will need to put in a lot of effort if they don't know phonics.

Phonics helps not only in reading, it is also a very important skill to help a child to spell words.

My P1 girl has hanyu pinyin, english and maths spelling every week. Since she has a good foundation in phonics, she does not feel stressed at all.

You only have to make sure that he knows how to spell any 3 letter word by listening to the sounds. Also get him to understand the technique of blending 4 letter words like :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/bl-cl-gl-fl-pl.html

In fact, that is all that my boy knows about phonics. He does not really understand about the silent E. But that is good enough to make spelling so easy for him.

So long as you have practiced phonics sufficiently with your boy, he already knows the technique, and he is actually using the technique to help him remember new words even though he is not showing you

Phonics and sight words should be taught at the same time, and it is perfectly OK if kids like one method better than the other. Just make sure that they know both

Thanks, Tamarind, for your encouragement.

My boy also does not understand the silent E thingy. I also think it's not necessary as I did not realise there's such a rule till I watched Leapfrog's Code Word Caper with him! Nevertheless, he enjoys watching Code Word Caper very much!

I would also recommend the Sesame Street dvd's. Very catchy tunes and also educational.

Tamarind, isn't your girl going to be bored with the Stellar books since she is already such an advanced reader? :lol:

Siak, your younger girl is about the same age as my boy.

[mummy of 2]

I think I also don't quite get the slient E thingy


I'm a bit more laid-back, in the sense that I only get my kids to learn the sounds for each letter. Beyond that I leave it to the school teachers as I'm not conifdent that I'm teaching it correctly.

I admire parents like Tarimand who really dedicate time to teach their kids phonics. :udawoman:

[tamarind]

[quote]
I would also recommend the Sesame Street dvd's. Very catchy tunes and also educational.

Tamarind, isn't your girl going to be bored with the Stellar books since she is already such an advanced reader?[/quote]pea,
Where can we find the Sesame Street DVDs in Singapore ?

I was worried that my girl will feel bored in school, but she has not complained. She likes the music, arts, and sports lessons very much, so she likes going to school.

I spoke to my girl's English teacher, she said that although the books are very easy for my girl, she still pays attention, and spends her time quietly observing the other classmates. I let her read more interesting and challenging books at home so she can continue to learn more.

[tamarind]

[quote]
I admire parents like Tarimand who really dedicate time to teach their kids phonics. [/quote]mummy of 2,
The fact is that even when I put in a lot of effort to teach at home, my boy still cannot fully understand 100% of what I teach. But so long as he knows about 70%, I am happy enough

[mummy of 2]

Hi tamarind


At least your kids can read on their own

I hope to achieve that, but as I have just started on readers with DS1, I think it will be a long time before he can read books by Roald Dahl, though I have already bought them in advance

[starz]

Hi Tamarind,


My girl is still reading Ladybird Level 4a, its been a slow progress as my schedule is real busy. When is the best time to get the Roald Dahl book? as in must reach a certain level of ladybird level?

btw my girl has just started her phonics lesson at montessori. check w u. due to she is not feeling well, she has missed 2 lessons. is there any makeup or teacher will revise? not sure she will lag anot?

[tamarind]

starz:

Hi Tamarind,


My girl is still reading Ladybird Level 4a, its been a slow progress as my schedule is real busy. When is the best time to get the Roald Dahl book? as in must reach a certain level of ladybird level?

btw my girl has just started her phonics lesson at montessori. check w u. due to she is not feeling well, she has missed 2 lessons. is there any makeup or teacher will revise? not sure she will lag anot?

starz,
I don't think they allow make up lessons. You can check with the teacher.

Kids who complete level 10 or 11 of the Ladybird series, will be able to read any Roald Dahl books. Though there will be about 5 to 10% of the words that they don't know, so it is best that we ask them to read out loud to us so that we can help them. Otherwise, they may not understand the stories at all. Also, start with the shorter ones like the Enormous Crocodile.

[maltbibi]

Hi Tamarind


Do you have books to recommend that suit a 4 year old girl that can read P&J book 5a?

Just an update on her P&J. Her progress was slow as we stopped for a while at book 3a. Recently she has developed interest and at least can read one or two pages a day.

Thanks.

[mummy of 2]

tamarind:

Kids who complete level 10 or 11 of the Ladybird series, will be able to read any Roald Dahl books. Though there will be about 5 to 10% of the words that they don't know, so it is best that we ask them to read out loud to us so that we can help them. Otherwise, they may not understand the stories at all. Also, start with the shorter ones like the Enormous Crocodile.

Showed DS1 The enormous Crocodile, and he said \"So many words\" :!:

Guess he's not ready for it yet