Parents enjoying teaching and learning with your kids!

[musicbox]

This thread is created for those parents who are enjoying learning with their kids. I would like to gather a group of parents to have our discussion here, whereby we can talk about how do we promote fun learning in our little ones

The objective of teaching our pre-schoolers or Primary kids are:
1) Understand the stress level they are having
2) Promote fun learning in their boring school time
3) Ensure that our kids have an enjoyable childhood
4) Able to learn by themselves independently where we can retired and be a mentor

This thread will serve as a support group to all who are going through the same path, you might share with us:
1) Problem facing when teaching your child
2) Good books you recommend
3) Good website or resources
4) Good tuition or enrichment classes
5) Good teaching materials
6) Any other thing regarding teaching the kids

Hope to see more inputs

 

[musicbox]

Please introduce yourself in the following format before you post your comments here

1) No of kids:
2) Age of the kids:
3) Working status: (full time working, part-time, or SAHM)
4) What are you teaching your kids:

 

[musicbox]

Let it start with me first

1) No of kids: 2
2) Age of the kids: elder girl 2yr+, younger son 9 mth
3) Working status: full time working mother
4) What are you teaching your kids: I let my girl attending Zoophonics once a week every saturday morning for 1 hour, I started teaching her phonics at home last month, also once a week 30min each lesson.

 

[anmaria]

1.) No of kids: 1
2) Age of the kids: 17 months
3) Working status: SAHM
4) What are you teaching your kids:
I attend Julia Gabriel playnest with her just so that we can meet more people while we stay at home most of the time. Twice a week.
Also teach her from home on phonic using rhymes and songs. When I say "N" - nursing munching nuts..then she will make munching sounds, then she will continue to shout "O"..and I will say "Orange on the Octopus", then she will shout "P", and I will sai "Parrot Picking up Pear"..etc..until Z. She love this game so much that she can memorized A-Z this way.
It's useful, cos when we take a long journey mrt to her class in orchard (from yewtee), i can play this game with her.
will share more later.

 

[anmaria]

She also learn different names of animal from her bath toys. Her daddy will bath her every night, and she remember all the names of the animals there like "rhino", "cat", "dog". "frog", etc.
play is the best way for them to learn.

 

[musicbox]

Hi anmaria,
Your gal is very advance, it is probably due to the effort you've spent with her and let her learn thru all the toys and playing.
I only started teaching my gal after she turned 2, when i first let her joined Zoophonics (she rejected nursery, so i let her go there socialise with others), she doesn't know A to Z, but after a month she advanced a lot and now she knows all the alphabets and simple words. I guess she is now in the golden period of learning that's why pick up things very fast.
I agree with you on learning thru playing toys, my gal learns from playing too.
Do you have a blog of your little one? If you have do share with me

 

[xqw]

1) No of kids: 2
2) Age of the kids: elder boy 3 yrs, younger girl 1 yr
3) Working status: full time working mother
4) What are you teaching your kids:
a) Teaching my boy recognize colour – My boy and me need to walk about 20min to reach childcare. Along the journey, I will ask my boy the colour of the car (he like car) or anything that attract his attention.
b) Greeting – when saw someone we know, I will make sure he greeting to the person. (I feel that respect people by greeting also important)
c) Recognize number – Waiting time for bus coming, I will tell my boy the bus number. Example: Bus number 25, I will show him 2 finger and 5 finger follow by 2 and 5 join together become 25.

At night, I will play the toy, chit chat (through chit chat I can know my kid more and indirectly teaching him also)or story telling with him.

 

[musicbox]

<font color="0000ff">Teaching colour</font>

Talking about teaching colour, my gal is 2 years 5 mth now but she's still very weak on colour. Whenever I asked her about colour, she'll reply "colour", at first I suspect she's colour blind, but after some observation I notice she can differentiate colours.
Any suggestion on effective colour teaching?
Btw I like Piyopiyo's way of teaching the colour by pointing to the car or object, I'll try this method

 

[anmaria]

I think colour is the hardest to teach. Usually when my gal play her stack ring toy (she only have 1-2 toys at home)..i will mention the colour of the ring that she pick up and stack it up. She seems to pick up more now, particularly pink colour. Also choose some book from the library abt colour.

 

[gracelynn]

I am glad to find this thread

1) No of kids: 1 &amp; another on the way
2) Age of the kids: 2yrs boy
3) Working status: Work from home mum
4) What are you teaching your kids: letters, counting through dvds, songs and dance, fine motor skills through art n craft activities, role play e.g. chef, doctor, shopping

but i find what i am doing is rather on a haphazard basis rather than on a plan, it's mostly by trial and error as my boy is not interested in some of the activities. wonder if anyone has a proper week by week schedule as to what to cover by the time they reach P1?

my main concerns are how to cover english phonics, chinese, han yu pin yin and basic maths &amp; dollars and cents. i understand that they have to know these before they reach pri 1.

 

[xqw]

Musicbox, yah, you can try to teach ur girl by pointing the things that her like.

Maybe u can used the difference colour of ball or card then ask her to pick up for you. If she refuse then u pick up the ball or card then tell her "this is red colour, mummy like this colour"
or "this is red colour and it is same as mummy shirt."

 

[gracelynn]

re: teaching colours
can start by matching/sorting same colours together, then identifying the different colours by saying out the colour and dropping into the correct container.

 

[musicbox]

<font color="0000ff">Teaching Colour</font>

I'll try the method mentioned and update if it is working effectively

 

[musicbox]

Hi Gracelyn,
Don't worry, just relax and enjoy the fun of learning with your boy. Your boy is now only 2 yrs old, maybe you can start teaching the basic like shape, colour, phonics and etc.
I do have a guideline on what age learn wat, but this is just a guideline and not necessary apply to all, e.g. in the guideline a 1.5 to 2 yr old shd be able to recognise A to Z, but my gal only picked up A to Z after 2 and she's learning pretty fast and I'm satisfied with her pace. I'll go home find the guideline and post here for your reference

Right now I'm teaching phonics to my gal, there's a structured lesson plan, which i'll post and document on the blog, if you're interested do PM me for address

 

[xqw]

My headache part are english portion. As i'm very poor in english, wondering how am I going to teach to boy.

My boy till now only can recognise some alphabet (capital letter) only.

 

[gracelynn]

musicbox
Pm-ed you, ah yeah, my boy is coming 25 mths and he just learnt to recognise letters, but still can;t recite. he's able to understand shapes and colours but has no grasp of phonics at all, compared to his peers, he's a bit slow but i am just happy that he's learning and applying things rapidly in the last 2 mths esp ever since he started attending half day childcare. before he attended cc, i even thought he's autistic as he's aloof and refuse to have eye contact!!!.

piyo
mine is the opposite, i can speak rudimentary chinese but can't read at all, or read wrongly (wrong sound), so worried abt mandarin as no one else in the family can do it.

 

[musicbox]

Hi Piyo2,
Not sure if you let your boy play iphone or computer. For me my gal picked up ABC phonics from Iphone and Youtube, I don't like her playing my iphone but sometimes I still let her play when I'm too busy with work. I didn't teach her ABC until she show me she knows. There's once she point to my babysitter's TV and said "S.O.N.Y - TV!" that's when I realised I should start teaching her since she knows ABC but don't know how to put them together as a word.
If you let your boy watch youtube, here is a good clip where my gal picked up the phonics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BELlZKpi1Zs

I have also given you my blog address for the phonics lesson

 

[xqw]

Yah, I received it. Will go home and check.

I dun have iphone. Doesn't let my boy play computer as feel no good for his eye sight.

My boy dislike to watch TV, like to play or read the book his like.

So on and off will bring him go library to borrow the book his like and find oppartunity to teach him.

 

[ckw1011]

hi mommies
i would like to join the thread. thanks musicbox for starting it =)

1) No of kids: 1
2) Age of the kids: 2 yr old
3) Working status: full time working mother
4) What are you teaching your kids: story-telling, role-play, trying to think of some counting and colour games to play with him as he seems to know, but don't seem to remember.

hope to introduce phonics soon. so musicbox, i'll pm u soon =)

books to recommend:
1. eric carle's brown bear brown bear what do u see? - repetition and same sound words good. my son can kind of tell the whole story on his own

2. palm size mini board books, easy to bring out

 

[gracelynn]

piyo
good that your boy likes books instead of tv, mine likes only books with sound or puzzles or cause and effect type.

actually i find the iphone very useful, my boy learns how to recognise letters and numbers via iphone, and now he's into tracing letters and numbers, trying to upgrade him to crayons and pencil soon.

 

[musicbox]

Hi CKW,
Welcome in!
The purpose of this thread is to gather parents with same mindset in teaching the kids the fun way, so that we can have meaningful discussion on our kids progress

Have replied your PM

 

[musicbox]

For those who've PMed me, I've recorded down your nick and email address. So next time it'll be easier to contact if there's any events for parents or any gathering for us

If you would like to be in the group, do PM me your email address

If you would like to be out of the group, do PM me also

 

[ckw1011]

yes! we should have play dates

 

[cottoncandy]

this thread is interesting!

What are the good apps on letters, numbers &amp; tracings that i can download on my iphone?

 

[musicbox]

<font color="0000ff">Iphone Apps</font>

I recommend the following apps:
1) Phonics game
2) I write word
Click on the link to see my gal playing it

 

[musicbox]

Brought my gal to Little Ozone at Orchid Country Club in Yishun on Monday. The indoor playground there quite good and price reasonable. I saw some of their enrichment classes quite interesting and price ok. If you're interested you may check out their brochure which I have uploaded to google below:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&amp;pid=explorer&amp;chrome=true&amp;srcid=0B0Jop-U2bqVAYmNhZTM1ZTktMzgwMi00YjJlLWFkODAtMDdhMmQyYmI5NDEx&amp;hl=en
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&amp;pid=explorer&amp;chrome=true&amp;srcid=0B0Jop-U2bqVAOWQxMjBjYzYtNWVhMS00Y2E4LThhODEtMzJhMjRmZjM4MDZk&amp;hl=en

Classes include drama, english, chinese, ballet, hip hop, science etc, more of fun base.

 

[hael]

just out of curiousity - does anyone have useful free apps on iphone tat we can use as educational tools for our kids to play/learn?

 

[musicbox]

Hi Hael,
The Phonics game and I write word is free, there's one Dora game also free and quite fun.

 

[wan]

1) No of kids: 2
2) Age of the kids: elder boy 6 yrs, younger girl 3 yr
3) Working status: full time working mother
4) What are you teaching your kids: My kids r past phonics &amp; colours/shapes recognition. I use art to teach them previously. For colours- use ICI paint catalogue or colour wheel, paint to mix colours, lots of construction paper to make collages.
For shapes- cut out different shapes &amp; sizes to make collages. Baby toys like putting different shapes into matching shapes also help
currently, they r into origami. My son will follow origami
instruction from books &amp; help meimei if needed.

I got alot of ideas from homeschooling webby, eg. No Time for Flashcards. For phonics, use starfall. My iPhone only have educational apps, eg. wordworld

 

[wan]

I believe in learning thru play. My friends around me r telling me when my son enter P1 next year, it will be serious study &amp; no play. I beg to differ bcos I'm still learning thru fun ways at my age. Never want to grow up perhaps. I dun believe in tuition &amp; drilling. If I face a roadblock, I will try to translate complex concept into daily life, eg. Multiplication, put marbles or balls into different container &amp; count. As a FTWM, I have no time to plan home learning curriculum. I have to tag along &amp; build on what they learn in sch. Enjoying this stage of motherhood so far

 

[musicbox]

Hi Wan,
Thanks for sharing. My gal like to watch the DVD series of Word World, the Iphone app is useful, but is a payable app. Have just downloaded, looks interactive to me

 

[wan]

I downloaded the free version 1st, let my girl try b4 buying. free version only have 3 words, I think. So far I've only paid for 2 or 3 apps, US$0.99. Starfall is the other one

 

[charlottesweb]

Hihi all,

My girl is 27 months and I think I need to start her on phonics and reading...thanks for the tip, will try starfall and phonics game on iphone.

She enjoys wordworld on Disney Playhouse before, now its Disney Junior and the programme timings all changed and not in sync with her routine and she is not enjoying the channel as much...think I'll buy the wordworld DVD.

Hubby and I try to bring her to the lib once a fortnight to get her used to the idea. Also read her bedtime stories since she was 6 months old...so she's used to it and asks for her books before bedtime...she gets bored if we just read to her so we have to make it fun...like ask her to point out the pictures or ask her to read...and she will make up all kinds of stories etc...

cheers
Fern

 

[wan]

Fern,
u can try acting out the scenes, use dolls, role play, puppet show to make the story comes alive. Now that my kids r older, they can draw or do a craft related to the books they read. Or stop the story before the ending, ask the child to guess what's the ending by words or writing/drawing. They can also make little books themselves, with themes on family, animals or alphabet. All these bring what they read or write nearer to life &amp; hence easier to relate to &amp; understand

 

[musicbox]

Hi Fern,
The word world DVD can be found in library. For phonics, the most effective I would think is the Leap Frog DVD, the starting one will be the "letter Factory", my gal picked up alphabets and phonics from this DVD.

 

[charlottesweb]

Tks so much Musicbox, do you know where I can buy Leapgrog DVD in Singapore? did a search, seems like most people buy on amazon...much cheaper I suppose?

cheers
Fern

 

[musicbox]

Hi Fern,
I've seen that in Taka, I think most major departmental shops are selling. But buying from spree will be cheaper, bulk purchase also have, retailing shd be around $19 per piece, from spree shd be around $13.
Library also have leapfrog, but heard is very popular so need to reserve.

 

[musicbox]

Sharing a good Ipad application:
Dancing Animals

 

[charlottesweb]

Thanks Musicbox...cheers, Fern =)

 

[musicbox]

Dear all mummies,
Pls click "like" on this facebook page created:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Learn-The-Fun-Way/138109496285484
We can have our meaningful discussion there and you can post your blog articles there to share with the rest.

 

[tkhan_1234]

Sharing an amazing Ipad/iphone educational application which my 3 y/o daughter loves to play.
balloon pops