Reading A-Z phonics Reading Program

Sometime earlier this year, Princess completed the Start to Read with Pam and Sam – Red Series for Emergent Readers, which teaches words like Cat, Rat, Bat in a week, and then Cod, Rod in another week.

As Mummy later discovered, learning to read by this method [mainly by sight and memory] alone might not be helpful, as the child may have trouble spelling longer words as they don’t know how to sound them out. The reading/ spelling of new words can also be difficult for this group. Interestingly, many of the self-taught readers fall here.

While Mummy Eliz was wondering how to proceed, she found out that Kayla lacks a reading companion as she embarks on her Reading A-Z phonics reading program.

We are now into week 8 of the Reading A-Z program together with Kayla, and Princess together with Mummy, have learnt a lot along the way.

This is what Auntie El so kindly shared online on the Asia Parents forum, her discovery of a sequential way of teaching reading/(and writing) that works after teaching English as a 2nd language for many years. [Mummy Eliz is posting it here in the hope that other mummies also benefit from it.]

"- Start with the phonic sounds that each of the letters make. Teach the kids these in the lower-case, maybe one a week for a nice gentle pace, or more if e child is older. [DO NOT START BY TEACHING THE *NAME* OF EACH LETTER] i.e. say "u-(as in up) -is for umbrella", "nnn is for nap" etc / not "yoo is for umbrella", "en is for nap". Teach them how to write the letter correctly too.

- Once they know the sounds, you can start blending them into simple words. (e.g. nap, pan, hat). Let them hear how u join 2 letters together by sliding yr voice from one letter to the next. (e.g. "nnnnaaaap nap")

-You can write these words on wordcards, or as part of simple stories, such as e books from "Reading A-Z", then read this with your child, and have him try reading them back to u. The child can verbally make up sentences about these words. e.g. "mama needs a nap."

-You can cut up the simple 3-letter wordcards into their individual letters. (e.g. n/a/p) then have kids look at e written word from a piece of paper on hand, and proceed to make that word themselves. e.g. using his cut-up letter-cards to make e word n/a/p.

This activity is known as "word-building" and follows some similarity to the Montessori style of teaching. With some practice, (and extra letters), they will gradually be able to make up their own words, and copy them onto a piece of paper for u to read back to them. Even nonsense words such as "gog" are acceptable, so long as the child can read them aloud.

- Once they are able to blend and read words using short vowels, then u can introduce consonant mixes such as 'th/ch/sh/tr/cr/ck, etc' and also long vowels such as 'oo/ea/ee/ai/ and pronunciation of words ending in silent e, etc'. There are so many combinations to learn systematically if you wish, following the same 1-sound-a-week rule, but by a certain age, many kids just start to pick up these combinations naturally during their daily reading time, so for some, such lessons may not be necessary. However for a notable percentage, if they do not have access to such systematic teaching, then they may never pick it up on their own, and their reading level will fail to progress. So imho, it depends a lot on the kid.

- Alongside blending as a means to learning to read, there is also a place for learning high frequency words by memory alone. Here flashcards can help, as can word walls. (e.g. for words such as 'the, they, where, why, when' etc). Learning to read such whole words by sight will help increase a child's reading-speed. Learning to read by this method alone might not be helpful, as the child may have trouble spelling longer words as they don’t know how to sound them out. The reading/ spelling of new words can also be difficult for this group. (Interestingly, many of the self-taught readers fall here)

- Learning to read using picture references is also helpful. (Again Reading A-Z offers books with these) e.g. 'the' followed by a picture of a fork, would read "the fork".

- The above concept can also be used such that the child copies/writes a *rhebus* for new high-frequency words he has learned that week. (A rhebus is a sentence using words and pictures.) e.g. "they go in the..." followed by a picture of whatever the child wishes to draw or paste there.... "They go in the house/shoe/bag" etc. the kids could then show some ants/mice/bees etc going into that object that he has drawn. This can be very fun, especially if the letter and word-cards are left around for the child to access whenever he chooses.

- From writing rhebuses, the child can then learn to assemble sentences, using word-cards that u have written for him. The sentence/s might be copied from a favorite nursery rhyme,song,storybook, poem, Bible verse etc. once he has assembled them with cards, he can then copy them onto large-lined paper, and maybe add a drawing at the top or bottom to make it more beautiful. He might even want to trace over the lettering in colorful markers to beautify it further.

- Once your child has a good number of high-frequency wordcards, combined with a healthy sprinkling of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, a few copies of conjunctions etc, then he will be well on his way to creating some hilariously silly sentences... and some sensible ones too! And this is the very beginning of story-writing..."

My Little Prince Loves My Lovely Princess

Despite the daily tattling, squabbling, Mummy Eliz is thankful that deep down, her little Prince still loves her lovely Princess. Auntie Fiona also commented that at least more amount of love than dislike exists between them.

Before bedtime on a weekday night, Princess said to Mummy that she loves her, and immediately without prompting, Prince, who is still struggling with the pronunciation of words, expressed that he loved Jieh-Jieh.

Upon coming home on another weekday night, upon seeing Princess, Prince raised his tiny hands up into the air and exclaimed “Yeah!”

NHG Family Day at Downtown East

NHG booked both Wild Wild Wet and Escape Theme Park at Downtown East for their annual family day, and generously gave their staff free access to these two places, along with the usual magic show, game stalls, lucky draw, door gifts etc.

What was really rare was that along with each booklet that was given out, there was $4 of spending money, and that money was readily accept at most shops at Downtown East and E! Hub. Do note that 5 such booklets were given to each family.

Well, neither Daddy Tiong or Mummy Eliz worked for NHG, thus we need to thank Joanne Jieh-Jieh for extending to us such a great deal. Also Audrey Jieh-Jieh was able to come along with us for the outing, and that really made Princess’ day.

~ Joanne Jieh-Jieh w/ Prince while Princess was busying playing bumper boat w/ Audrey Jieh-Jieh ~

Mini-Games Day at the School of the Deaf

Coops are tiring affairs, from the selection of the theme for the term, to the planning of the individual lessons, and the selection and arrangement of an appropriate outing which ties in with what the kids are being exposed to at the coop, it certainly is not a simple affair.

Well, thankfully, with Auntie Anne Soh overseeing the entire execution, despite the initial hiccups, things usually fall into place. That was also possible strongly due to her strong faith in God and the team.

Our theme this term for the pre-schoolers was on Easter, and for the combined sessions, we learnt simple sign language. This tied in perfectly with our Mini-Games Day at the School of the Deaf.

Princess missed the last two coop sessions, as Mummy Eliz experienced spotting for one session, and was still recovering from her loss for the other session.

Fortunately, Aunt Anne was able to clear leave on the day of the visit to the School of the Deaf, and thus Princess had fun interacting with the hearing-impaired kids.

~ Briefing session before the games ~

~ Playing the Pass-the-Ball game; try spotting Princess? ~

~ Princess having her snacks with kids from the School of the Deaf; spot her? ~

~ Say Cheese! ~

PS:

Princess really enjoys the Coop sessions; in fact, she enjoys everything in life, and Mummy Eliz certainly wishes to have Princess' passion for life.

Moments frozen in time – Foto Gallery Portraits

Mummy Eliz and Daddy Tiong live for moments like this; wonderful makeover shoots complimentary of Foto Gallery and Diners Card.

~ Princess and Prince looking lovely ~

~ Princess showing her wonderful sisterly love for Prince ~

With God in heavens, safe and protected

A 3rd child was never in the plans, but Daddy Tiong and Mummy Eliz were already taking a second look at names beginning with ‘Ch’.

Mummy Eliz had her last menses mid-January. Given that she was tandem-nursing both kids, her menses were pretty irregular.

It was only late last week that her pregnancy was confirmed by a home pregnancy test kit, thus it was not too sure how old the embryo was; it could be around 8 weeks or so.

It could Mothers’ Instinct, right from the start, even before using the home pregnancy test kit; Mummy Eliz could feel that something was not too right; it was a feeling that a loss would be imminent. Well it was sad that her instinct was right.

After spotting for days, early Sunday morning, she felt contractions, and by Sunday morning, the whole embryo in its placenta [about the size of a tomato] was delivered in the home toilet [would the usage of the word delivered be suitable in this case?].

An urgent trip to KKH was made, and the ultra-sound scan confirmed that the womb is now empty, except for a think lining of blood that is slowly being shed.

A high HCG level in the blood and urine indicated the now-absent presence of a previously growing embryo.

Mummy Eliz is resting at home now, and would need to return to KKH in two days to monitor if the shedding of the thick lining is in proper progress.

She is feeling weirdly numb now, and that could be a way of self protection.

The doctor said that even if we did a million dollars worth of tests, we could only get clearer speculations, but never 100% confirmations. Auntie Adeline said that the best thing to do now is not to question why this happened. Auntie Sau Wan said to rest well and be at peace.

Mummy Eliz wants to look forward, and move on, but is totally unsure as to whether she wants to talk about the loss. Would talking about it be better? Or would pretending that nothing ever happened be better? Could anyone who had been in a similar position give some valuable advice?

In a desperate attempt to remain positive, this undesirable incident did made Mummy Eliz’s life richer in a way; and in a certain way, she would be able to appreciate her lively kids more.

Difference betw Science and Wisdom

"Science is organized knowledge.
Wisdom is organized life."

- Author Unknown

Swissotel the Stamford Hotel Stay

Daddy Tiong’s God-sister Linda was generous to offer us a voucher for a night’s stay at Swisstol the Stamford.

As our main intention was to bond and relax, during the stay at the hotel, we only hung around the nearby area, enjoyed the food at the food fair over at Suntec City, and of course, socked our skin wrinkled in the bathtub.

Thank you once again, Linda, and do pass us more of such ‘lobang’ if you have it.

~ Prince enjoying the view and daydreaming ~

~ Smiley Princess ~

~ The million dollar view ~

The Living Courthse - Supreme Courthouse

Mummy Eliz together with Princess Chelsea thoroughly enjoyed the trial of the Big Bad Wolf, for being suspected of causing Humpty Dumpty to fall down the wall, and then ending up in a coma.

Characters from popular fairy tales [like Red Riding Hood and Blind Mice] were included as witnesses into the trial and from this; Mummy Eliz can see the huge amount of effort being put into the Open House of the Supreme Courthouse.

The end of the trial had an unexpected twist to it, and Mummy Eliz thought that was really cool.

~ Princess on trial ~

~ Prince on trial ~

PS:

If this visit could ignite the passion in them to become lawyers, judges, etc, we would certainly go every year =)

Bees & Wasps Talk by Auntie Carol

Princess Chelsea attended a Bees & Wasps Talk organized by Auntie Carol from the Home-Schooling Group; the talk was presented by John, someone with an unbeatable passion for Bees & Wasps.

Daddy Tiong was tasked to bring Princess for the talk, as Mummy was feeling too tired to bring her for it, and Princess returned a happy lady, saying how much she enjoyed the talk.

~ Spy Princess ~

~ Spy Princess with Daddy ~

~ Specimens of Bees & Wasps ~

Poor Brownie off to the 3rd home in 2 days ...

It is a weird feeling; a feeling that one’s own baby was being given away, when Brownie’s new owner came to collect it.

Auntie El took in a 5-week old kitten, Brownie, who was missing its mummy. Mummy Eliz was asked to kitten-sit Brownie for a day, until a new owner is found for her.

And that was how Brownie got to spend 22 hours in our humble 3-rm flat.

Like most city kids, Mummy Eliz was taught to ignore strays, and never had the chance to own a domestic cat, thus this was a most memorable experience.

Brownie was fed once every 2-3 hours, and fell asleep thrice on Mummy Eliz’s lap, twice in our bookcase, and twice on our kids’ red sofa chairs.

It was missing its cat mummy badly, thus it craved attention from us even more.

Princess Chelsea wanted to believe that the new owner is also having Brownie for just a night, like we did, and for the moment, she is contented believing that.

It makes bidding farewell to Brownie easier for her.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking ...

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I saw you hang my first
painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and
I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I saw you make my favorite
Cake just for me, and I knew that little things are very special.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I
Believed there is a God I could always talk to.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I felt you kiss me good night,
And I felt loved.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I saw tears coming from your
Eyes, and I learnt that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I saw that you cared and I
Wanted to be everything I could be

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking, I looked . . . and wanted to say
Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.

- Author Unknown

Trip to Zoo w/ God-Pa Mervin & Setoh

Mummy Eliz has a love-hate relationship with the Singapore Zoo, she loves it as it brings new experiences for the kids with each visit; she hates the hot humid weather.

Thanks to God-Pa Mervin, we got to visit the Zoo, and this time, experienced Kangaroo Feeding.

~ The Rainforest Fights Back ~

~ Feeding the Kangaroos ~

The cycle of thing, up down up...

Whatever goes up must come down. The same goes for energy level, mood, etc.

Mummy Eliz is feeling so drained these days. After getting slightly drenched in the rain last Thursday, the body aches, sore throat, drained feeling, pops up every now and then.

She just have to ride this down, and wait for the next up.