Teaching Young Children Reading

In a hospital, I was waiting my turn to be checked by the doctor. Suddenly I heard the voice of a child, spelling some words, creating a sentence with a very loud voice. I was so disturbed by his loud voice as I was very sick and feeling uncomfortable. His mom was sitting beside him and praising his own son.

Child: Sa-ya, saya. Su-ka, suka. Ba-ca, baca. Bu-ku, buku. Saya suka baca buku! (with a loud voice and repeating the same sentence over and over again)

Me: Bagusnya adik pandai mengeja. Tapi boleh perlahan suara sikit tak? Abang pening kepala sangat-sangat. Duduk diam-diam ye.

His mom: Dia memang suka membaca. Selalu di rumah asyik membaca je. Pandai dia ni. (talking to me)

Me: Oh adik dah pandai membaca ya? (Writing exactly the same sentence he was repeating over and over again, and give it to him) Hah, cuba baca ni.

Child: .....................(staring into the paper without any utterance)

Me: Eh tak boleh baca? Kalau nak tahu inilah ayat yang adik ulang-ulang eja dari tadi. Ingatkan pandai membaca, rupanya pandai menghafal je?? Itu makcik tak pandai baca pun dia? Tadi kata pandai baca. Dia ni menghafal apa yang cikgu ajar je. Membaca sendiri belum pandai. Buktinya tadi saya beri ayat sama, dia tak pandai baca pun. (rolling eyes, I am annoyed to be frank)

His mom: (Silent and ask the children to sit quietly)

The moral of the story here is not to humiliate the mom and the child, but to teach a child reading is not as simple as we think. There are some techniques that have to be applied to make sure that a child is completely have the ability to READ, not MEMORIZING. The ability of SPELLING is the basic of reading. Here are some techniques on dealing with children when it comes to spelling and reading.

The adult should read slowly, using lots of expression to bring the story to life, and allowing time for the child to scan the pictures and take in all the details. Sometimes, children become engrossed in particular illustrations, interrupting the flow of the story with questions. This is perfectly acceptable as it engages the child’s curiosity and involvement, and can provide further opportunities for language development and high quality interaction (sustained shared thinking) – the page in question can always be re-read to regain the momentum of the story.

We must use repetition and train the children to read everyday. For a starter, use the same book and teach them until they can read that particular book without spelling the word one by one. A little strict will not harm the child as they will take the matter seriously and will do their best to read well. Sometime a group reading can be helpful too.

Besides, the book choice must be interesting and suitable for their range of age. It is encourageable to enjoy favourite stories or characters, they also need to experience a wide variety of spoken and written language, including traditional tale, fiction, rhymed and pattern text. It is also important to boost up their interest in reading. For example we can make a mini library to trigger them. Colorful alphabet cards and flash cards with pictures is very useful for them. This aid will also help the environment of reading for the children.

As we go teaching in future, we might encounter students with reading disability. This is because of lack of practice during their young age. So it becomes our responsibilities to teach them how to read from the very basic of ABC.

*The video below shows a set of simple words with spelling and its pronunciation.

P/S: Frankly, on what age were you able to read without spelling word by word? I can already read in 'silent mode' when I was 3 years old^_^

Stress?? Try this out!!^_^

The transition from high school to college can be a difficult and stressful time. It's probably the first time in your life when you're on your own - free to make your own decisions about food, socializing, and time management. Just because you have all this new-found freedom doesn't mean you should go wild with it. Instead, learn to manage it in a healthy way. Here are some steps that you can apply to avoid yourself from being too stress with the assignments.^_^

1. Step 1

Schedule your "work" time. College gives you more free time, but also piles on more work than high school. Getting assignments done the day they are assigned is no longer the norm. To reduce your stress, pace yourself appropriately on your assignments and

spread them out when possible. Procrastination is tempting, but if you try to do everything the night before it is due, you'll give yourself a headache.

2. Step 2

Understand your limits. You know how fast you're able to read a book or a chapter of material, so plan around that. Split up long readings, like novels, if possible to avoid monotony. Reading things in sections instead of entire assignments also helps reduce stress when you plan your time accordingly before the reading is due.

3. Step 3

Talk to your professors or teaching assistants if you're struggling. They can provide extra help with material you're having difficulty understanding, or may provide tips on how to approach your work.

4. Step 4

Set aside time to relax. Exercising is a great tool to unwind. It helps your blood flow, releases endorphins to improve your mood, and makes you feel healthier overall. You may also want to enjoy time with friends and check out activities happening on campus or fun places to go out.

5. Step 5

Have a system of support in place in case you get overwhelmed. Having a few close friends or family members to talk things out will helps a lot. Alternatively, you may check with your school to see if they offer any counseling for anxiety or other problems, or if they offer seminars on how to deal with stress, freshman adjustment or time management.

6. Step 6

Be your own person. Don't worry about who you're going to fit in with or whether or not you're doing things everyone else is doing. It's more important to be yourself and pursue what you're interested in. It will make your whole college experience much more enjoyable.

p/s: I'm enjoying this blog post. Not stress at all...hehehehe=P

Teaching Slow Learners

Teaching students, children and adults alike, who learn fast, is fun and gratifying. However a large number of people just can't cope in class. We can call them "slow learners", "people with learning problems", "people with different learning abilities". In the past they would be bluntly labeled as "dumb" and drop out.

A child can be considered an underachiever in school and can be grouped under a generalized classification much too easily. One child cannot be grouped with a group of underachievers and be placed under one certain classification and this happens much too often in our schools. A teacher needs to be able to be aware of very specific and very personal problems that can cause a child to be considered an underachiever or a slow learner. The confusion on this topic needs to be reduced in our schools. Some teachers are just too quick to identify and also to attempt to correct learning disabilities without the proper training or knowledge on the subject. There are general categories into which most teachers will tend to group each child who is a slow learner. The classifications will be made according to the likeness of a child with each group. First, we need to realize that all children who are performing under their grade level are not necessarily underachievers. A lot of schools feel that all children should be exactly at the same level in each class and this is not true. Sometimes they will think that the children in this classification of slow learners are not capable of achieving at their chronological grade level. Sometimes, from the first grade on to other higher grades, a child just hasn't mastered the basic skills of learning. These children can get frustrated and even convince themselves that they cannot learn. In this instance teachers need to work with these students to teach the basic skills necessary for learning at the rate of normal student for his age. There are some children that have problems with language development. A lack of language development can cause a child to be a slow learner. It is of much importance to see if a child has grown in the art of language and reading achievement, if not teachers need to work with these students to bring up their language levels so that they can reach maximum achievement in their class. Some children have cultural disadvantages as they may come from homes where, for example, the parents are not speaking English and are speaking another language. They can be known as culturally disadvantaged as they do not have essentials necessary for learning. In this instance teachers need to work with the students so that they can achieve and not be doomed to a failed and frustrated attitude. If this is left undone, then as the years pass there will be more and more problems in learning coming from cultural disadvantages in the home. There may not be enough challenges in the particular classroom to hold some children’s interest and they become bored and don't reach their potential. A lack of challenge can bring a child down to below the level of the classrooms. Teachers need to be on the alert for this type of classification of underachiever as they will need to provide work that will stimulate them. Other children may be of average capacity and be expected to achieve at a higher level of learning in the classroom. These children at times are incapable of achieving past a certain level for a child their age and this can lead to frustration and failure in the classroom. Teachers need to be aware of these children and not try to push too much on them in the way of learning in the classroom. Children sometimes can be considered and classified as reluctant learners as these children will make good grades on tests but cannot function daily in the atmosphere of the classroom. Sometimes these children will not be motivated to learn and teachers need to be able to draw out these children and just get them motivated. Remedial help is sometimes used to get them motivated and to learn to the level of the others in their grade level. Students’ needs to be identified that can profit from remedial and corrective teaching. Sometimes teachers will not provide this remedial and corrective teaching in their classroom and this needs to be changed. If professional judgment indicates that this special remedial and corrective teaching is necessary then a child should have this provide to help him. Characteristics of slow learners: 1. Functions at ability but significantly below grade level. 2. Is prone to immature interpersonal relationships. 3. Has difficulty following multi-step directions. 4. Lives in the present and does not have long range goals. 5. Has few internal strategies (i.e. organizational skills, difficulty transferring, and generalizing information.) 6. Scores consistently low on achievement tests. 7. Works well with "hands-on" material (i.e. labs, manipulative, activities.) 8. Has a poor self-image. 9. Works on all tasks slowly. 10. Masters skills slowly; some skills may not be mastered at all. p/s: Once I did encounter a slow learner in my class...seriously, he is indeed very slow....-___-"