Sound Games

Teaching my youngest son to read was much harder than teaching all 4 of my girls. Amir grew up with books. He loved to look at books with beautiful pictures. He loves to be read. He knows all the sounds taught through Cory Cat Phonics Song & also Lagu Fonik Abu Ada Ayam. If I say /kuh/..../a/.../t/ to him orally, he can blend all the sounds and say 'cat' easily.

BUT when I decided to teach him to read 'formally' using Readeasy at 3+, he REFUSED. There were times he threw the books to the floor. At other times he whined that the letters are TOO small. I couldn't get him to sit for even 2 minutes!

What can we do with kids like Amir?
1. Use SOUND CARDS to introduce the sound.(Refer my previous post). Use lower case letters ONLY.
In Readeasy Book 1, 3 consonants, c, b, t and 2 vowels, a, o are introduced. For each new sound, do multi-sensory activities - form letter shape using playdough, touch sandpaper letters, make letter collage, do fingerpainting(Amir's favourite).

Don't forget to teach your child to touch or fingerpaint the way the letter is written.

2. PLAY GAMES

• Sound Hop - throw sound cards on the floor. Encourage him to jump on the sound cards and say the sounds. Amir will insist that I jump on the cards & say the sounds too.
• Sound Grab - stick the sound cards on the wall(I use Blu-tak). Say a sound and get him to run & bring the sound card to you. Encourage him to say the sound. Yup, be a sporting mum(or dad). Let him say the sound and you run to get the card.
  
• Sound Hunt - Hide the sound cards around the room. Say a sound and encourage him to find as many corresponding cards. Don't forget to encourage him to say the sounds to you once he has found all the cards.

These simple games will keep him busy & happy for 20 minutes at least.

3. REWARD his achievements no matter how small it is. Swing him, lift him up in the air, give Hi5, etc.

4. Keep your reading session short. STOP before your child shows any signs of boredom.
5. Teach him 2 - 3 times a day.
6. Keep cool & have fun.

Reading Roadblocks

Writing systems are codes for SPOKEN LANGUAGE. Teaching your child a, b, c ... z(letter names) is the FIRST ROADBLOCK to reading. Letter names(ay, bee, cee) has no relationship whatasoever to the sound of speech these letters represent.

So STOP teaching your children abc. STOP forcing them to memorize & recite the alphabet. STOP making them memorize the upper & lower-case letters.

There is a BETTER way for the children to learn the alphabet. Teach them the SOUNDS.

You could use Cory Cat Phonics Song (VCD). We make learning speech sounds fun by associating the sound with an action. The Cory Cat VCD also comes with a set of flashcards and a colouring book.

Steps to introduce a sound:
1. Say 'buh' a few times.
2. Encourage your child to say after you.
3. Then show the symbol/letter 'b'. Point to the symbol and say "This is 'buh'.
4. Ask "What is this sound?"
5. Sing Bobby Bear b b b as you & your child pretend to bounce a ball.

Many parents ask me what other helpful activites can they do with their children to help them learn to read.

My suggestions:
1. TALK to your child.
Use good language. Don't use baby talk. For parents whose child's first language is NOT English, one of you has to use English most(if not all) of the time. According to research, Reading Accuracy & Fluency are enhanced if the word you are decoding(reading) already exist in the memory.

2. READ to your child.
Reading to your child will not only enrich her language but also familiarize him with the format of books. You could trace along the text with a finger as you read to your child. Thus training your child that reading is from left to right and from top to bottom.

3. DEVELOP your child's fine motor skills.
Developing your child's fine motor skills will help his eye-hand coordination which is very important when learning to read. Good fine motor skills will also enhance his writing skills. Give him lots of opportunities to roll playdough into small balls, squeeze water form a sponge, tear scrap papers, lace beads, play with blocks/puzzles & finger paint.

Don't miss the opportunity to HELP your child learn to read.

Sound Song

Most children like songs. In my nursery schools, we teach children as early as one year, to sing this action phonic song . Our Cory Cat Phonics Song will help children say sounds through actions.

They pretend to bounce a ball as they sing "Bobby Bear b b b ".

By the time they are 3 years old, many are ready to learn to read more formally(ehem I suggest you use Readeasy Phonics Beginner Level).

To make learning sounds more meaningful for children(2 yrs and above), do multi-sensory activities :

1. Use water colour to finger paint the letters. Teacher/Parent models how to write the letter being taught for the week. It is very important for the children to learn the right way each letter is written. Children dip their fingers in the paint & practice writing the letter on their own. Encourage the them to say the sound as they write.

2. Sound Collage - Children paste paper, cotton, fabric, beans on letter shapes. Don't forget to ask them to say the sound(not letter names) as they do the activity.

3. Writing on wet sand. Ask your child to write the letter in the sand using his fingers while saying the sound. The feel of the sand will make the letters feel more real and help them remember the sound that each letter makes.

• Level the sand after each letter so as not to confuse your child.
  

4. Form letter using modelling clay. As in finger painting teacher/parent models how to form the sound taught using modelling clay. For 2-4 year olds, they need a letter template to help them.

Research has shown that children learn to spell better if they have made tactile and physical associations with sounds/& letters.

Have fun with your child.