All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[tamarind]

sean wife:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for your reply. Actually they are far from fluent when reading the P&J now, each page can take 2-3 minutes. And they ‘read’ without much consideration to the punctuation and tone etc.

My boy was the same. At 3 years old, he could take more than 5 minutes to read one page because he kept losing his concentration and tried to run away.

By the time he reached book 10a, he was reading much more fluently, but still not very fast.

Now after finishing 4 Roald Dahl books, the 3 tales of My Father's Dragon, the original Winnie the pooh, he is reading the original Wizard of Oz very fluently for his age And with consideration to punctuation and tone too.

So kids need to read many books out loud before they can read really well, and it may take years, depending on the ability of the child. My boy took more than 2 years (reading everyday even when we were traveling overseas).

But do note that not all kids are good at oral reading. My older girl reads so fast that she sounds like a bullet train. But she understands the story very well

BTW, my boy learns his punctuation and tone by watching the Leapfrog DVD : Learn to Read At the Storybook Factory

[tamarind]

buds:

tamarind:

The problem is that few kids can remember all those phonics rules. If we try to teach them too complicated rules, they cannot understand anyway.

Errrm.. not true. Sorry, beg to differ on this one.

It's how the rules are taught to them. My girls &
students love the challenge of remembering the
rules. This way they don't even make mistakes in
their spelling work. It is not complicated and they
do understand.

Phonics rules help children categorize the words
that they read, hence helping them to remember
how it is written.

Just my honest endorsement. :hugs:

Yes you have a very good point It certainly depends on how the rules are taught.

But I think it also depends on the ability and the age of the child

[buds]

That's why i usually place emphasis on teaching children age

appropriately. Not too fast... not too slow. But just right.

[dimsum]

Tamarind,


Thanks for your book recommendations. My boy just finished reading The Enormous Crocodile and he really enjoyed it (me too!). The iilustrations are interesting too.

[tamarind]

dimsum:

Tamarind,


Thanks for your book recommendations. My boy just finished reading The Enormous Crocodile and he really enjoyed it (me too!). The iilustrations are interesting too.

dimsum,
You are welcome

My boy absolutely loves My Father's Dragon, I highly recommend this book too !

[tamarind]

I want to emphasize that mommies should try to understand the abilities of their kids, and just let them progress at their own rate.


Some kids may be capable of joining 3 letters to form words at 15 months old (not my kids) No school is going to teach her that at this age. That is why I always think that mommy is the best teacher for her kids.

My boy cannot even recognize all 26 letters at 3 years 3 months old.

I think as a rough guide, most kids should be capable of learning letter sounds at 3 years old, 3 letter words at 4 years old, and the more complex phonics rules from 5 to 6 years old. But then again it depends on the ability of the child, some kids can progress much faster. Some kids may be able to learn the complex rules only from 7 to 9 years old.

In the case of my boy, I taught him 3 letter and 4 letter words between 3 to 4 years old. However, because I also let him read the Peter and Jane series, his progress was very fast and he was able to finish reading book 11 at 4 years 9 months old, then I decided to skip book 12 and move on to Roald Dahl and other books. http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/09/books-they-love.html

My boy is only of average learning ability. He takes many repetitions to learn new things. He cannot even add and subtract very well now at 5 years 4 months old. But he is able to read very fluently and spell very easily. That is why I believe that teaching phonics and sight reading (using Peter and Jane series) will work for most kids of average and above abilities.

I have heard some parents in this forum saying that their kids don't need to learn phonics and are able to read very well at the age of 2 or 3. One parent even told me that his child just know how to read, and that he never taught him at all. But the fact is that most of us do not have kids in that category. Those parents with such bright kids will not know what methods can work best for average kids. Some parents even said that we should just leave kids alone, and that they will learn by themselves sooner or later. In my case, without knowledge of phonics and parental guidance, I was able to read English books fluently only at about 16 years old.

As parents we should understand the abilities of our kids, and find the best ways to make learning easier for them.

BTW, this is not my own theory. Do visit the website of the UK government department for children, schools and families
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/

Search for topics relating to phonics. There is a report that concludes that phonics will help normal kids to learn to read and spell better. The department advises all schools to teach phonics.

My advise to parents is that phonics is essential for most normal kids, not only for reading, but for spelling as well.

BTW, there are parents who do not believe in spelling as well But the fact is that our kids are going to primary schools, and they are going to have spelling. My girl has English, Maths and hanyu pinyin spelling. Thanks to her good foundation in phonics, she does not feel stressful at all.

[maltbibi]

Thanks Tamarind

[tamarind]

Dear all parents,

Check out my blog about the activities that I have done with my boy to help him understand the story better, and more importantly, to develop a love for reading !

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2010/02/developing-love-for-reading.html

In fact, everyday when I take out the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first thing that he will ask is : \"Can we play ?\" He has associated reading to fun and games

[sunset_dae]

Hi Tamarind


I just start to teach my boy how to link the 3 letters together after he had c leap frog factory phonics. He is very familiar with all the letter sounds.

In yr blog u mention, to teach alphabet A lst as in" AP, AT AND AN"
I taught him to read out, however im not very sure as in if i show him a card with the word C A P, shld i teach him to read out the alphabet individually, or to teach him to read out C and AP (READ AP TOGETHER).
Pls advise

Thanks!

[tamarind]

sunset_dae:

Hi Tamarind


I just start to teach my boy how to link the 3 letters together after he had c leap frog factory phonics. He is very familiar with all the letter sounds.

In yr blog u mention, to teach alphabet A lst as in\" AP, AT AND AN\"
I taught him to read out, however im not very sure as in if i show him a card with the word C A P, shld i teach him to read out the alphabet individually, or to teach him to read out C and AP (READ AP TOGETHER).
Pls advise

Thanks!

Hi sunset_dae,

You can first teach \"A-P\" = \"AP\". Sound out A and P separately, then join them and say \"AP\". Teach this a few times to let your boy understand the technique. Then when you teach \"CAP\", teach him to read \"C\" first, then just \"AP\", don't need to separate A and P. This is the same as method used in Montessori and the Leapfrog DVDs.

I usually teach 2 to 3 groups at the same time, for example, \"AN, \"\"AT\" and \"AP\". Then I let my boy arrange the 3 letter word cards in the correct groups, as shown in my blog :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

Note that in my word cards, the first letter is in red, the second and third letters are in black, this is to help kids separate the word into parts.

Also note that the cards are used for this matching/grouping game, not as flash cards.