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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Jump-start Reading

Although Lia attended preschool for 2 years prior this school year, this seems to be just her first year.
I often feel I should have just insisted they put her to nursery instead of kinder.
She was just 2 (turning 3) when we made her and my brother attend preschool. The preschool they attended was where my cousin used to work. Thus, the special treatment.
They could refuse to participate. They could refuse to listen. They could do as they wish, including not going to school.

When this school year started, her first name is the only thing she can write. And even that, she didn't learn from school. She learned it when we were at home and she asked me to write her name, and copied it. Since then, she started writing her first name. 
She can recognize the alphabets but only by their sounds, not by their names; and the credit goes to their preschool.

This school year, she was obliged to write her full name. And I'm glad she can do it now. She also can recognize the alphabets now both by their sounds and names. Although she's somehow keeping up, I sometimes feel bad for her. 
A few months ago, her teacher talked to me about her reading and writing.
She pointed out that Lia's going to attend grade one next school year, and that she needs to pick up the pace.
It's like she entered a race that has long-started.

And although I want her to pick up the pace, I don't want to put too much pressure on her.
After all, it's not her fault she's on that class. Luckily for my brother, with his age, he had to enter nursery.

Lia has been playing with pens for as long as I could remember. But clearly, doodling is different from writing. LOL. And although she can copy, she somehow lacks direction and distance. But her handwriting has definitely improved.

During their sem break, I started introducing her to phonics. She knows most of them, but often gets distracted. I tried looking for effective ways. 
And last night, I stumbled upon Starfall. It seemed well, so I introduced it to her earlier this day. And I must say, it is efficient.
It has fun ways of acquainting reading to kids.
Lia absolutely loved it.
Before Starfall, reading seems like a punishment for her. But tonight, before going to bed, she asked me when are we reading again.

Thanks, Starfall, you just saved my sanity. :)

14 comments:

  1. just like my son, I let him jump the preparatory...good thing he is catching up....

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  2. I heard about Starfall from a friend. She used it to encourage her daughter to read as well. I'll check out the site and recommend to my sister in law too. We'd love to give our baby a head start :)

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  3. i think my daughter is falling behind when it comes to reading too though some of the people at her school tells me that she excels in reading. i'm thinking of transferring her to another school next year but we would like to have our youngest to enroll in a school that has the same caliber as the Starfall

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  4. You just keep on supporting and encouraging her. She's learning well, I think. She just needs proper guidance. At least now she looks forward to reading and it has ceased to be a grueling task for her

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  5. I love starfall too. I use this website with all my kids and they like it.

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  6. Hmm... first time to check into Starfall. Am sure, I'll be checking back from time to time. Thanks for the tip! :)

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  7. I will try to check starfall too.
    My kid was turning 3 during the opening of classes and we are planning to send him to school already.

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  8. My daughter started using starfall at the age of 1 :) I was so amazed then that she can control the mouse.

    Starfall is good site to learn proper phonetics :)

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  9. Don't worry about Lia catching up. I'm sure she will when she gets settled in school. Just a little extra help from Mommy and she'll be okay.

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  10. My kids learned phonics using Starfall at age 2-3. My 4-yr-old girl can now read Prep level books. Aside from Starfall, I also used ETL workbooks I bought at National. And of course, I'd read to her every night to help develop her own love for reading. :D

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  11. Wow, so many Starfall Moms in the comment thread. Thanks for sharing this, I think I have to check out Starfall, too.

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  12. Haven't heard about Starfall! I was lucky that my son learned his reading and writing from school, Ateneo De Zamboanga. I initially thought their Junior Prep and Senior Prep was "less high tech" than other newer kid's school, but the teacher explained they focused on the reading, writing and numbers as it is before adding all the fancy knowledge which they say the kids can just catch up on! But that was 12 years ago, so I don't know if the kids and parents are also into this too.

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  13. i havent heard about starfall but i will check it out tonight. I already bookmarked the page. Thanks for this.

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  14. My kids used Starfall, too. Plus, Jumpstart World. I think kids should not be writing at such a young age. Their tactile skills should be first developed through arts and crafts and playdough. Writing would be easier later

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