All About Teaching and Learning Phonics

[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.

[sunset_dae]

UNDERSTOOD! THANKS!

[wyou]

hi all!


my dd is 18 mths n she knows most of the letters n some phonics sound. Must she knows the letters sequence 1st? I have yet to test her on that though. She learnt her phonics from leapfrog dvd but seems lost interest in it.

[tamarind]

wyou:

hi all!


my dd is 18 mths n she knows most of the letters n some phonics sound. Must she knows the letters sequence 1st? I have yet to test her on that though. She learnt her phonics from leapfrog dvd but seems lost interest in it.

Hi wyou,
There is no need to know the letters in sequence, as in A, B, C, etc.

But you should make sure that she can recognize the individual letters and know the phonics sounds before carrying on to 3 letter words. You can try pointing to letters in newspapers, magazines and see if she can read out the sound.

[starz]

Hi tamarind,


I m more confident in teaching 3 letters words than 4 letter words cos i am not too sure how to pronounce 4 letter words blending.
Since now my child is still at PJ series level 4a. Wondering wat is e rough time frame to reach book 10 to 11a so that we can process other books?
My child is 3yrs 8 mths now.

Thanks for ur suggestions. i have tried ur spelling methods and my girl seems to be fine with forming words ending with -at and can spelling using letters to spell them out.

btw do u hv any comments on I can read program?
like is it good and etc? btw focusing on phonics is important. how abt other areas like compo, compreh n etc? wondering can all these teach at home or need attend enrichment?

[tamarind]

starz:

Hi tamarind,


I m more confident in teaching 3 letters words than 4 letter words cos i am not too sure how to pronounce 4 letter words blending.
Since now my child is still at PJ series level 4a. Wondering wat is e rough time frame to reach book 10 to 11a so that we can process other books?
My child is 3yrs 8 mths now.

Thanks for ur suggestions. i have tried ur spelling methods and my girl seems to be fine with forming words ending with -at and can spelling using letters to spell them out.

btw do u hv any comments on I can read program?
like is it good and etc? btw focusing on phonics is important. how abt other areas like compo, compreh n etc? wondering can all these teach at home or need attend enrichment?

starz,
There is no need to wait until book 10a in order to read other books. You should start to let your child read other books now. Just choose books that have the same number of words as level 4a will do.

My kids have never attended any English enrichment class, except for my girl who attended Montessori phonics for 11 months, a few years ago. I cannot comment on any enrichment classes.

My P1 girl is doing very well in composition and comprehension, no enrichment classes needed, and no assessment books at all. All I have done is to let her read as many good story books as possible

[starz]

tamarind:

starz,
There is no need to wait until book 10a in order to read other books. You should start to let your child read other books now. Just choose books that have the same number of words as level 4a will do.

My kids have never attended any English enrichment class, except for my girl who attended Montessori phonics for 11 months, a few years ago. I cannot comment on any enrichment classes.

My P1 girl is doing very well in composition and comprehension, no enrichment classes needed, and no assessment books at all. All I have done is to let her read as many good story books as possible

Hi Tamarind,

any recommendations on other books besides P&J? btw at her age, how many pages shld they read now? cos at times she also lost focus. thanks.

[tamarind]

starz:

Hi Tamarind,


any recommendations on other books besides P&J? btw at her age, how many pages shld they read now? cos at times she also lost focus. thanks.

starz,
When my girl was 3 years 8 months old, she was not reading any books yet ! Not even book 1a of the Peter and Jane series. I only started to teach her phonics at that age.

Your girl is doing very well reading book 4a at this age. If she can read 1 or 2 pages out loud from this book, it is very good already. There is about 50 words a page.

You can just bring her to the library, and let her choose any picture book that she likes.

Dr Seuss books are excellent :
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/books-for-beginning-reader.html

[tamarind]

[quote]Since now my child is still at PJ series level 4a. Wondering wat is e rough time frame to reach book 10 to 11a so that we can process other books?

My child is 3yrs 8 mths now. [/quote]starz,
Please also read this page :

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

Scroll down and find the table for the Ladybird series.

Key Words books 3 to 4 are intended for kids age 5 to 6 years. So your girl is already very advanced.

Key Words books 10 to 12 are for kids age 8+.

Both my kids finished reading books 11 and 12 before they turned 5 years old, because they like reading Peter and Jane, and they insist that they want to continue reading.

For other kids, if they can read up to books 5 or 6, they are already very well prepared for P1. You should start to let your girl read a wide variety of books now.

[starz]

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for your advise.