Comparing Pre-school English Reading and Phonics Enrichment

[monkimommy]

My elder son who is 17 years old now went to Jan & Elly and has enjoyed and did very well in school. My younger son attended I can read for 1 o 1 lesson because he is a language delay child but did not see any improvement. Jan & Elly’s timing was not right at that time for my younger son. Regretted and should I accommodate their schedule, maybe my son would do better now.

[MMM]

You might want to verify this yourselves.


My impression is that ICR teaches based on sight words??? Parents can see results is a very short time?

For J&E, it is a pure phonics program. Kids typically join from 2nd half of Nursery and complete the entire program in mid K2. They are taught basic to advanced phonics. It is a solid phonics program however, I feel that, looking at the period involved, it takes a longer time to see results???

Children are being taught how to blend words,etc…

Eg. My K1 started with J&E in 2nd half nursery. She is also with LW for creative english. At K1 now, she is reading books like :

"Mum and Dad and Matt went for a walk with Tiny.

Tiny ran all the way down to the beach.

"Tiny!" shouted Matt.

"Come back! Here is your lead." etc…

She was just upgraded to such readers in her LW class. Her LW teacher seems to have good review on her phonics so far. I feel that blending doesn’t come naturally to her yet and she has been with J&E for 5 terms. I still need to guide her to breakdown the words and blend. Maybe it’s age related?

But my P2 completed the J&E program up to advanced level. I wouldn’t say he is good in written english (eg. grammar) but he is definitely good with spelling and sounding out words. He is much better than my p3 who only did the J&E intermediate phonics program as she started late.

[lil_jade]

Hi all!


I've benefitted from this discussion and have used the recommendations given here to check if the phonics teacher is a good one....

so..... this teacher (home-based) will be having 1.5 hour lesson, once per week. Group size is 5 - 7.

She'll be introducing phonics, plus it'll be thematic, and something about family groups (I got lost from then on), she'll also be looking at reading and writing. And she'll loan students books home to read + recommend books to borrow from library or buy.

It'll start from N2 to K2. It's recommended as a 3 year program.

so... I'll probably be starting my gal next year (she'll be 4) since her elder cousin (in P1 now) seems to have benefitted. At least, I know spelling is a breeze for him!

It's $100 per month.

So.... worth it? Or should I check out the commercial ones for comparison?

Also, my DD starting nursery next year, but it's those average church kind so I presume there's not much phonics teaching? Cos I'm afraid it'll confuse her to have 2 different sets of teaching at the same time...

Can I have the opinion of the phonics expert mummies and daddies?

Thanks!!

[agnesost]

Hi all,


May I obtain your advices on whether LCentral or I Can Read Program is better? I intend to sign my son up for English reading program.

Thank you.

[Engtutor]

Hi agnesost,


Both ICR and LCentral are similar in their approach to reading. Both systems will get your child reading in a short amount of time. The LCentral method is 33 weeks and the ICR programme is 48 weeks.

Both require parent support throughout the course (about 30 mins a week to practice), but this support is especially important in the first 6 weeks.
Your child will be reading independently after completing either one of these programmes, so I suggest you make an appointment for a free assessment (both schools offer this), ask to see the materials and also go with your gut instinct with regards to the teacher.

Hope this helps,

Engtutor

[Catay]

Hi to those replied my queries<


Thanks for your feedback. It’s seems that I Can Read had a higher vote, but Jan & Elly has a shorter lesson, only 1 hr whereas ICR is 1.5 hr, but the cost are equally high, humm, in a dilemma, what to choose?

Think about it again.

Thanks again.

[buds]

lil_jade:

Can I have the opinion of the phonics expert mummies and daddies?

No expert here but just wanna say go for it!

3-yr program is kinda long though.. that's my only consideration.
But having said that, she IS taking in your child at such an early
age and children do need time to develop their reading & writing
skills. So, it is a good option you have here since the trainer is
willing to start out with younger children.

Other thoughts to ponder on...

Does home-based mean you travel to her plc or she comes to
yours? No harm checking out commercial ones so you know the
market better and what each school of thought offers & the rough
duration each individual method takes to complete the programmes.
Some offer long term as it includes grammar as well.

5 is ok, but 7.... hmmm... is getting a little big for home-based and
such little ones in one sitting. In fact 7 is almost similar to commercial
centres that offer group programmes, though some can have more. The
ICR i visited had like 12 or 13 children storming out of the class during my
visit and the poor ang moh teacher didn't seem she was managing very well.
Not to mention the parents swarming her all at the same time during dismissal.

[reiner]

hi buds,


me is staying near to Kallang mrt... any MMI phonics to recommend in my area? how about M Parade? or TPY? my girl is 4.5Y n she just know the 26 letters sounds fm Letterland in CC and lots of leapfrog n starfall.... but me dont know how to teach/practice w her to blend the words, like \"an\", \"at\"... she can read abt 85% of P&J till 6b now... but is thru memory yah.... :roll:

will MMI assess my gal prior to attend class? wonder whether can let her to 插班 which start on blending eh? since she knows the basic 26 sounds eh... can save bit monies mah... :oops:

why MMI? coz my sil, frenz strongly recommend... only MMI @ JE & JW have phonics enrichment class but their timing doesn't suit leh... n gotta travel to west side, scare my gal will be tired... please help yo...

[buds]

Heyya reiner, MMI Phonics should be available over at their Enrichment

Centres usually conducted over the weekends. That said, there are a
few of their childcare set-ups that run similar programmes during the
weekends as well. Some enrichment centres do conduct during week
days too, subject to availability of manpower.

The ability to already recognize the alphabets plus the 26 letter sounds
is definitely a headstart for a 4.5yr old child and yes, depending on the
availability of placement at the centre which offers it, she could join an
existing class (if they have an existing class at your child's level) which
may currently be doing the Pink Scheme (3-letter phonetic words) & of
course; subject to a simple assessment with the directress prior to
admission.

Do ensure that your child can sound out all the sounds and recognise the
alphabets without the need to reflect on the Letterland characters any
more as the wordbuilding and word family blending stage for Montessori
Phonics will not be associated with any Letterland friends. I'm sure if her
letter sounds are solid, she should not have a problem joining an existing
class provided they do have one at the moment; instead of joining a new
class and start it all over again. You can try...

Oh dear dear reiner... please please try not to make special long distance
travel arrangements for your child, especially not from your place to the
west! Unless you do have to visit your in-laws each week... or go for that
spa... :lol: ... etc... it WILL be extremely tiring for your child and will also
eventually take a toll on yourself.

Do call any of the centres near you to find out first. While the programme
is tried and tested to be extremely effective to develop and shape fluent
readers, it is directly dependent on the teacher quality.. do take note that
there will be teachers who may be a little rigid and non-flexible who does
straightforward no-nonsense teaching styles... and there are also those
who think outta the box and come up with some extras to make their
lessons more interesting.. hence, the quality varies between centres
even under the same management. Hope this helps somewhat.

Regards, buds.

[reiner]

hmmmm... so far my gal can do the 26 sounds w/o Letterland \"reminder\"...


so is it only MMI is the \"real\" one, other centres which carry \"Montessori\" are not frm the group MMI? so different teaching? pardon my shallow yah... this's 1st time sending girl to class, really \"gong\" hor... :?:

can shine some light of recommended centres/ teachers?