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Teaching the Kao Kids: Routines I

February 2, 2014

I went to the warehouse sale at The Learning Store last year and returned with quite a few great finds.

These posters are two of them:

Letter formation poster

Numbers poster

I’ve placed them on the walls of our learning corners and incorporated a daily routine for the kids: they literally go face the wall everyday, hurhurhur.

For three-year-old Becks, she “faces” the Letter Formation poster and traces each Uppercase and Lowercase letter of the alphabet with her finger. It helps that this poster has arrow directions and my instructions for her is that she follows the numbers and the directions of the arrows. She’s currently still learning letters and letter sounds (she’s not moved on to words yet except simple ones like ‘I’, ‘You’,’He’,’She’, ‘Yes’, ‘No’) and this is supposed to help her trace in pencil with more ease.

Becks tracing letters with finger

I didn’t have this poster when Ben was learning his letters so he went straight to pencil and tracer. He still gets his directions wrong sometimes when he writes his words and finds shortcuts to skip certain strokes (like he’d argue how the lowercase letter ‘m’ should be written like the MacDonald’s sign just because it looks more cool) but with Becks she’s accurate to the tee when it comes to writing her letters on paper. I credit this daily routine of finger-tracing for that.

I also find the Numbers 1-99 poster extremely helpful in helping the kids count and recognise numbers. Ben is learning numbers 1 to 100 and he often has difficulties moving on after the 9s. He would go, “41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49… er… then what?” when he reaches the next tenth and I find that making him “face” this poster helps. Sometimes I just make him read out the last row on the right (10, 20, 30, 40…) to get him to think in tenths, and this bolsters his confidence when he does his math homework.

Posters can have a positive effect on the process of learning, especially in the visual sense. I find that when used appropriately and sparingly, they can help more learning to take place for my preschoolers. With good, age-appropriate posters, I get to create a little literacy corner for the kids at home that can foster independent learning.

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Also in this series: For the love of reading | Choosing engaging titles | Graded readers

Read the 2nd post I wrote about routines involving wall charts here.

Family life as we know it Homelearning fun Milestones and growing up

Letters, I wrote

February 1, 2014

Ben turns 5 this month and I am wrecking my brains to find ways to get him to read. He loves to be read to, and still wants to imagine stories with picture books, most of time ignoring the words on the pages. When I plonk him next to his Scholastic readers, he’ll read them – yes, he would – but I highly suspect he does them from memory because when he’s asked how to read each word without the readers, he gives me a clueless look.

So I have started doing this:

Letter to Ben

Writing him letters and putting them in the mail.

He gets very excited to receive something from the mail box that’s addressed to him, and tries his best to make sense of every word in the letter to decode the message.

He’s gotten two letters so far, and he’s looking forward to more, I know. Let’s hope this trick would get him interested!

Becks Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews The Kao Kids

Learning the Eye Level way: Play Math Programme Review

January 21, 2014

The kids have been attending Math enrichment classes at Eye Level Learning Center at City Square Mall for more than a month now and they are always looking forward to their lessons. It’s like a routine they anticipate weekly, with us either driving or taking the NEL down to Farrer Park followed by an engaging lesson with their respective teachers, complete with getting their fruit reward stickers and some play time with blocks and counters at the centre’s play corner after class, and then have the day end with a treat of Hongkong Egglet from our favourite stall at Basement 2.

Becks attends Eye Level’s Play Math Programme where she gets to experience mathematical concepts in a fun and engaging way. Play Math is a programme specially tailored for ages 2.5 to 4 years old and is aimed at laying the foundation for developing a preschooler’s understanding in Math. The child learns how to sort, match, classify, count and recognise patterns at Play Math.

And the best part of this progamme? It’s a one-to-one lesson (about 30 -45 minutes) with the teacher, and done through story-telling and lots of sticker fun!

At every lesson, Becks receives an activity booklet which is filled with colourful illustrations that follow a story. Each activity booklet is designed to help her advance in her understanding of mathematical concepts like correspondence, sorting and classifying, comparing and counting according to levels, and the level for her to begin with was first determined using their diagnostic assessment which she sat for in December.

Eye Level_Play Math Fun for Becks 2

Becks getting ready for class and having her lesson with her teacher. Every lesson involves counting, tracing, cutting, glueing and lots of stickers!

Fun times (clockwise): Becks playing after class while waiting for Ben and peeling off stickers for her reward chart

Fun times (clockwise): Becks playing after class while waiting for Ben and peeling off stickers for her reward chart

The girl started at Level 33 and has now progressed to Level 38.

Here’s a glimpse of what’s in the activity booklet that she gets to do with her teacher at Eye Level Learning Center. I had the opportunity to take her through one activity booklet at home recently (she was given homework for one of the public holidays as the centre was closed) and we had a fun time together with it.

In this activity booklet, Becks learned the numbers 1 to 3 through a circus story about unicycles, bicycles and tricycles:

Eye level_Play Math Stories

Very captivating illustrations to engage a preschooler, I say

The activities that follow include getting her to group items, count, and put the corresponding number of stickers for the things she’s counted:

Eye level_Play Math Activities

Becks favourite part has got to be  peeling stickers off and putting them in the book

She also got to practise drawing lines and strokes which would help her develop good hand-eye coordination and better control when she starts writing her numbers:

Eye level_Play Math Activities_Join the dots

This ‘follow the circle to the the square’ kind of activity appears several times in one booklet – this is to teach the child to read and write from left to right, help in hand-eye coordination and strengthen the finger muscles so she gets better control when writing her numbers

We had a good time doing this together. I sat next to her and read her the instructions and she proceeded to do every task rather happily, although she did say her teacher was more animated when reading the story than I was. I can tell she really enjoys doing every booklet – from the one time we did it together at home, and from my interaction with her after every class. She gets to bring home the activity booklet after every lesson and would sometimes come home to erase some of the things she’s done so she could do them again at home. That’s how much she likes it!

I would say that Eye Level has scored some wins with their Play Math Programme, which I find engaging and value for money (at SGD$140 per month). Firstly, the lesson is conducted in a one-to-one setting and an experienced teacher is assigned to the child to take her through the booklet in a fun way. Secondly, the booklet itself is designed to keep the child engaged for at least 45 minutes with its colourful illustrations, stories and activities. Thirdly, the child gets to bring the materials home so she can revisit what she’s learned from the week’s lesson, thereby solidifying the learning and keeping the interest alive, at least till the next week where she gets to read another story, meet new characters and work on different activities.

Who would have thought we could learn Math this way? I’d thought my counting lessons were quite fun, but I have to admit that Becks is having a fun-ner time at Eye Level, and I’m really glad that she was invited to attend lessons there for a term (hurray for the opportunity to outsource!).

Note to self: must.find.more.creative.ways.to.teach! but until then, thank you, Eye Level Learning Center for the kind invitation!

AND JUST FOR MOTHERKAO READERS:

Eye Level is extending a promotional offer to all Motherkao readers! For $10 (usual price $60), your child can take the diagnostic test, attend a trial lesson (30-45 min) and get a complimentary study skill analysis.

Eye Level $10 voucher

Simply quote [Motherkao] to enjoy this offer via walk-in to any of the Eye Level Learning Centres island-wide. You can also leave a Facebook message on Eye Level’s Facebook Page or make a telephone enquiry to any of the Eye Level centres.

Disclosure: Ben and Becks have been invited to attend Eye Level’s Math and Play Math for a term of three months. Motherkao has accepted sponsorship for her reviews of their programmes and endorsement of the centre. All opinions here are Motherkao’s own (with input from Becks).

Christmas happiness Enrichment Going Out! Learning fun! Motherkao loves...

Oh December, you were too short

December 29, 2013

December has got to be the shortest month in the year. Time always flies whenever we’re having fun.

This December, we made some really beautiful memories together. Memories of the wet, dramatic and crafty kind.

In the first week of December, Ben and Becks were invited by Little Harvard International Preschool to join their ‘Christmas Crackers’ Speech and Drama Holiday Programme. We were told that the programme would be conducted by Daniel Jenkins, one of the executive directors of The Little Company and associate assistant directors at the SRT. I’ve heard of the name Daniel Jenkins in the theatre circles for a long time, and know that he’s a legend in his own right. I couldn’t wait for Ben and Becks to meet him and learn from him, and so to Little Harvard International Preschool at Jalan Gelenggang we went for the Speech and Drama Holiday Programme every morning for four days.

And I have to say, this was the best holiday programme we’ve ever attended. Ben and Becks loved it so much, they were ready and raring to go every morning. They absolutely loved Daniel Jenkins, or ‘Teacher Dan’ as the kids address him (or the uncle with the grey hair, as Becks endearingly call him). He makes them laugh, he plays fun games with them, they do craft together and get to pretend to be elves and reindeer. And he does that every day to the point they lament the fun at class is too short and wish they could go back for speech and drama “every day forever”, or so Ben says.

They were no tears, no need for long and sad goodbyes every morning when they were dropped off for the programme. And it was so wonderful I got two-half hours of me time for a few days!

For four days, they learned songs, did craft and practised for a mini concert on the last day. Every child got to play elf, reindeer, fairy or snowman, and all of them helped Santa spread the Christmas cheer!

So, I was really glad it was a drop off programme!

So, I was really glad it was a drop off programme!

It was indeed amazing to see Ben stand confidently, deliver lines and get into his role as an elf. And even more amazing to see Becks do the same. You’re talking about Becks, who’s almost always too shy to greet a person with confidence. She was one happy bouncy reindeer at the performance!

Introducing Ben the Elf, with his two other elf friends

Introducing Ben the Elf, with his two other elf friends

And Reindeer Becks who would be helping Santa with his sleigh

And Reindeer Becks who would be helping Santa with his sleigh

LittleHarvard_Christmas Crackers Performance 1

The children sing, “Here comes Christmas our favourite time of the year!”

LittleHarvard_Christmas Crackers Performance 2

And do a “Ho Ho Ho!” with a huge leap in the air!

And best of all, it got the kids excited about Christmas, this being the first week of December. With their craft work, we got decorations up and an elf and reindeer in the house all ready to spread the Christmas cheer. What an awesome job Daniel Jenkins did, and I must say, he’s really a legend indeed!

Everyone, meet the legendary Daniel Jenkins

Everyone, meet the legendary Daniel Jenkins

On the second week, the kids were also invited to Artz Graine, a leading arts studio, for their Art Eureka Holiday Programme. In the hour they were there, they made Christmas stockings to put up so that Santa can leave some presents in them.

Of course, these kids are too smart to know that Santa doesn’t exist and their stockings are too small for any presents.

Artz Graine Christmas Stockings

But all in the name of good fun and just cos’ it’s Christmas!

Our family also headed to Festive Hotel for a staycation on the third week of December. I’ve heard so much about the hotel’s deluxe family suite and when I chanced upon a 50% offer on the room rates, I had the suite – complete with a pull-out sofa bed for two, a loft bed and a king-sized bed – booked immediately. My favourite parts of the staycation had to be eating at Chili’s and spending the morning exploring the Hard Rock Hotel’s poolside that had water play features, a child-friendly slide, a jacuzzi and an entire area filled with the finest Australian beach sand.

There's nothing not to love at the Hard Rock Hotel's Poolside!

There’s nothing not to love at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Poolside!

The kids are into getting wet now and not as fearful of spraying water features and wading pools as they were before, so it was all very fun, fun, fun!

Two days of swimming at the Festive Hotel Pool and the ones at Hard Rock Hotel

Two days of swimming at the Festive Hotel Pool and the ones at Hard Rock Hotel

And just when we thought we’ve gotten enough of getting wet, Port of Lost Wonder at Sentosa sent us an invitation for a day of getting wet and to join them in their Christmas Joy activities.

Our tickets to fun at Port of Lost Wonder

Our tickets to fun at Port of Lost Wonder

Oh how we missed you, POLW!

Oh how we missed you, POLW!

We had ourselves another crazily fun, wet day at POLW, running around and in and out of the huge pirate ship, making Christmas candles and gingerbread cookies when we wanted a break from the spewing waters, and running around and in and out of the huge pirate ship again when we were done exploring the various activity stations.

Making Christmas candles

Making Christmas candles

We made some gingerbread cookies for our snack!

We made some gingerbread cookies for our snack!

We all got a couple of sun kisses that day, but hey, we ain’t complaining cos’ God gave such beautiful weather to play!

Lovely weather to play all day

Lovely weather to play all day

And to end the month on a sweet note, we had the most awesome Christmas party with the awesomest of company. They came, we ate (or rather, pigged out) and carolled. So spontaneously and melodiously.

P/S to my friends: So I wasn't allowed to put on youtube to make you all overnight singing sensations but you guys didn't say anything about being on my blog. Haha. Everyone's sketched so you shouldn't be too recognizable, yes?

P/S to our friends: So I wasn’t allowed to put you all on youtube to make you  overnight singing sensations but you guys didn’t say anything about being on my blog. Haha. Here’s the only picture I have of everyone singing.

And so ever happily. We are truly grateful for such wonderful friends and family in our lives.

December was NO WORK, ALL PLAY. One can never get enough of December!

Learning fun! Milestones and growing up The real supermom

The kiasu mother strikes

December 18, 2013

We’re all set for next year!

Weekly schedule prepared and learning wall updated – check.

Living room organised

Individual learning outcomes for Ben and Becks for 2014 – check.

Learning outcomes done

Learning spaces organised, materials for next year researched, purchased and tested – check.

Study room organised

I’m a scary, kiasu mother, I know.

In other news, I’m taking a break from blogging for a while (except for some of my scheduled posts which you would be seeing – look out for the Airfryer one tomorrow!) because I’m off to saranghaeyo (drama)land where melodrama prevails and love always triumphs all.

Need.to.escape. before a new year begins!

Becks Kao Ben Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews

Learning the Eye Level way

December 14, 2013

When I received an invitation from Eye Level to learn more about their programmes, I almost wrote back to say that my children did not have myopia (thank God!) and wouldn’t be needing programmes to help them improve their eyesight.

I mean, a place called Eye Level must have something to do with helping children tackle their vision woes, no?

Clearly, I was mistaken. And boy was I glad not to let my assumptions get the better of me.

Prior to their international rebranding last year, Eye Level Learning Center was widely known as E-nopi. Eye Level is a leading enrichment education provider that has its origins from South Korea and operates in 15 different countries with over 2.5 million students. It has established a significant presence here in Singapore since 2011 with 9 centres around the island and an enrolment of over 900 students providing enrichment in the areas of Mathematics and English for children between the ages of 4 and 14.

Eye Level holds steadfast to the educational principle of seeing things from a student’s perspective – hence, eye level. The name is inspired by a story about a teacher who was found kneeling down to look up at every painting he saw at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. His reason for appreciating art on his knees? He was an elementary school teacher and would be bringing his students to the museum the next day, so he wanted to know how they would enjoy every painting from where they stood.

At Eye Level, students learn at their own pace and are taught the invaluable skill of self-directed learning. Programmes are systematic and individualised to cater to each child’s learning needs and abilities, and customised using their unique methods of teaching and learning.

I was really curious how this would all translate into actual mastery of skills and concepts for my preschoolers, and since I almost never say no to outsourcing (a tired home-teaching mom also needs a break, yes?), the Kao kids (Ben and Becks) and I accepted their invitation to find out more about what this enrichment centre has to offer. The teacher in me also badly needed to know how it’s possible to get my three- and four-year-old to do self-directed learning.

We visited the Eye Level Learning Center at City Square Mall which I have walked past several times thinking it was an optometry shop with a designated play area for kids (yea, I thought that was really cool). What I immediately liked about the place: the environment was bright and cheery, and space appeared to be well maximised. I liked the bright colours, the fact that it wasn’t claustrophobia-inducing like some learning centres I see in some malls, and the cosy play area outside the centre with math games and English books that were within reach. The classrooms were spacious and the environment looked inviting enough for a child to sit down to learn.

Eye level exterior environment

Eye level interior environment

I learned also that there’s a lot of flexibility and individualised learning taking place in each classroom. At Eye Level, there is no structured lesson where the teacher conducts teacher-talk. The uniqueness in their programme lies in the quality of their materials and the fact that each student’s learning is customised for them by the levels determined by these materials (more on that in another post). The student turns up for the time slot he or she has chosen every week (or twice a week) to complete the assigned work with a certified instructor who would then guide and provide feedback. This means that a range of students of different ages can be in the same classroom but the students are all doing different assignments acquiring different skills and concepts. There would be no more than 8 students for the older age group in a class at one time but students as young as Becks (3 years old) would usually get one-to-one attention.

What is also interesting is that there is also no fixed duration for each lesson. Every week, work is assigned (with a skill / concept to master) and the child will be trained to do self-directed learning (with guidance from the instructor available) according to his or her own pace. The activities in the materials are designed to be completed in an hour, but there is no rule that says the student has to leave after one hour or stay till the hour is up. Each lesson is flexible in that it follows the child’s pace, and keeps the big picture in mind: that the student has a concept / skill to learn and that the objective of the lesson is that the student learns it well no matter how long it takes.

Ben and Becks enrolled in Eye Level’s Math Programme and Play Math Progamme respectively early this December after taking their diagnostic tests (that is why you are seeing pictures of them in the classrooms!), and I am pleased to be taking on ambassadorship for Eye Level and to be sharing with you more about Eye Level, come next year. I will also be writing updates on the Kao kids’ progress, as well as show you a glimpse of some of Eye Level’s very excellently designed learning materials.

The kids have gone for two lessons now, and so far, it’s been something they look forward to this holidays. They are, surprisingly, getting very proactive in their learning, which I’m glad for, and picking up some mathematical concepts which is otherwise quite difficult to learn from their math-dumb mom (another post, another time about my inability to handle numbers). We’re all looking forward to more meaningful learning next year, so do watch this space!

Eye Level for Ben and Becks

Eye Level for Ben and Becks 2

More details:

For more on Eye Level’s Math and English Programmes, visit their website or connect with them on their Facebook page. To find an Eye Level Learning Center near you, check out the locations of their centres here.

AND JUST FOR MOTHERKAO READERS:

Eye Level is extending a promotional offer to all Motherkao readers! For $10 (usual price $60), your child can take the diagnostic test, attend a trial lesson (30-45 min) and get a complimentary study skill analysis.

Eye Level $10 voucher

Simply quote [Motherkao] to enjoy this offer via walk-in to any of the Eye Level Learning Centers island-wide. You can also leave a Facebook message on Eye Level’s Facebook Page or make a telephone enquiry to any of the Eye Level centres.

Disclosure: Ben and Becks have been invited to attend Eye Level’s Math and PlayMath for a term of three months. Motherkao has accepted sponsorship for her reviews of their programmes and endorsement of the centre. All opinions here are Motherkao’s own (with input from the two Kao kids).


				
					
				
		
				
												
	
Homelearning fun Learning fun!

Teaching the Kao Kids: Raising a Reader (Part 3) – Graded Readers

December 8, 2013

Graded readers are books with language simplified to help learners read them. The language is graded for the complexity of grammar structures, vocabulary and also by the number of words. They are designed to cater for all levels of language learning from beginners through to advance, and are an excellent teaching and learning resource. Learners are not presented with language way beyond their level which would make understanding the book difficult.

Here at home, I’ve started using Keywords with Peter and Jane to help the kids along in their reading. The Key Words scheme is based on a recognition of the fact that just 12 words make up one quarter of all the English words we read and write, and that 100 words make up a half of those we use in a normal day. William Murray’s system of teaching reading using key phrases and words is basically about teaching children these key words first. If these words are learned well, they will be on their way to making some sense of most texts.

The readers introduce these key words step by step, page by page and these words are introduced and repeated as the length and difficulty of the texts increase.

If you’ve read Peter and Jane too as a kid, you would be glad to know that some of the Peter and Jane titles have been repackaged and some of the artwork have been revised. (Apparently, Daddy now plays a more active role in the affairs of Peter and Jane in the 1970s revision as compared to the 1960s version where he was more of an onlooker by the sidelines.)

I searched the net to find images of the 1960s covers but couldn't till I chanced upon them here on this blog: http://big-picture-stuff.blogspot.sg/ (Picture credit: Big Picture Stuff)

I searched the net to find images of the 1960s covers (which was almost impossible) and chanced upon them here on this blog
(Picture credit: Big Picture Stuff Blog)

The collection with revisions and revised artwork

The collection with revisions and revised artwork

Hmm, it’s funny that I read the 1960s versions (which are now collector’s items, by the way) as an 80s kid. Must have been hand me downs from cousins. 

Anyway. I love this series because it HAMMERS the keywords to reinforce a child’s learning. It doesn’t just repeat the keywords once or twice. By golly, no. The text in each reader does it like nagging. Which I like (hurhur…). I mean, it can be exhausting for a mom to nag her kids to learn the words, so why not let a book do it? I know the incessant repetitions is one of the many reasons why children find these readers off-putting, and parents hesitate to use them (I’ve heard ‘boring’, ‘outdated’, ‘not engaging’) but I for one am not going to subscribe to these excuses just to please my child or entertain myself. I mean, if over 80 million children since the 1960s have learned to read with them, William Murray must have done something right, no?

The keywords are repeated throughout each reader

The keywords are repeated throughout each reader

The kids, for now (at Series 1a, b, c and Series 2a, b, c) love the illustrations that accompany the readers, although I must say, by the 6th time Ben is reading this aloud, he’s got a sian look (a Hokkien adjective which conveys boredom, weariness, frustration and emptiness) plastered all over his face. He’s more keen to be immersed in his Transformers world than to read about Peter and Jane looking at fish, buying sweets and going to the beach. But this is a necessity in his learning, and he (and Becks, and Nat) would have to befriend and grow up with Peter and Jane for a while longer.

The kid reading Peter and Jane: for the younger ones, it's more of looking at the illustrations, which are captivating, by the way

The kid reading Peter and Jane: for the younger ones, it’s more of looking at the illustrations

The other set of readers which I like (and the kids too, much more than Keywords with Ladybird) is the Well Being Series by Joy Cowley. The Joy Cowley Well-Being Series consists of 24 stories that promote physical, emotional and social well-being among children and cover pertinent issues like handling anger, showing respect, taking care of our eyes, saying no to drugs and learning to love oneself. The readers inculcate in children values that will help them learn responsibility and understand themselves, people and the world around them. They are also printed in Chinese.

Joy Cowley's Well Being Series

Joy Cowley’s Well Being Series

There are graded readers aplenty everywhere (and we ourselves have gotten quite a number of them over the years) but not all of them can offer you as much mileage (and value for money) as Keywords with Peter and Jane and The Joy Cowley Well-Being Series, in my opinion. When it comes to teaching young kids at the age of 3, 4 and 5, I’m thinking, having these two collections in your library is already an investment and more than enough.

Do you have recommendations for graded readers that have worked well for your child? Share them with me in the comments below!

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Previously in the series: Teaching the Kao Kids (Preamble) | Raising a Reader Part 1 | Raising a Reader Part 2

Coming up: The games we play for Math

Enrichment Homelearning fun Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reading fun

An Alphabet Zoo by Julia Gabriel [Book Review + Giveaway]

December 3, 2013

Phonics plays a very crucial role in helping a child build his literacy skills. Phonics teaching is very important because it teaches a child the links between the sounds of speech and the letters, and letter groups which are code for those sounds. Systematic and incidental phonics learning help equip a child with alphabetic code knowledge and forms the basis for the technical skills needed for reading, spelling and writing.

Here at the Kao household, besides getting their phonics instruction through the lessons in their kindergarten, the older kids also learn from watching educational programmes like Word World and LeapFrog. I don’t exactly know how to deliver phonics instructions, and so I usually outsource this part to the experts.

Last month, the folks at Julia Gabriel Education very kindly sent us their very own book and CD set titled An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear. In true Julia Gabriel style, this book was created by her to teach children aged 3 to 4 the most common sounds of each letter in the Alphabet and to give them a start to phonemic awareness and decoding letters into sounds with lots of songs and story telling.

An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear

An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear

The CD is voiced by actors and teachers representing characters in the book who use Standard English, and is a good resource to play even on its own, like in the car. It has catchy tunes and familiar refrains with carefully distinguished sounds pronounced clearly and proficiently.

The book can be read with the CD or without the CD, and Julia Gabriel herself provides a guide at the beginning of the book to help parents use the book and CD set with suggested activities and prompts. Each page in the book is like a huge hide-and-seek activity, with captivating  illustrations by Kathy Creamer of animals and things related to each letter in the Alphabet.

JGE_ Alphabet Zoo F

Captivating illustrations of things starting with the letter F

The older kids love the book, especially for the fascinating pictures which allow them to find and identify. They talk about each page with me and between themselves when we read it together, which also allows them to develop their language proficiency.

JGE_Reading the Alphabet Zoo

Lots of things to look for for each letter!

JGE_Reading the Alphabet Zoo together

Check out the letter S with Santa and a woman in sari!

An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear is a great book that takes the little ones on a lively journey through the Alphabet Zoo and making the letters of the Alphabet come alive for young minds that are ready to get acquainted with phonics.

*And we’re hosting a GIVEAWAY on the blog!*

Julia Gabriel Education is giving away THREE sets of An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear book + CD set to three of Motherkao’s readers, so you and your child can journey through the Alphabet Zoo too!

To stand a chance for the randomised draw, simply leave me a comment here telling me who you’d like to win it for, with your name and email address. Giveaway closes on 16 December 2013. It’ll be a neat Christmas gift for your little one, that’s for sure!

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Alphabet zoo winners

Thank you everyone, for participating! Congrats to the winners! You’ll hear from the folks at JGE soon!

Disclosure: We received the book and CD set from Julia Gabriel Education for the purpose of this review. Motherkao received no monetary compensation for reviewing this and all opinions here are my own. 

Homelearning fun Learning fun!

Teaching the Kao Kids: Raising a Reader (Part 2) – Choosing Engaging Titles

November 29, 2013

I’m not going to be writing a ‘New York Times Parents’ Guide to the Best Books for Children’ kind of post for this entry, but I’d like to share some of the books that the kids and I love, and how they have helped tremendously in making readers out of them. Hopefully, these recommendations would interest your child too, and get them to love reading like how they helped increase the Kao kids’ appetite for books and more books.

~~~

  • 0 – 18 months: Board books with lots of pictures

As a newborn, a baby responds to words, rhymes and songs by cooing, gurgling and smiling and enjoys the beat and tone of your voice while listening to stories. By the time baby turns 6 months, he begins to enjoy reading with his favourite person and bonds with you when you start reading to him. When he reaches 12-18 months, the child starts to understand and says simple words. He is able to answer “where is” questions by pointing and reacts to hand movements, faces, and changes in tone of voice. If you give him books with sturdy pages, he might even begin to start flipping them. If you read him enough interesting stories, he’s going to start preferring to have some books repeated more than others.

We’re very blessed to own an assortment of picture books, board books, flip-the-flap books and plastic books from friends who passed them on after their children outgrew them. They have entertained all three kids during this phase of exploration and learning. I place these books at the bottom shelves of our library so they are always within reach.

I highly recommend the following for this age. These are quite guaranteed to fascinate your little toddler and encourage them to pick up a book for the fun they would have!

1. Books with mirrors

It’s sheer pleasure for a little toddler to be seeing and hearing himself through such books. Especially if reading such books are occasions of bonding time he spends with a person who loves him! I’m sure the story and peek-a-boo bits would thrill the little one and get him excited about reading!

Motherkao recommends: Disney Baby Einstein: Mirror Me! – this busy book with a mirror on every spread (and a peekaboo finale!) teaches babies and young children parts of the face in a playful way.

Mirror book

2. Finger puppet books

Finger puppets are an excellent way to introduce reading and visual play to your toddler. With finger puppets, board books come to life for the little ones and offer the most natural and enjoyable way to engage young children in the process of reading.

Motherkao recommends: Little Finger Puppet Books by ImageBooks which features Little Puppy, Little Horse, Little Duck, Little Butterfly and many more little ones! Check out the whole series here.

3. Books with pull tabs or flaps

These books are aplenty now everywhere, designed with many fancy schmancies and bright colours to entertain children. Books now allow kids to lift flaps, pull tabs, feel textures and even scratch and sniff real smells! Indulge your little one with these, I say. They are only babies once, and such books are such wonderful exploration tools to get them interested in books.

Motherkao recommends: A Mini Magic Colour Book Series published by Pinwheel Children’s Books. I chanced upon these at a book fair and thought they really fascinating! We bought the entire collection and the kids learned their colours at a young age through these books, where the creatures turn into colourful things when the tabs are pulled.

Magic colour books

  • 18 – 24 months: Rhymes with Dr Seuss

From 18 months onwards, a child learns new words everyday. He may also start to recognise specific books by their covers and wants to be read to if you’ve already established a routine earlier on. By 24 months, a child’s vocabulary grows exponentially and he begins to use simple words in combination.

I say, it’s finally time to bring on the rhymes, and there’s only one man for the job!

Motherkao recommends: Dr Seuss Board Books.

Dr Seuss board books

No one does it better than dear Dr Seuss! It’s a good time to let the kids meet Horton, Mr Brown, the Knox, Pat, Pop and Pup and have a good laugh at nonsensical, silly rhymes and quirky illustrations that would tickle their funny bones. One can never get enough of this American writer, poet and cartoonist.

By the way, I am still very much tickled at this age, reading his books aloud to the kids! But be sure to get the ‘Bright and Early Board Books’ Series (Random House) which are simple and sturdy enough for the little one to flip and follow.

  • 2.5 years old: Short tales, Phonics and well-loved children authors

At 2.5 years old, a child begins to speak in sentences and asks simple questions, especially “why” questions. He may also start to like reading aloud, and may join you in doing so. This is also the time when he is able to follow a storyline and remembers content, and likes hearing his favourite books read aloud over and over.

2.5 years old is also the time I would start developing a child’s phonemic awareness, and have them start their learning of the letters of the Alphabet and the sounds each letter makes. I would also, while teaching the letters of the Alphabet, begin on sight word reading which would involve getting the child acquainted with high frequency words which are commonly used and encouraging him to memorise the word as a whole by sight, so that he can automatically recognise these words in print without having to use any strategies to decode them. This is to prepare him to start reading on his own if and when he is ready.

My experience with Ben so far has been such: if given a choice, he would always want to be read aloud to, and I usually don’t pass on the opportunity to read aloud to him. But if he has no choice, and there’s nothing else to do (i.e. experiencing a common feeling called boredom), he would pick up a reader simple enough to read the book on his own, and revisit the story. This is the result of having started some routines of reading certain books at this age.

Motherkao recommends:

1. Scholastic’s AlphaTales

AlphaTales is a totally charming collection of alliterative stories. There is one for each letter of the alphabet and each book includes a simple story of a character plus a hide-and-seek picture page and a rhyming letter poem. At the back of each book, there is also a complete teacher’s guide filled with suggested activities and easy lessons.

Alphatales

This collection is a really good way to build phonemic awareness and get kids acquainted with the Alphabet. The Kao kids love this series, and the older ones would now pick up a book on their own to read and look for letter-related items in the hide-and-seek page.

2. Well-loved children’s books (by Eric Carle, Rod Campbell and Mem Fox)

At this age, we’re reading and repeating Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell), Where is the Green Sheep? (Mem Fox), The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Quiet Cricket and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See (Eric Carle) – for its predictability, simplicity, and beautiful illustrations. At this age, most children are also beginning to be fascinated with animals, and these books offer young readers the opportunity to learn something about animals and the world around them  in a really fun way.

Well loved authors 1

I shared some lesson ideas in the earlier part of the year for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Dear Zoo here and here.

  • 3 years old: More inspiring stories and well-loved children books

By three, a child knows that it is letters and words that are being read in stories he hears, and starts to pay attention to distinct and similar sounds in language. He may also begin to play with language and make up silly sounds and words (more so if you’ve started reading Dr Seuss already!), and help you complete familiar stories and stories in what we call predictable books. Predictable books have language patterns and repeated refrains that children this age absolutely love, and I absolutely adore some of these stories which give me so much mileage in terms of creating and designing follow-up activities that allow us to revisit the story again and again in more ways than one.

Motherkao recommends:

1. More Eric Carle

As your child begins to acquire more language skills at this age, it’s time to bring on universal themes, more abstract concepts, more moving tales and books with more extensive vocabulary. I’m often found shopping at various online bookstores to acquire more well-loved children’s favourites, and I’m always thinking more Eric Carle at this point. Eric Carle’s list of printed books in English can be found here and his books in print number to 40. I wished I could buy them all! Some great reads to introduce the children at this age include Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?, Little Cloud and Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me.

Stay tuned for some lesson activities we did with Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? next month.

Eric Carle

2. More Dr Seuss

It may be a little overwhelming and difficult to follow at first, but you absolutely need to transport your little ones to Seussville where fun is good and nonsense prevails.

Dr Seuss

Get them to meet all the nonsensical imaginative characters that would blow their mind away, and immerse them in a world of craziness and funniness of Dr Seuss! We’ve had so much fun meeting Thing 1, Thing 2, the Cat and Sam I Am reading Ten Apples Up on Top, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat and McElligot’s Pool, and at this age where they are so very imaginative, the kids never say no to a good Dr Seuss book.

Dr Seuss Quote thing 1 & 2

3. Mr Men and Little Miss series

We introduced Mr Men to the kids this year when Fatherkao decided to make it a routine to read aloud one book every night to the kids. I’ve never read this series by Roger Hargreaves as a kid, and my, I found all the ‘men’ in this series delightfully funny. Every little book is an enjoyable read – every story contains a simple moral lesson, brightly coloured illustrations and simple literal humour – and it also introduces adjectives like grumpy, clumsy, messy, sneezy to the kids. I like it when the kids get to build on their vocabulary listening to stories.

Mr Men Library

Mr Men chart

When I get my hands on the Little Miss Library, it will be my turn to read one book to them every night. Can’t wait!

Little Miss chart

  • 4 years old: Non-fiction, Berenstain Bears and Shel Silverstein 

By four years of age, your child would be able to recognise alphabet sounds, sounds that are the same and sounds that are different, and some printed letters and numbers. He would also be able to focus on a specific task and take turns speaking in a conversation. By now, if he is an avid reader, he would have had some books memorised and can recognise rhyming words. According to the experts, if you have been reading 20 minutes a day with your child from birth, you would have, by now, given your child almost 400 hours of pre-literacy experience. 

This is the age where exploration of the world at the cognitive, intellectual level really begins, and for me, it really IS the best time to introduce books that has the ability to shape his perspective of the world we live in.

Motherkao recommends:

1. The Berenstain Bears

The Berenstain Bears is a series of books created by Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain, which feature a family of bears who generally learn a moral or safety-related lesson in the course of each story. I particularly love the books that are published in collaboration with Christian publisher Zondervan that share Christian beliefs, featuring Bible verses, values and virtues.

Berenstain Bears

The Kao kids love these books too, in part because the Bear family is very much like ours, with Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, Sister Bear and Honey Bear!

2. Shel Silverstein

For the record, I will tell you I love, love, love Shel Silverstein. And it is this love I have for his books that I have introduced him to Ben who is four this year. I love his unique style of writing, which is funny and sad and makes you think. He transports his readers into his world that’s filled with an extremely bold sense of humour, which is riotous, delightful and thought-provoking at the same time.

Shel Silverstein

You need to read The Giving Tree and Runny Babbit, if you haven’t! Ben and I read The Giving Tree together during our special time occasionally, and it’s a book that you can explore with your child on many levels of interpretation – about God, parent-child relationship, friendship and the environment  – and it’s a deeply inspiring book for any four-year-old.

3. Lots of non-fiction according to his / her interests

This is the time to delve into non-fiction and bring on everything that he might be exploring and discovering, from math facts to going to the dentist to the solar system. Kids will definitely appreciate an adult reading and finding out things together with them, and reading non-fiction is also a great way to answer their questions.

We’ve amassed many of these non-fiction books from Scholastic and Nat Geo, and the kids are sometimes taken out of the world of fiction (by me) to pore over them so they can learn more about our world.

Nonfiction 1

Nonfiction 2

  • 5 years and on: Roald Dahl’s short stories

Motherkao recommends: Roald Dahl’s short stories for children

I’ve started introducing chapter books by Roald Dahl to Ben (and Becks, but she loses interest after a while cos’ “there are no pictures!” says the little girl) and it’s been quite a success, except that it is tiring to read his books out loud, chapter by chapter. I’ve finished Fantastic Mr Fox and am starting on George’s Marvellous Medicine, and we’ll be meeting Mr Willy Wonka in a while!

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is a must for all kids, in my opinion. He’s one of the greatest writers of our time and his stories can fuel the limitless imagination of children and take them on their own wild flights of fantasy along with the BFG, the Witches, Willy Wonka (and the Oompa Loompas, my favourite people!), Danny and the Twits! I know, cos’ he’s taken me on a few of my wildest flights when I was a child!

~~~

My goal for my children is that they read well before they turn 6 on their own and to have that love for reading kept alive always. I am looking forward to the day that we can all snuggle together on a nice rainy day with our own books and read for hours on end. Till this day comes, I will be introducing more age-appropriate titles to them and have them fall in love with reading over and over again.

Do you have any recommendations for engaging titles which your kids absolutely must read? Do share them with me in the comments below!

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Next in Part 3: A Word on Readers

Previously in Part 1: Getting your kids to love reading

Homelearning fun Learning fun!

Teaching the Kao Kids: Raising a Reader (Part 1) – For the love of reading

November 20, 2013

It’s no rocket science that in order to raise a reader, you need to do one most important thing.

Surround the child with books…

On our shelves (clockwise), we've got Read Aloud books, Chinese books, board books and non-fiction books

On our shelves (clockwise), we’ve got Read Aloud books, Chinese books, non-fiction books and pop-up board books

Books…

Paperbacks, Dr Seuss and hardcovers

Paperbacks, Dr Seuss’ titles and hardcovers

And more books…

Our Social-Emotional Intelligence Readers, Nat Geo Readers, and our predictable favourites from Eric Carle and other well-loved authors

Our Social-Emotional Intelligence Readers, Nat Geo Readers, and our predictable favourites from Eric Carle and other well-loved authors

Simply having books everywhere around the child will make reading the default activity every time they are at home, especially when they are tempted to say, “I’m bored, what do I do now?”

Over the years, we’ve acquired many books. I wanted to recreate for my kids what I had as a child – access to books, books, and more books. I was an avid reader as a a kid, and am still one (an avid reader, not kid), in part because I had all the wonderful people in my life buying me books on every possible occasion, and I had wanted so much for my kids to fall in love with reading like I did. To me, books are a wonderful investment for their future.

Besides surrounding them with books and giving them easy access to them, here are some tips to get your kids to start reading, and hopefully enjoy reading:

1. Reading aloud to them often, preferably daily

Brain-development research shows that children aren’t ready to learn the mechanics of reading until around age 5. The best way to kick start their love for reading is to read to them even when they can’t understand everything you say. When they are infants, you can try reading aloud to them for 10 to 15 minutes a day, point to pictures and explain the illustrations. At preschooling age, you can increase the length of time by reading aloud to them for about 30 minutes a day.

According to Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, “The more models of fluent reading the children hear, the better….Reading to children also increases their knowledge of the world, their vocabulary, their familiarity with written language and their interest in reading.” So the next thing you can do besides surrounding them with books is to make reading aloud a routine so the children get to hear the stories that can fuel their imagination. This gets them excited about reading.

Dear Zoo_Reading the book

Reading aloud Dear Zoo to the Kao kids: this huge flip-the-flap book is a predictable classic for all ages

I read aloud to the children as often as I can, even if it means reading the same book for the nth time. I started off with simple stories that would interest them, and have now progressed to reading aloud Road Dahl’s best loved tales chapter by chapter. There’s minimal illustrations in such books and this forces the kids to listen closely and imagine the characters and setting for themselves. We’ve just finished reading Fantastic Mr Fox, and the kids were absolutely gripped by the story that was read aloud to them over a course of two weeks! As part of their bedtime routine, Fatherkao also reads one book from the Mr Men’s Collection to the kids before they get tucked in by me. You can imagine how thrilled the kids were when we started this routine to have their father tell them stories of Mr Bounce, Mr Grumpy and all the other interesting characters in Mr Men!

Mr Men

A very expensive collection, which we managed to snag at a greatly discounted price at the recent Popular Sale!

2. It’s not boring to them, repeat when you can!

If there’s two things preschoolers love, it has to be predictability and repetition. Predictable books use repetitive language and/or sequences, rhythms, and rhymes and allow children to predict what the sentences are going to say, thereby increasing enjoyment and helping to build vocabulary and memory skills. In addition, reading the same book again and again helps develop a child’s vocabulary and improves their reading skills.

One of the books we have in our home library – which I have read for I-dunno-how-many-times to each child (I’m thinking at least 30?) since the day they were little babies in my arms – is this simple, predictable book Ten in the Den by John Butler:

Picture from www.johnbutlerart.com

Picture from www.johnbutlerart.com

It has the most beautifully painted illustrations, and the simplest of narratives – Little Mouse asks his friends in the den to “roll over, roll over” only to find that he is the only one left in the den. He then scampers to join his friends at the bottom of the hill. Ben loved it as a baby and so did Becks. And now when I read it to Nat, the older two are still so intrigued by this little story that they pick up the book after I am done with it and read it in its entirety purely from memory. The adult might find it a chore to be reading it with dramatic tone and gestures for the nth time but I’m telling you, it’s a whole new experience every time for a child even if it’s the fourth year he’s hearing this story. Kids love a good story repeated, and they will pick up a familiar book any time to revisit those positive feelings they felt when the story was read to them.

3. Buy them if you can

I have nothing against going to the library, and I bring the kids there quite often to browse the children’s collection there. But there’s something about buying books which allows the children to read and reread that borrowing doesn’t. Books are like an investment, really. These stories are repositories in your children’s memory bank which will be recollected and revisited when they are older, even in adulthood. Besides, there’s this special feeling a child would have when he holds the book that he owns which cannot be compared with holding a library book. Especially if the story strikes a chord – that’s when that connection with reading magically happens.

There are many avenues to purchase books without having to rob a bank. Scholastic sends out quarterly book lists to childcare centres and sells paperbacks at a huge discounts to them, so you could ask around and pool your orders together with friends who have kids enrolled in childcare. There are also book sales happening ever so often at the Singapore Expo, like those organised by MPH and Popular. You can also check out The Groovy Giraffe, Singapore’s one and only remainder bookstore, as well as  Book Depository, which offers free shipping worldwide for good deals.

4. Don’t pressure; motivate instead

There was a point in time I was pressurising Ben to start reading on his own. I drilled him in sight words. I made him learn his phonics. I forced him to read Graded Readers. All because I read a blog that was written by a mother whose kid started reading on his own at three. I had thought that that was the norm, and started heaping tremendous expectations on my firstborn. After a couple of failed attempts, I decided to do a bit more research in this area, and came to realise one thing: you don’t raise a reader overnight. It takes consistency and effort, and a lot of encouragement and motivation. What I wanted was not to have Ben to read. I wanted more; I wanted him (and Becks, and Nat) to LOVE reading. It’s extremely vital for a parent to follow the child’s pace and not to force the issue. That’s the only way that a child becomes a reader for life.

5. Create a comfortable, well-lit spot to read

This seems common sense but it takes deliberate planning, really. Find a spot in the house that takes advantage of natural lighting especially during the day. At night, make sure that there’s good light for the kids to huddle around you for a good story. When it’s comfortable, they will read more, trust me on that!

The sofa in the living room next to our panel of full length windows is the best place to read in the day!

The sofa in the living room next to our panel of full length windows is the best place to read in the day!

~~~

Nurturing a love for reading is a process, a process that cannot be hurried. But it can certainly be very enjoyable if you surround your kids with imaginative stories and books that will take them to worlds unknown.

What are some things you do for your kids to nurture a love for reading? Do share them with me in the comments below!

 

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Coming up in Part 2: Choosing Engaging Titles for Children