Learning to Read

This is a skill that parents usually start sourcing for external help. We may start to wonder, how did we actually learn to read? Phonics is one of the methods widely introduced to help children pick up reading. It was a tool that I was introduced to when I was young to read and it has helped me greatly through my growing years. On the other hand, my older sister was not introduced this tool but she did develop her reading and spelling abilities. Hence, it is not mandatory for children to learn Phonics, but as I witnessed the outstanding benefits of it personally (e.g., trying to read new words, spelling words from listening), I often shared that it is a great learning tool to assist children in reading!

In FUN Commune, we use hands-on games and activities in our English Reading Programme for children to pick up letter sounds and blending. As such, our students are constantly engaged and find meaning in what they are learning! Furthermore, activities are kept short at 15-20mins each so that they are focused and curious.

Through the years of teaching this skill, I have heard parents who are eager to help their child learn better but feel helpless in doing so. Therefore, we do share activities that can be easily replicated at home so that more practice can be done too! For example, Sight Words Dominoes. It is one of my favourite activities as it helps children pick up sight word recognition as well as pattern recognition too! Simply flip your tiles over and paste labelled sight words on them to get started. Having a variation of 4 sight words would be great for this game.

Ah yes! Sight words - they are words that are learnt by sight because most of them are not phonetically pronounceable. It is also key for early readers to pick them up because they appear so often in their books and memorising them can make reading smoother and easier. They are part of our curriculum in Level 2A as children begin to find meaning in words they see. Just a FUN fact to share, Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat was written using only 236 words. It was filled with rhyme and repetitions. This book helped children practice both Phonics and Sight Words, killing two birds with one stone!

Our English Reading Classes are held every Saturday @ 9:15am and Sunday @ 11:30am. Seats are limited due to our small class ratio for better attention with each student. Let us know if you would like to arrange a trial for your little one to experience our session!

Hope to catch you in our FUN space,

Kei