Any Recommedation for Phonics Enrichment Class ??

qqmum,
My girl attended the MMI at Lakeside. She also went through the pink, blue and green series, all within 11 months ! This is an express course. They take in kids 3 years 6 months and above. Although they say that the child doesn't have to know anything about phonics before starting the course, I feel that it is best that the child know all the letter sounds very well first, otherwise he cannot follow up. The teachers also teach the parents how to practice with the child at home.

I think the other MMI course which takes 1 year to finish one series, give more time for the child to practice in class.

They teach through worksheets, my girl did a few pages of worksheets during every 1 hour class, which is entirely sit down and learning. No singing and dancing since this is not a toddler class.
 


Yes, agree with Tamarind that the Leapfrog DVD is useful for learning the phonics sounds. If want to attend course, my son used to go to "I Can Read" program. Not bad but very ex
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Starling, for Chinese enrichment, Berries is good
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I just enrolled Alden (3 yrs old) into 'i can read' on wkdays(cheaper) and berries on wkend.. hopefully he learns something..
 
tamarind thk for the reply
my 3yr 5mth child know all the letter sound but has no writing skill yet, so is it better for me to wait till he can write or can juz go ahead first?
 
qqmum,
The phonics class does not require writing skill, they only require the child to circle the letters. For example, circle "at" in the words "cat","mat","fat", etc. If your child can draw circles, then should be no problem.
 
Jennifer,
I did not let my girl continue Compre 1. She finished the phonics course before 5 years old. I want her to take a break and practice to read more fluently first.

jh,
It is $100 a month, with GST is $107.
 
hihi

thanks for sharing. I always feel so inspired when i come in here...because I am always so tired after work & lazy on weekends..hehe...

I may be checking out MMI course to give my boy the basic skills first although I would very much luv to teach him personally.

mummyto2
I have called up one of the Berries branch & had to be put on waitlist for the start of another class.
 
Hi!

Any mummies know where to get the Leapfrog letter factory DVD?

Feel like getting it after reading the thread...
 
Hi all,
I have published the complete materials for teaching phonics here.

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/

If you are keen to teach your child phonics at home, you should give it a try. Especially for children who master all the phonics sounds under the age of 2. I think all phonics classes only start to teach 2 and 3 letter words from 3 years and above. They only teach letter sounds for those below 3 years of age, so there is no point sending your 2 year old child to phonics classes if he/she already know all the letter sounds very well. It is best to teach him/her at home.

I believe that a child can be taught to read very well at the age 3 - 4 years old, if you use the correct methods.
 
I am very disappointed abt I can Read.

They set some qualities my boy, just turned 3, shld have before advancing him to actual phonic lessons. Currently he is onli on the toddler class which onli got normal stuff like singing and story listening and do a worksheet every time.

Teacher wants him to be able to sit and listen to stories for at least 10 mins without touching anything, and need him to speak smooth english.

Very unfair for my son which i feel that how come GUG can just teach every lesson an alphabet and not I can Read. And moreover i enrolled him after their so called 'assessing' from their teacher agreeing that he is already fit for their classes.

Keeping him in the toddler class and i'm paying for the price of a phonics class. Not worth it at all!
 
Fun,

i have same the same feeling.
I visited ICR at CCk branch. The receptionist was nice but not the Ang MO teacher.
The so called assessing is such a let down. She has not give me gal a chance to disgest wat she is asking already start assuming she dont know her 26 letters well. My hubby stop me from enrolling
 
mama G

for my case, they got an ang mo teacher to assess him, after tat she said he can enroll in the phonics class, after tat the teacher who is in-charge of the phonic class said he has to be starting from the toddler class for warm ups so tat she can control the gp better when they advance to phonic class. But it has already been 2 mths, intially onli say 2-3 lessons to warm up. but telling me my son is not ready in many ways! Den why allow me enroll him?? Waste my time and money!
 
my 3 1/2 year old boy has just gone for the assessment by an ang moh teacher at katong mall. He was very nice and patience. He actually place my boy in prp and said that since he knew all the sound very well, it be too bore for him if he is put into tcs.
 
I have also sent my daughter for an assessment at Zoophonics before. That time she was 3 years old. She already knew all the letter sounds by watching the Leapfrog letter factory DVD. But during the test, she refused to speak a single word. Zoophonics teacher said she can only enter at the lowest level where she will spend 10 months learning the letter sounds only. I said forget it.

I sent my girl to Montessori phonics class, which did not require any assessment.

I put my younger boy at Zoophonics toddler class, pulled him out after 5 months. Everyone in my family thought it was a waste of money.

After gaining experience about how to teach phonics at my girls' montessori class, I decided to teach my younger boy at home. He is now reading book 7a of the Ladybird keyword series. I think I could only read like that when I was in P4.

There is nothing special about how phonics is taught in enrichment classes. Any mommy can teach phonics and reading equally well at home. Check out my blog for the methods and materials.

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/
 
Hi tamarind,

I like to read your blog, hope you can continue to share your experience with us.
My daughter is 2.5years old planning to go pre-nursery next year. Noticed she doesn't like to watch leapfrog dvd very much. She can read alphabet A-Z and reading ladybird level 1a - 1b now, what i do is i will point the words and ask her to read together with me. Is it the corret way to teach? She loves the books and have repeated the same book for many times. How do i know she is ready to go to higher level?
What is the best age to teach phonics? I have registered phonics class with I creative learner.
 
Luvet,
Pointing at the words and asking her to read is the correct way. If possible, ask her to point using her own finger. Give her a few seconds to think about how to read the word, tell her only if she cannot remember how to read it.

Once she has finished 1a and 1b, you can go on to 2a and 2b. The words are repeated throughout the book, but in different sentences. If she can read a new page without any help from you, then you know that she really recognizes the words.

A child can start to learn phonics from 2 years old. From 2 to 3 years old, enrichment classes only teach the phonics sounds of each letter.

They only teach the child how to read 2 and 3 letter words from 3 year 6 months old and above.
 
My gal attended montessori preschool. After completing the pink, blue and green series, she did the black series which are mainly grammar (noun, verb, adverb, adjectives, etc) and some foreign words which are not phonetics.
 
Hi Tamarind,

i send u a PM actually. just wana ask you which MMI branch u send ur gal to? is it the JW one, which is at blk 519?
 
stressma,
Sorry I missed your email. I have just replied you.

My girl went to this one

Modern Montessori Centre
(Jurong West)
Blk 519 Jurong West Street 52
#01-163
Singapore 640519
Tel: 6564 4564
Fax: 6564 9001

Note that the teachers may have changed.
 
Hi,

Anyone knows of any phonics course for parents that we can attend to learn how to teach phonics to our kids?
 
Hi novelty,

I'm planning to use resources from letterland to teach ds. If the course is using jolly phonics, isn't it confusing then?

Actually ds nursery is using jolly phonics so would I confuse him if I use letterland?
 
<font color="0000ff">Dear all,
Please read the following article. It was published in the Straits Times in Feb 2009.

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090209-120517.html

MYTH: 'Buying my child plenty of books will get him into the habit of reading.'

REALITY: There is no replacement for spending quality time with your child in front of a book. You must read to - and with - your child.
Related link:
» 8 things you can do to help your child sail though school
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090209-120495.html

FOR years now, there has been disagreement on what is the best way to teach children to read. It is one of the most hotly contested areas of education, dubbed by some as The Reading Wars.

At issue are two dramatically different teaching methods. First is the older way, termed phonics. It teaches children to sound out letters so that they can make words. For example, using the letters 'p' and 'h' together make the sound of the letter 'f', as in the word 'graph'.

This approach has been criticised for being a skill and drill method - uninspiring and perhaps even turning children off reading.

Those who support it say it provides a solid learning foundation and helps children develop decoding skills which can be applied to new and unfamiliar words.

Second is the whole-language approach where children read books for the story and construct meaning from what they read.

Proponents of this approach believe that children are readers and writers from the start. It is based on the premise that learning to read is as natural as learning to talk.

But this method, too, has its critics who say its approach of skipping unfamiliar words runs the risk of not learning vital words in the early stages of reading.
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According to the article above, phonics is the "older way" of learning to read !

Parents must understand that while phonics will help a child to read, a child who has completed the full course of phonics, will still not be able to read fluently. This is because there are many sight words in English that are not phonetic. For example, the letter "c" is actually more often pronounced as "s" as in "certainly". It is very important for children to read widely in order to learn.

In my phonics blog, both methods are equally important.

How to teach phonics
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-teach-phonics.html

Reading using the Ladybird series of books
http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

Personally I feel that there is no need to spend lots of money sending your child to phonics classes, or even spending money to buy phonics materials. Any adult who can read in English, can understand phonics in less than a day. You can learn for free from this excellent website.

http://www.starfall.com/

The following 2 steps are all you need to know about phonics.
1. ABCs
2. Learn to Read

Children need lots of practice to learn. You use the free materials in my blog.

Remember that the most important thing is still to let the child read from books.
 
DIL,
My boy is also crazy about dinosaurs. We have many dinosaur books which teach us how to read those long long names.

The dinosaur names actually do not follow phonics rules !

The "c"s in "velociraptor" and "Triceratops" are pronounced like "s". In phonics, children learn the sound of "c" as in "cat".

The "ch" in "brachiosaurus" sounds like "k". In phonics, "ch" is taught as in "chip".

Even if you enrol her in phonics class, she is still not going to know how to read those dinosaur names :p The dinosaur names actually have Greek origins, and so they are not pronounced like English.

It is better for you to use this website to learn how to pronounce the dinosaur names.

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/dinosaurs/dinonames6.htm
 
hi mummies,

I started reading to my baby since he's about 6 mths (he's 8 mths now). I try to do 2 english books and 2 mandarin books daily although somedays I just skip it due to time constraints or plain fatigue. However while he's quite keen on the books (he'll try to lick the pages or put it in his mouth), he'll usually crawl away after a while, in which case, I'll continue reading the story aloud till I finish it.

My question is if he crawls away while I'm in the midst of reading, will he still benefit from it? Has any mummy encountered a similar situation or do your babies give you absolute attention/ interest when you try to read to them?
 
snow,
It is very rare to find a baby who gives absolute attention when mommy is reading to him
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Babies below the age of 1 year old will most likely not learn any words when you read to them. But it is still important to read to them everyday, simply to show them that mommy reads everyday, and so baby should also read everyday when he grows up
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Reading is like talking to your baby, and is very important for his speech development. Remember to always point to each word as you read.

As soon as your baby can recognize all the 26 letters of the alphabet, you can start to teach him to read
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Hi Tamarind,

Thanks for replying. I guess it’s really too early to expect any output from baby although I cant help but look at baby at times for signs of comprehension/ interest as a form of motivation to carry on with the reading program. Guess I’ll just need to persevere and believe in him.
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Hi,

Has any mommy send their kids to MMI at Jurong East? LIke to have some feebback on the teachers. Kindly PM me. Much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Hi

this discussion is very interesting. thanks to Tamarind &amp; all mommies here for the informative sharing.

I currently send my 20mth old son to a montessori playgroup/childcare. At this age, the school does not actively teach the sounds of the 26 letters. But i am keen to start him on phonics now.

how should i approach this? do it the montessori way with sandletters, or should i use other materials?

i was also thinking if i should teach him A, B, C instead of phonics...but not sure if this will confuse him when he starts phonics in school. what do you mommies think?

btw, here's good book/resrouce for teaching phonics, if any of u are interested : http://www.abadabaalphabet.com

My son likes this book much better than the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD coz he doesn't watch TV much, but loves books instead.
 
Hi,
my boy who is coming to 3.5yrs old still doesn't know most of the alphabets. Quite stressful after reading that some of your children who are even younger already know their ABCs. I am thinking of enrolling him in enrichment class so that he can pick this up and also reading.

Do phonics classes also aid in alphabet recognition, or the child has to already know the 26 alphabets first?

Thanks.
 
Dear Parents,

I am montessori trained instructor and have a degree in Early childhood course. I am also teaching montessori phonics classes in a enrichment centre at Bukit Panjang. If you are interested to know more, do let me know.

Thanks
 
Dear Parents,

Besides Montessori Phonics, I also teach Montessori Math, Montessori for 18mths to 3 yrs old, pri 1 preparatory classes and we also have Kindermusik in our centre.

Please do email me at [email protected] for more info.

Thanks
 
Hi Tamarind,
I chanced upon this thread &amp; started my gal with leapfrog letter factory a year ago.
She's now 2 &amp; half &amp; can recognise both upper &amp; lower caps a-z.
Can u pls tell me wat can I do next? I am at the lost...how to move on...

Thanks
 



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