All About Montessori

[buds]

soomum:

Hi Buds!

Heyya soomum!

soomum:

I've been following your thread and can say a fan pf yours .

:thankyou:

I'm happy to have you as a fan! :snuggles:

soomum:

Was reading the thread and got a shock :!: when i read this post. I have been having the understanding that i should only introduce letter sounds first to the child and not letter names.

I usually wouldn't suggest parents of very young children to go straight
into teaching letter sounds. Even in our enrichment classes, we cater
to children aged 4yrs old. In phonics enrichment classes, focus is given
to learning letter sounds and not the alphabets/letter names. The idea
is to introduce and enhance the reading process using phonics, not letter
recognition.

For younger children, do expose them to the alphabets and the shape of
the letters... do tracing activities... craft activities... matching activities &
singing alphabet songs and many other stuff together when they are
home with you.

soomum:

As such, you are right that my child is starting to get confused when she is being introduced to letter names. Its really tricky to be teaching letter names after she had learned the letter sounds.

May i know how old is your child again, soomum?

soomum:

How can i help her to learn the letter names now??? I am now at a lost as to how to proceed or maybe should i even proceed on with her. i.e. has taught her letter sounds - introducing letter names *now made her confused *

I will need to know the age of your child before i make some suggestions.
One way will be, YOU teach the letter names ie. the alphabets. Let the
teacher teach the sounds..... for now. Until your child is more comfortable
handling both simultaneously from you. In the meantime, what you can do
is not to say she is wrong but instead, reiterate that for example... 'b' makes
the sound /b/ : b-uh.

soomum:

- next step is building words is it?

Yes, it is. Wordbuilding is helping children to listen to sounds in words...
beginning with 3-letter phonetic words. During this stage, i usually
encourage parents to read rhymes with children llike these ones...

Diddle Diddle dumpling, my son John..
Went to bed with his trousers on..

One shoe on, and one shoe off..
Diddle Diddle dumpling, my son John.

or

One, two...
Buckle my shoe..

Three, four...
Shut the door..

Five, six...
Pick up sticks..

Seven, eight...
Lay them straight...

Nine, ten...
A big fat hen.

Mother Goose has aplenty!

Also try to read books with phonetic rhyming
like those from Dr Seuss' HOP ON POP for example..
or kiddie board books that encourage similar rhyming
words, preferably with large fonts so that with repetition,
children will find reading three-letter words from word families
ie. pop, hop, cop (etc) more fun than just a means to get them to
practise reading.

soomum:

... this to teach in conjunction with learning to write the letters or need to already be able to write?

This can be done for both learning writers and confident writers. This is
where the initial alphabet activities comes in extremely handy and timely,
especially if they were to start Phonics lessons around 4yrs old... earliest
would be 3.5yrs old. Children who are confident writers from what i have
observed can even do independent spelling with simple 3-letter words the
centre has covered with them. They can easily associate writing down...
c-a-t when the directress says please spell for me c-uh... aaaahhh... t.
They usually have no issues co-relating alphabets and letter sounds.

soomum:

You are absolutely right! :? I am super confused and also very very worried that I have done it wrongly. Please HELP us :?:

I will try my best, ok? :snuggles:

Meanwhile, hope this helps for now.

[Tika]

*sheepish look* we have been to hanis......


It's a good islamic monte sch, one that is surprisingly very .. VERY affordable, taking into consideration the many activities that they do, plus they have quite an extensive curriculum.

But we have our reservations *guilty look for I think we're being fussy yet again*

For Muslim mommies who are into monte with Islamic teachings, Hanis Monte can most likely be the right one for your child.

I am now putting all hopes on Twinkle Star Montessori. I'm not sure whether a 5 year old sch is considered new, TSM is only 5 years old, if I'm not mistaken. New sch vs Lao jiao schs. Dunno which is exactly better. We have a trial class this coming Monday. I pray it goes well.

Part of me just wanna homeschool my kids but I don't have the confidence to do so cos I know nothing about the right way to using the Monte method. Just imagine how embarassing my girls would be if their P1 teacher asks 'how come dunno how to spell rendezvous?!! U hmschooled but your mother never teach u spelling/phonics ah???\"

lol. Scary.

[buds]

I learnt the word much much much later in my blooming teenage years lar Tika.. :lol:


You're scaring yourself silly.

All my best for the coming trial lesson at Twinkle Stars. :xedfingers:

[Tika]

buds:

I learnt the word much much much later in my blooming teenage years lar Tika.. :lol:


You're scaring yourself silly.

All my best for the coming trial lesson at Twinkle Stars. :xedfingers:

lol that was our time bud dear. kids nowadays...they know bigger words than i knew when i was their age. thanks to the many enrichment cum spelling cum phonics cum speech&drama cum gym cum music cum ballet classes some, if not most parents, send them to. hehe

im trying not to be so kan cheong and kiasu cos my children are afterall only 2.5 and 1 year old. But being a typical marder....how not to worry? Haha. But excessive worrying is also a waste of thought and time. So I guess like my dd's game in my iphone would say... Pop some bubbles and have fun.

[Tika]

[/quote]


lol that was our time bud dear.[/quote]

Alamak, my apologies. I simply assumed we’re of the same age. You are probably older and wiser … or younger with more energy (maybe that’s why you can still be so mobile when ur 6 mths pregnant!)

[soomum]

buds:

I usually wouldn't suggest parents of very young children to go straight
into teaching letter sounds. Even in our enrichment classes, we cater
to children aged 4yrs old.

I didn't know this....

buds:

In phonics enrichment classes, focus is given
to learning letter sounds and not the alphabets/letter names. The idea
is to introduce and enhance the reading process using phonics, not letter
recognition.

there was no warning signs..as in her teacher didn't bring up to me that not knowing the letter names is critical, knowing that my gal only knows the letter sounds.. wat's your view?

buds:

For younger children, do expose them to the alphabets and the shape of
the letters... do tracing activities... craft activities... matching activities &
singing alphabet songs and many other stuff together when they are
home with you.

by younger children, how old is this range you are referring to?

buds:

May i know how old is your child again, soomum?

she is 3 yrs old.

buds:

soomum:

How can i help her to learn the letter names now??? I am now at a lost as to how to proceed or maybe should i even proceed on with her. i.e. has taught her letter sounds - introducing letter names *now made her confused *

I will need to know the age of your child before i make some suggestions.
One way will be, YOU teach the letter names ie. the alphabets. Let the
teacher teach the sounds..... for now. Until your child is more comfortable
handling both simultaneously from you. In the meantime, what you can do
is not to say she is wrong but instead, reiterate that for example... 'b' makes
the sound /b/ : b-uh.

So you mean i (being the first to teach her the letter sounds) can now teach her the letter names? without confusing her further? I just stop doing the letter sounds with her right? But she is so used to doing the letter sounds with me, what if she requests to do the sounds?

buds:

soomum:

- next step is building words is it?

Yes, it is. Wordbuilding is helping children to listen to sounds in words...
beginning with 3-letter phonetic words. During this stage, i usually
encourage parents to read rhymes with children llike these ones...

Diddle Diddle dumpling, my son John..
Went to bed with his trousers on..

i should wait till she knows her letter names and sounds well before proceeding to wordbuilding right?

buds:

soomum:

... this to teach in conjunction with learning to write the letters or need to already be able to write?

This can be done for both learning writers and confident writers. This is
where the initial alphabet activities comes in extremely handy and timely,
especially if they were to start Phonics lessons around 4yrs old... earliest
would be 3.5yrs old. Children who are confident writers from what i have
observed can even do independent spelling with simple 3-letter words the
centre has covered with them. They can easily associate writing down...
c-a-t when the directress says please spell for me c-uh... aaaahhh... t.
They usually have no issues co-relating alphabets and letter sounds.

how do one assess a child is ready for learning to write? my gal likes to trace dotted lines/letters with markers. is it the right time now to teach her to hold a pencil and trace the dotted letters? when do we 'wean' off the dotted lines?
sorry for my many questions. this is my first time teaching a pre-schooler and realises that it is not as easy as others portray it to be.

[buds]

Tika:

buds:

I learnt the word much much much later in my blooming teenage years lar Tika.. :lol:


You're scaring yourself silly.

All my best for the coming trial lesson at Twinkle Stars. :xedfingers:

lol that was our time bud dear. kids nowadays...they know bigger words than i knew when i was their age.

But i'm sure it won't be rendezvous during pre-school age ba.

Tika:

... thanks to the many enrichment cum spelling cum phonics cum speech&drama cum gym cum music cum ballet classes some, if not most parents, send them to. hehe

Your turn will arrive dear... :evil:

You'll see... :rubhands:

Tika:

[im trying not to be so kan cheong and kiasu cos my children are afterall only 2.5 and 1 year old. But being a typical marder....how not to worry? Haha.

While some mothers like me are not so kancheong and only a little bit
kiasu, from your sharings we all now know you beat us hands down. :lol:
Yes, they are only 2.5yrs & 1yr old.. so while there may not be a perfect
centre, there can be one that is perfect for them... where they can be just
the kiddies they are... be happy with the joys learning brings & feel safe
with their caregivers. I'm sure regardless of where you'd be eventually
signing them up, you will be doing your own supplementary lessons with
them at home too? Tio bo? So, once again... i hope you find what
you are looking for in Twinkle Stars this coming trial, ya hun? :hugs:

Tika:

[ But excessive worrying is also a waste of thought and time. So I guess like my dd's game in my iphone would say... Pop some bubbles and have fun.

Aye aye there.. :salute: You answered your own worries. :lol:
So now Tika... be good and go pop some, yuh? :celebrate:
Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Best Regards, buds.

[MLJ]

Hearing you talk about France makes me miss it, :lol:


If you can go when your kids are bigger, should visit it at least once. I am sure you and your hubbie will doubly fall in love all over again, it is really a romantic city.

So you were a preschool teacher in the past? Wow, you know Pat?

I called up Eton, no vacancy. Might still stick to St James for my girl in the end.

Where you get your materials, any recommendation for books to get?

Anyway, thanks so much for all your replies, they provide lots of help to me!
:rahrah:

[wishababy]

hi all

i wanted to enrol my 20mths boy for Josiah Montessori enrichment class.
but Josiah Montessori told me they are full, the available slot would be next year. i am not willing to wait.

can anyone here recommend me good Montessori enrichment class in the east or north?

i am looking for 1X per week class.

Thanks

[chatelaine]

Hi buds


I just pm you. Wants to hear your views on one of the childcare.

:thankyou: