All About Getting Help for Students Weak in English

[poohbeargang]

Hi parents,


I need advise, called up Creative Horizons and learnt that in order for my son who is in P1 to enrol, he needs to go through an entry test. He has to read the qns himself and answer it. Problem is that he’s bad in reading!!

He was with ICR for nearly 3 years and still quite bad, so I need to switch him out to some other centres or 1-1 tuition.

Any recommendation for good tuition teacher or centres in kallang/geylang area?

Thanks!

[cherrygal]

Is there any reason why he can’t read well yet? You need to provide more info before we can really help.


Did he only start learning English recently (new citizen?) or there was no exposure to reading when in nursery? Does he recognize the alphabet and can he spell words?

If he has been attending a local nursery since young and still can’t read well, then you may want to get his eyes checked. Some kids who can’t see well are unable to read.

If his eyes are ok, get him checked for reading difficulties eg. dyslexia.

If all else is normal, you can try enrolling him in phonics classes such as ZooPhonics. Private tuition at P1 usually won’t focus on the basics of reading. P1 kids are already expected to read well and learn vocab and grammar. He needs his basics to be strong first.

[sleepyqueen]

Maybe you should check back with ICR why after 3 years your son still does not progress much as expected.

[buds]

You need a language coach to run immediate intervention to solve this reading problem asap. This is not the first time i’ve had friends and parents comment that ICR was expensive and ineffective.


Aniwaes, just to share that I was coaching one boy who had difficulty pronouncing words & reading coherently at P4… failed oral… didn’t understand anything he read (poor vocab)… failed spelling… and got him to do one-to-one twice a week to address the reading issues immediately. It helped him tackle first things first and gave him more confidence to move on to grammar and comprehension.

Please do not put your child in a grouped setting anymore.

[Pen88n]

One of the most effective method is for the parent to read with the kid every night.


My gal was with ICR for 2 terms, and the teacher kept telling me she couldn’t "blend" the sounds of the words. I withdrew her and started reading with her every night. Within 3 months, she was reading by herself and she started reading chapter books like Enid Blyton in K2 by herself.

It just need 10-15mins of your time every night before he sleeps, and this assists in bonding with your kid too.

[jedamum]

Pen88n:

One of the most effective method is for the parent to read with the kid every night.


My gal was with ICR for 2 terms, and the teacher kept telling me she couldn't \"blend\" the sounds of the words. I withdrew her and started reading with her every night. Within 3 months, she was reading by herself and she started reading chapter books like Enid Blyton in K2 by herself.

It just need 10-15mins of your time every night before he sleeps, and this assists in bonding with your kid too.

yes...agree...besides phonics, don't underestimate the power of 'sightwords'...which can be 'taught/caught' with regular reading.
my now-P4 started reading only after mid K2 because he could not blend. so he learnt sightwords first. he somewhat master blending only later on after looking at more books with the help of sightwords.

[buds]

Because there are more ways than one to learn how to read.

[curiousz]

My kid used to be at ICR and unable to read too. Despite my feedback, the situation remained.


Now he is at Morris Allen & with the help of his present teacher, he is improving. At least, I can see that he can blend and am trying his best to give a try for new words.

[Always21]

Do you want to try I-creative, under teacher Ivy. My boy can read well at k2. The formula and teaching is good, it’s work!

[lisayvonne]

Some of my friends are using ICR. I thinkd it’s ok. I’m teaching my daughter reading online after school. We are using this site beestar. It is curriculum-based from 1st grade to 8th grade, more systemic. I like the simple presentation: text has nice simple fonts, the pictures and graphs are to the point not distracting and stories are interesting. DD supports this online way and learns quickly. Have a try~

Lisa