| Author |  Topic  |      |
Jenny Wee
Singapore
1370 Posts |  Posted - 04/28/2006 : 00:17:27    
| Hi Rina,
HEre are my questions:
1)What are your views on using programs like flashcards on word recognition? (I have got friends whose kids can read at 2 and they attribute it to using programs like Glenn Doman. I didn't work for my son.....hmm...mayb I was not hardworking enough. But just wondering do u think this program really work based on your experience with so many children?)
2)My boy is currently 2 and half. I am quite anxious as in why he don't seem to be interested in words. He can do his phonics and recognise alphabets since he was abt 20mths but he doesn;t seem to want to progress beyond that. I read to him daily and in fact he can memorise the content of over 40 books but only thru the pictures. But when I point to the words on each page...he will look at something else. ANy suggestion as to what I can do to make him interested or is it becoz he is not ready?
3) Phonics, sight words, whole word recocgintion which are essential to readings. Which should we teach first and at what age?
4) I was told by someone that we should not buy too many books for the children coz the kids won't learn to read as chidlren learn through repetition. I was told to buy a set of readers for the child and use that everyday till the child can read. I kind of don't agree with that but I am not too sure who is right so I got readers (sunshine, rigby and ladybird) which I display at the wall all the time so I go through with my boy everyday and a whole lot of other books like barney, Bob the Builder etc where my boy will pick what he likes to read on his own. Am I doing the right thing?
5) Is it normal for children of his age to write and recognise alphabets in the "inverted" way? My boy sometimes write "c" the opposite way and he tends to have problem differentiating "b" and "d".
6) Last question....do some advertisement for JG. hahaha.... What;s the difference between Edu drama and playclub?
So sorry for asking so many questions.
Mother of Baby James. My little blessing from God.
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/06/2006 : 12:15:32
| Hello - first of all my sincerest apologies! I haven't registered correctly on this forum so I kept waiting for an email alert to be sent to me - which accounts for why it took me THIS long to reply!
The use of flashcards is based on the premise of stimulation/conditioning. Because we are human animals, it works. But only to a certain extent. Does being able to read mean 'able to recognise' individual words? Or does it mean that the child can spontaneously read reams of text; and make sense of it? Being able to read is also separate from being able to comprehend and express thoughts on what has been read, and also separate from enjoying and loving the activity of reading. As a parent, you have to decide what is your ultimate aim for your child's learning.
If you are looking at the big picture of education and learning, you have to ask 'what is the point' of being able to recognise words or letters, or read extra early. Does it actually give a child a better understanding of the world around him, about language and human interaction, about the connections between objects and events and people? This is a very fundamental question to ask yourself especially if the time being spent 'flashcarding' your son actually takes away from time that could be spent simply talking and interacting, conversing about the world. All brain research on early learning tells us that it is the building of connections and 'meaning' that translates to the building of synaptic connections in the brain - ultimately contributing the flexibility of mind that typifies true intelligence and genius. Stimulation is only one part of the picture - there must be meaningfulness in order for there to be long-term benefits.
Developmentally, at 2 and a half, your son should be interested in people. He is at the age of starting to initiate peer interactions and establish independence. He may have a cursory interest in words simply because he has more important things to engage in.
Reading is a life skill - some of it can be overtly instructed but a large part of creating a life-long reader is to build motivation. If he is looking away - he's clearly telling you that he's uninterested. There is no motivation there. Motivation is a strange thing - the more you try to force it, the less it's going to happen. You have to engage your son in things that interest him (and you!) and layer in experiences of words. I have often seen parents who in their fervour to focus on the reading, have created a struggle that absolutely kills any enjoyment of reading - that sort of negative association with reading is very very hard to undo. Even as you simply talk about the book you read, the signs on the street, the movie posters you see, you are exposing your son to the word of print – he is learning to read. He is learning that in order for him to make more sense of the world, he needs to understand those squiggles that mommy is ‘reading’. And every child is inherently motivated to make sense of the world – every child, given the exposure to print and books, with a little direct instruction, will want to read and will eventually read.
What you are doing - reading to your son through pictures and choosing books on topics that he enjoys is absolutely the right thing. As educator, we call good children's literature 'real books'. These are books with wonderful stories and illustrations and ideas that engage the reader. Reading systems have their place in an educational setting in that they are written to build a child's reading skills through graduated exposure to specific word and sentence. The text is often stilted and artificial, and the topics and ideas are not terribly interesting. I generally would not recommend readers with children younger than 4 – there is so much more to be gained from reading good stories! Remember – make reading for fun and reading for learning separate, and at this age, reading for fun is more important as it builds life-long motivation. If you focus on reading for learning now, you stand to lose because it may quash motivation.
Having said all this – I must still say that flashcards have their place. They are used effectively by teachers to facilitate the learning of high frequency words (like ‘the’ and ‘and’) but only with children who are emergent readers – those who are learning to parse through text on their own. The learning of high frequency words helps a child to overcome the struggle of early reading, so that they are ‘glide’ past these words. The intention is to sustain the child’s motivation to read as the initial experiences of independent reading can be very daunting and difficult for children. Once again, teachers in Singapore would only start the use of these flashcards around the age of 5, and only in a setting of instruction.
Letter inversion is very common – it even continues to happen until the age of 6. So there’s no cause for concern. Give your son lots of opportunities to explore writing and printing – at his age, he’s still focused on developing his fine motor control.
EduDrama is fundamentally a teaching methodology – in simple terms, it is about teaching and learning through interaction, expression and drama. In our centre, we label our early childhood programmes ‘EduPlay’ and our older programmes ‘EduDrama’, but all of programmes are founded on the principles of EduDrama.
Finally, I have to take issue with the suggestion that you do not buy too many books for your son. I have never heard a worse suggestion! One of the most important things you can do foster life-long reading is to create a reading home and surround your son with good books. Ask any learned person and they will tell you of the sheer joy of collecting and reading books!
I hope this LOONG reply will help to clarify some issues for you.
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com |  |
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/06/2006 : 13:45:15
| Hi Jenny,
I re-read my post and was horrified at the typos made - so here's the cleaned-up edited version!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello - first of all my sincerest apologies! I haven't registered correctly on this forum so I kept waiting for an email alert to be sent to me - which accounts for why it took me THIS long to reply!
The use of flashcards is based on the premise of stimulation/conditioning. Because we are human animals, it works. But only to a certain extent. Does being able to read mean 'able to recognise' individual words? Or does it mean that the child can spontaneously read reams of text; and make sense of it? Being able to read is also separate from being able to comprehend and express thoughts on what has been read, and also separate from enjoying and loving the activity of reading. As a parent, you have to decide what your ultimate aim for your child's learning is.
If you are looking at the big picture of education and learning, you have to ask 'what is the point' of being able to recognize words or letters, or read extra early. Does it actually give a child a better understanding of the world around him, about language and human interaction, about the connections between objects and events and people? This is a very fundamental question to ask yourself especially if the time being spent 'flashcarding' your son actually takes away from time that could be spent simply talking and interacting, conversing about the world. All brain research on early learning tells us that it is the building of connections and 'meaning' that translates to the building of synaptic connections in the brain - ultimately contributing the flexibility of mind that typifies true intelligence and genius. Stimulation is only one part of the picture - there must be meaningfulness in order for there to be long-term benefits.
Developmentally, at 2 and a half, your son should be interested in people. He is at the age of starting to initiate peer interactions and establish independence. He may have a cursory interest in words simply because he has more important things to engage in.
Reading is a life skill - some of it can be overtly instructed but a large part of creating a life-long reader is to build motivation. If he is looking away - he's clearly telling you that he's uninterested. There is no motivation there. Motivation is a strange thing - the more you try to force it, the less it's going to happen. You have to engage your son in things that interest him (and you!) and layer in experiences of words. I have often seen parents who in their fervour to focus on the reading, have created a struggle that absolutely kills any enjoyment of reading - that sort of negative association with reading is very very hard to undo. Even as you simply talk about the book you read, the signs on the street, the movie posters you see, you are exposing your son to the world of print – he is learning to read. He is learning that in order for him to make more sense of the world, he needs to understand those squiggles that mommy is ‘reading’. And every child is inherently motivated to make sense of the world – every child, given the exposure to print and books, with a little direct instruction, will want to read and will eventually read.
What you are doing - reading to your son through pictures and choosing books on topics that he enjoys is absolutely the right thing. As an educator, we call good children's literature 'real books'. These are books with wonderful stories and illustrations and ideas that engage the reader. Reading systems have their place in an educational setting in that they are written to build a child's reading skills through graduated exposure to specific words and sentence constructions. The text is often stilted and artificial, and the topics and ideas are not terribly interesting. I generally would not recommend readers with children younger than 4 – there is so much more to be gained from reading good stories! Remember – make reading for fun and reading for learning separate, and at this age, reading for fun is more important as it builds life-long motivation. If you focus on reading for learning now, you stand to lose because it may quash motivation.
Having said all this – I must still say that flashcards have their place. They are used effectively by teachers to facilitate the learning of high frequency words (like ‘the’ and ‘and’) but only with children who are emergent readers – those who are learning to parse through text on their own. The learning of high frequency words helps a child to overcome the struggle of early reading, so that they are ‘glide’ past these words. The intention is to sustain the child’s motivation to read as the initial experiences of independent reading can be very daunting and difficult for children. Once again, teachers in Singapore would only start the use of these flashcards around the age of 5, and only in an instructional setting.
Letter inversion is very common – it even continues to happen until the age of 6. So there’s no cause for concern. Give your son lots of opportunities to explore writing and printing – at his age; he’s still focused on developing his fine motor control.
EduDrama is fundamentally a teaching methodology – in simple terms, it is about teaching and learning through interaction, expression and drama. In our centre, we label our early childhood programmes ‘EduPlay’ and our older programmes ‘EduDrama’, but all of our programmes are founded on the principles of EduDrama.
Finally, I have to take issue with the suggestion that you do not buy too many books for your son. I have never heard a worse suggestion! One of the most important things you can do to foster life-long reading is to create a reading home and surround your son with good books. Ask any learned person and they will tell you of the sheer joy of collecting and reading books!
I hope this LOONG reply will help to clarify some issues for you.
Regards,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Jenny Wee
Singapore
1370 Posts | Posted - 05/10/2006 : 23:19:44
| Hi Rina,
Appreciate your reply. Thanks.
Mother of Baby James. My little blessing from God.
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Jenny Wee
Singapore
1370 Posts | Posted - 05/10/2006 : 23:28:18
| Hi Rina,
Another question on the Edudrama. My boy is currently attending N1 in Chiltern House. Is there any overlapping in terms of curriculum between chiltern house curriculum and Edudrama?
Thanks in advance.
Mother of Baby James. My little blessing from God.
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/11/2006 : 09:33:59
| Hi Jenny,
No - there wouldn't be an overlap as EduDrama is a teaching methodology as opposed to a curriculum. In essence, this means that you could theoretically teach any 'curriculum' in the EduDrama way. For example, the curriculum topic could be on learning about positional words under the theme of 'our natural environment' - the teacher could use elements of the EduDrama approach to make these concepts come alive - through an interactive drama on journeying into the jungle, followed by a traveller's journal to build the skills of written expression. There are five key elements of the approach - Teacher, Interaction, Motivation, Environment and Drama. EduDrama is realy about the 'big picture' of learning and education - developing the self-leadership skills of every individual; as opposed to the transmission of specific knowledge (that just happens as the 'substrate')That is why it is not 'what we teach' that differentiates us per se but rather 'how we teach' and 'who we are' that makes the difference. Clear as mud?? Sorry 
As a matter of interest to you - and I hope this doesn't qualify as 'spaming' or publicity plug, I'm conducting a workshop on 'Helping Your Child Develop a Love for Reading' next Thursday 18 May in the evening at our Forum centre. This is part of a series of adult education workshops offered by the Julia Gabriel School of Education. If you are interested, do call the centre to enquire.
Warmest Regards,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Tang Lily
Singapore
61 Posts | Posted - 05/11/2006 : 17:54:17
| Hi Jenny,
I just want to share with u my experience on teaching my two elder boys (one is P1 and another is K1). I started to teach them alphabets (capital and small letters) and numbers just before 2 years old. Then I proceed to colours. They read before 3 years old. I taught them with all kinds of methods as my boys are very active. They learned through all types of games I invented. They enjoyed and learned very fast. They learned abacus at 3. Everywhere they go, the teachers are amazed on their intelligence. In fact, frankly speaking, I am not those type of "kiasu" parents as I always believe learn on their own pace and the most important thing is to enjoy learning. I also never expect they learn fast. So far, they have never gone for any enrichment or learning classes. To be frank, I am a lazy mother to drive them here and there for tuition classes, I will rather let them stay at home and do whatever we enjoy. So, after so many years of experince on teaching my own kids, I recently set up classes to share my experinces and it's really make me happy to see kids enjoy and learn. So, do keep up enjoy teaching!
tang
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hidayah
359 Posts | Posted - 05/21/2006 : 00:01:19 
| hi tang,
how do u go abt teaching alphabets to yr kids? wat did u use?
wat type of books should i buy for my bb gal? is single word per page books useful?
doctor said that my daughter needs alot of stimulation cos at 10mths, she still cant crawl nor sit by herself. she is usually awake for abt 2hrs plus each time to do an activity but i dunno wat to do wif her.
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Tang Lily
Singapore
61 Posts | Posted - 05/21/2006 : 09:59:15
| Hi Hidayah,
Not need to worry so much for your gal. What the doc said is right, u should spend more time on stimulation as your gal is slightly slow in crawling and sitting. Do some massages on her hand, legs and body will help her on strengtening her muscles. Talk to her, sing songs to her and show her plenty of colourful pictures with loud and exaggerate voice and action. U can teach her alphabets by writing it big and in red colour on a piece of white card for each alphabet. Whatever u want to teach her, just do it yourself and see yourself which one she likes the most.
tang
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/21/2006 : 11:35:12
| Hi Hidayah,
I hope it's appropriate to give you a reply although your question was not directed to me. Lily has made great suggestions such as singing, reading and conversing with your little one. There is also a great deal of in-built stimulation that is available to your child - just keep your baby upright and with you as much as possible during the day. An upright baby (either carried in arms or in a carrier or sling) has a view of the world and the interaction between people that a baby lying in a stroller or crib would not. As you keep your baby with you - just simply talk about the things around you. Keep your language conversational (there's no great need to babytalk or dumb down your language). Some parents do not feel the need to create baby-specific activities to provide stimulation - there's a lot to be gained from just integrating your baby into your daily routine. You can try to go out at least once a day - short walks to the market are great. Better yet, meet up with other parents with their babies - that way, you both get the fun stimulation you need!I hope these suggestions give you some helpful ideas.
There's no immediate reason why you should or should not use flashcards with your baby - my only question would be to ask you your long-term goal for using them and if the time spent using them is being taken away from other more meaningful activities - only you as the parent can make that decision.
Good luck and have fun with your baby!
Regards,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/21/2006 : 11:42:33
| Hi Hidayah,
As to your question on books - there are some lovely stories that are now available as board books. If you want to invest in starting a library for your little one - go for good, well-crafted stories. If you wish to obtain a list of recommended titles that I hand out to parents at talks, just send me an email at rinaong@juliagabriel.com and I can forward it to you.
Rgds,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Dion
341 Posts | Posted - 05/21/2006 : 22:07:29
| Hi Rina,
Thanks for forwarding me the list.
I wasn't aware that the invitation was restricted to Hidayah. Pardon my ignorance.
Please be assured that the intellectual property of the Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning will be respected. Fyi, I have already deleted the email after looking through the list. Sorry to have caused you any undue inconvenience.
Rgds,
Vivian
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Edited by - Dion on 05/22/2006 05:12:23 | |
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/22/2006 : 11:19:20
| Hi Vivian,
No apologies needed, and definitely no inconvenience caused. I'm glad to share what I have - I'm just obliged by my role as a representative of the centre to remind anyone whom I may have passed documents on to that they were created in the course of my work. Which means you are entitled to print yourself a copy because I have forwarded it to you; just don't pass it on to anyone else. :D
Rgds,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Babylove
Singapore
2412 Posts | Posted - 05/25/2006 : 14:14:20
| Hi Rina,
Kieran has been a lover of the JG Book Room since he joined the Playclub.
I have a concern with regards to his reading habits. Kieran is very into Transportation/ Vehicles such as Fire Engine, Train, Tractors. Is there anyway for me to introduce other variety of titles to him? Caroline had suggested that I just keep showing him the other titles. But apparently he still goes back to his favourite.
Even all the puzzles that we bought were under the Vehicle/transportation theme. | |
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 05/26/2006 : 10:10:40
| Hello!
First of all, there may actually be no great need to budge Kieran from his area of interest. Many children go through periods of being fixated on particular interests. Children thrive on repetition and the security of familiar things. Children also get something new each time they revisit something again. As adults, we can get bored much more easily than children and we can learn a thing or two from their perserverence and in-depth exploration into things that interest them. Try expanding his interests first. Does he talk about anything else besides cars and moving machines? Actively point out different things in the world; you can say, "I know you like to talk about cars, I like cars too, but let's talk about what we can make for dinner today..."
You can continue bringing books with interesting titles, covers and illustrations to him to try to entice him to try out them out. You can try establishing a rule that he can borrow whatever he chooses, but buy something that has nothing to do with transportation. If that's too harsh, maybe you can say that he always has to choose two books - one on transportation and another one that is different; or you can alternate from week to week. For example, as in the Bookroom, where you can borrow one book at a time, Keiran can borrow a book on cars on day and a different kind of book the next day.
At somepoint, you are also perfectly entitled to say, "Mummy is tired of reading about cars, I would like to read about something else - can you choose one for me?" That's you setting your limit, which is a good thing for Kieran to know that you are your own person with a different set of interests.
Hope this helps!
Rgds,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 06/04/2006 : 23:35:38
| Hello to all reading this topic!
I have been deluged with requests to receive the list of books that are my personal favourites! Ordinarily, I am very willing to share what I have; especially if it helps another parent. However, I have lately been sent a few curt emails asking for this list. I would like to help, but I feel that I can help better if I have an idea of the background leading to a person's request. At this stage, I really have no idea what this list will spawn - my worst fear would be that someone religiously tries to purchase these books without actually looking through them and choosing them as an expression of their own personal preference. And so, I'm afraid I will have to decline any further requests for this book list. I welcome any other questions on reading and books and look forward to a lively discussion with many of you. Many thanks for understanding.
Warmest Regards,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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absolutfaith
Singapore
2550 Posts | Posted - 11/21/2006 : 01:41:34
| Hi Rina
I have a question on reading but pls let me share a little background on my toddler first. My 17-month old girl loves her books as I've been reading to her from birth and she has been flipping pages of a book even before she could sit up. She has a variety of books that encourage interactivity such as pop-ups, flaps, wheels, mirrors, animal pegs etc (eg. Lamaze, Maisy, Baby Einstein) as well as other "normal" books such as the Dr Seuss series.
As she has been exposed to repetitive reading, she is able to pick out a particular book when I mention its book title or content (eg. I don't think she can read "hop on pop" but she knows it's that book). Also, she has been able to "read" out words on a particular page since she was 14.5 months. eg. She will go "Hooray! Hooray!" as in "Hen in a hat. Hooray! Hooray!" (ABC - Dr Seuss).
My question is, how do I know if she is able say the word because she can read it or if it's purely by memory and association with the illustration?
I just bought my girl a pack of Stage 1+ First Sentences readers from Oxford Reading Tree. When reading with her, I would first talk about the illustrations such as what the person might be doing or what the dog might be feeling, before reinforcing it with the sentence below. When I brought out the book again the second day and third, my girl was able to repeat after me "Go away". Does this mean she is able to make out the text or is she simply "reading" from memory? She will also stroke her cheek indicating that the dog is sad.
How do I make sense of all these? Is she really an advanced reader or is it just wishful thinking on my part? I'm also at a loss now cos I don't know if starting on readers is going to make the entire reading thing "boring". She has shown interest in the readers by bringing them to me, although she still likes to dig out the fun books as well.
Yet another question I have is... is it absolutely necessary for a child to learn phonics before learning to read? I've never been keen on phonics since we never learnt phonics as kids! Also, I don't see the necessity in teaching the alphabet since it's a pretty abtract, am I wrong? What my girl does know though (again fr memory after watching the Brainy Baby VCD) is that d-a-d-d-y spells "daddy" or b-a-b-y spells "baby". In sum, can I skip these and let her move on straight to books?
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 12/04/2006 : 23:20:07
| Hi,
Sorry for my tardiness!
To address your first question, I'd have to ask what you define as being able to 'read'. Does being able to ‘read’ mean being able to parse a word phonetically, to memorise the word shape and its linked pronunciation, or to comprehend and understand never-before-seen text? The point being that whether your child is 'reading' or memorising the text, or making up the text based on the illustration – these are ALL skills that make up the ability to read! Reading is like any other kind of learning – development of concepts and ideas from the cues in the environment. There is no ONE way to approach reading. Which brings me to your question about phonics – no, it is not absolutely necessary for your child to learn phonics before learning to read text. Reading doesn’t happen in such clear-cut linear stages. Developing phonic awareness is one aspect of learning to read. Other important aspects include sight recognition of words, inferring text and story from illustrations, real-world knowledge and experience, and developing the motivation to read. All these things happen in fits and starts and come together to create a reader.
Honestly, unless you daughter is picking up a book that she’s never seen before and reading it from beginning to end and is able to converse with you about what she has read, I would not consider that she knows how to read. At best, she may have figured out the mechanics of reading the squiggles – but the greater goal is really comprehension.
‘Teaching’ the alphabet is one step in the reading process. Obviously, you can’t skip learning the alphabet and the letter-sound connections; but that’s just the beginning. Besides, I always say that you can’t teach the alphabet, you can only introduce it and then use it to link concepts and ideas with the things around the world – otherwise it would have no real-world meaning and connection and be a useless bit of knowledge. For example – a child can recognise the letter ‘a’ and even say it’s corresponding sound; but this child may not appreciate that a ifsthe first letter in apple and that apples can be red and are often sweet, and that mummy likes eating apples. It’s the connecting of symbolic knowledge to real-world concepts that is the most important aspect of learning to read – that’s words have MEANING and convey thoughts and feelings.
Books should never be the ‘final’ thing you do with your child; you don’t move onto books, you should START with books. Books are windows into the world, into people and that’s what children are interested in – the world and the people in it, not just isolated letters and how ‘daddy’ is spelt. If your daughter is interested in the books you provide, that’s great – keep introducing more and different kinds of books. Really try to invest in good books – not gimmicky books and try to not depend only on readers.
An 84 year-old mentor teacher once said to me that reading happens by magic – and in many ways I believe that to be true. We can carve learning to read into discrete compartments of learning and teaching; but the fact is that humans are a lot more complex than that – we should just provide the full-range of experiences and support learning and development as a whole. That way, learning to read will organically and magically happen – and you will have a child that not only can read, but also LOVES to read.
Good luck and remember to have fun!
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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absolutfaith
Singapore
2550 Posts | Posted - 12/05/2006 : 02:35:42
| Thanks Rina for your refreshing perspective on the topic.
I define reading as the ability to make sense of the text and comprehending the word in its context. I've always thought that the process of learning to read begins with the child understanding the meaning of a spoken word before seeing it in text. So in the context of a book, even knowing just 2 out of 10 words may suffice to help the child figure out what the sentence means. And so the child gradually learns more words over time, understands more and then links the words to make out the story.
About "moving on to books", sorry if I wasn't clear about that point. I have started my girl with books. In fact, she doesn't just like her own books. She likes to read the papers I'm reading and flip pages of our Sunday Missals or hymn books in church without tearing the pages.
My point was just that I wasn't clear if I shd "backtrack" and start on phonics and alphabets just so my girl could learn to read the "proper" way. My girl is aware of the alphabets but I've never been interested in "testing" her, nor to make her memorize a-z like I know some parents do. My stand is that so long as she knows these little squiggles produce different sounds and that when strung together they form words, that's enough for now. Actually reading your long reply has already helped affirm that I've been on the right track all along. I guess I became abit confused when I read about all the discussion on phonics and reading schools.
Ultimately, I just want to nurture my girl's love for reading, and the ability to read is a necessary means for her to fulfill that need.
My final question, what do you mean by "gimmicky" books? Could you provide some factors that we could look out for in a good book? Currently, I look for books that meet the following criteria: 1) the illustrations and text should not clutter the page; 2) it should tell a simple story; and 3) ideally it shd have stg my girl can relate to.
Thanks again for your time.
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Rina Ong
50 Posts | Posted - 12/06/2006 : 22:13:03
| Hi!
I have to get better at check this message board! It's resoundingly clear that you are on the right track to creating a lifelong reader with your little girl; she's got all the support experiences that will make books and reading something that is well integrated into her life! As for the mechanics of reading, there two main schools of thought - whole language and phonics. I think that the both approaches must be married. So in answer to your question - does she need to know phonics, the answer is 'yes', she will have a better grasp of reading (and eventually spelling and writing)if she has had a foundation in phonics. However - 17 months may be too early to do any formal instruction. It sounds like you are introducing the letters of the alphabet already, so bit by bit, she is learning some phonics. If you intend to homeschool her, you will probably want to start on some formal instruction close to 2 1/2 years; but otherwise, that generally gets tackled in preschools as part of the curriculum. As for the whole language approach, the key to this is actually what you are already doing - exposing your daughter to a lots of good literature and books in generally.
What do I mean by 'gimmicky' books? Well, it ranges from books who's only merit is the fact that it features a central character from the Disney pantheon, or books that promise all kinds of flaps for children to open but really can be quite insulting to their intelligence when they can really enjoy a good tale, and books that make all kinds of sounds instead of having great illustrations that support a clever story.
It sounds like you are on the right track, I know it's hard not to feel like you're not doing enough when there is so much hype surrounding you. I hope this allays some of your fears and helps you focus on what would really be effective.
Regards,
Rina
Express your best self!
Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning
www.juliagabriel.com | |
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| | Topic | |
"reading" issue