Value Bookshop’s Reading Notes

Image via WikipediaI came across this article by SignOnSanDiego.com titled “Kindergartners urged to learn key languages.” It highlights an elementary school in Fairfax stepping up to the call of Pres. Bush to “teach the youngest students Chinese and other foreign languages considered critical to the nation’s future security.” The program is called the National Security Language Initiative.

Besides Chinese, other languages regarded as “critical languages” are Arabic, Russian, Hindi and Farsi. However, it is reported that Chinese is the most popular because of the booming business in China. The U.S. Education Department encourages teaching of these languages even at kindergarten level and has allocated $26 million in grants to communities around the country.

The reason why this article caught my attention is because I am impressed that the U.S. education department has not only realized the value of learning languages like Chinese but has also taken active steps to make sure the schools provide the learning opportunity to the children.

Here in Malaysia, more and more parents also see the great value and advantage of learning chinese. I’m not just talking about the chinese people. Even the other races (Malays, Indians, “dan lain lain”) in Malaysia acknowledge the benefits of learning this language. Unfortunately, what seems to be the best option is packing our children into Chinese schools. Seeing that there is an exploding interest in learning Chinese, I wish our education department would also take active steps in providing this language development to our children in national schools.

Let’s take a quick look at this business of learning Mandarin in Malaysia. Like just mentioned, many believe the best way is for children to attend a Chinese school. However, Chinese school’s are also famous for their endless stream of homework. Listening to parents talk about their children doing homework till 11pm and losing out on their childhood is heartbreaking indeed. And unlike this school in Fairfax where children play Jeopardy to learn the language, I don’t think anyone has enthusiastically commented how fun it is to learn chinese in our schools. Let’s not forget how crowded it is getting too. One teacher to 50 students is far from ideal. Some parents like the idea of discipline in chinese schools. Unfortunately, it is the same “discipline” that is killing their creative natures.

So, it is really sad to me that Chinese schools are considered the best option for our children to acquire the chinese language. I, for one, believe there must be a better way.

Complaining will get us no where. Finding solutions is better use of our energy. Therefore, I’m calling all parents out there to put on their thinking cap and tell me, what do you think is a good way for our children to learn Mandarin?

Let me start the ball rolling:
1. Give children a choice to learn it in national schools like the P.O.L. (People’s Own Language) classes. My daughter attends a school which is 99.9% malay. The option of learning mandarin is not available to her. However, if mandarin was an option, like part of the school syllabus, I am sure many non-chinese will want to learn too.
2. Play groups. Not those high paying tuition or enrichment centres. Just mothers getting their children together to learn conversational skills, story telling and children songs.

Okay, I would like to hear your ideas now.

KokoD is still not very strong in his Bahasa Malaysia numbers. It’s partly my fault for not revising and reinforcing the teaching. He will sometimes skip a number e.g. “satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima, tujuh.” He hasn’t learned the spellings yet. And even though he can count till twelve, he doesn’t know the names of the numbers in isolation. For example if I ask him what is “enam”, he doesn’t know it is “6″.

So I decided to do some reinforcing today by playing 2 card games. First, I recycled a cereal box and cut out tiny squares to make the cards. On it I wrote numbers and the names of the numbers (in B.M.).

Game 1: Memory Game
Shuffle and then lay out the cards face down. Open two at a time. If they number matches the word, he gets to keep the cards. If not, turn them over and then try again.
Before I started the game, I had him write on a piece of paper:

1 - satu
2 - dua
3 - tiga… (until 10 - sepuluh).

After a few games, I could see that KokoD was getting better at remembering the names of the numbers. I could tell because he didn’t have to refer to his paper much after awhile.

Game 2: Snap!
You could say it is similar to the traditional card game Snap! I divided the cards into two piles - numbers & words.
I took one pile, he took the other pile. We would simultaneously open one card from our pile. If they matched, you have to put your hand on the cards and say “Snap!” The person who is fastest gets to keep the cards.
Of course KokoD would not stand a chance against me when playing this game. I understand that he is just learning and would not have that speed yet. So, I gave him win a few times. Have to give some encouragement right?

Well, as usual, these games are very versatile. You can use these games to teach other concepts e.g colors and shape. You can also use it to build vocabulary in any language. Just use a little imagination and I’m sure your kid will have lots of fun playing err… I mean learning

Have you tried teaching an ADHD child to read? Kinda frustrating yes? Their hyperactivity and inattentiveness makes it difficult for them to focus on one task. Everything grabs their attention. They have difficulty ‘tuning out’ distractions.

Here are 5 specific strategies that you can implement when reading to an ADHD child. Not every approach will work so try different methods until you discover which ones works for you.

1. When helping your child read, pick a calm environment. Make sure there are no distractions. Read together and take turns to read pages or paragraphs. Take into consideration the child’s reading level and ability to focus.

2. ADHD children fidget constantly so allow them to fidget even while reading. Giving them something to squeeze, tap or play with will help to keep their attention. Remember ADHD children can focus on multiple things at once, so by giving them something to do there is no longer the need to look for anything else.

3. Break down reading into small chunks. Read for a short time then allow your child to play or do something else. Then come back to the task at hand. Read another paragraph or so again then allow another break. Continue this process until you have finished the chapter or story. This method works very well because your child’s brain is wired to focus on many things. After the reading is done, ask the child to recount what he or she just read. Jot down his or her words and review the next day.

4. Use a computer to aid your child’s reading. They are many ‘learning to read’ CDs and DVDs that can benefit your offspring. The majority of children have an affinity towards computers, so use this tool to your advantage.

5. Finally, be generous in your praise and words of encouragement. Children need it, particularly those that suffer from low self-esteem. This is true for most ADHD children. Give rewards and positive feedback. Whichever way you choose to say ‘well done’ to your child, do it! They need to hear it and no doubt, it will definitely help them master the art of reading.

This is a split-page board book. The top left tells you the name of the shape, the top right is the picture of the shape and the bottom half are items you need to find to match the top half. The shapes in this book includes: circle, semicircle, square, squiggle, triangle, dome, almond, diamond, rectangle and crescent. A fun and interactive way to learn about shapes.

For more pictures of the book, click here - My Very First Book of Shapes
(If you don’t see the pictures, it means the book has been sold).

My Rating: 5 Stars *****
1. Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! (Let’s Get Ready Series) (Let’s Get Ready Series)
2. Let’s Get Ready for First Grade! (Let’s Get Ready Series) (Let’s Get Ready Series)

About The Book:
The pages are high gloss, non-stick and dry erase. That means you can use it again and again. The illustrations are colorful and lively. Each book features a teacher and a classroom of multicultural children known as the Cedar Valley Kids. You can meet them at http://www.cedarvalleypublishing.com. You can also view pages of the books at their webpage. They also have an impressive list of awards attesting to the brilliance of these books. The books cover reading, spelling, math and science.

Here is a quick look at what the books cover.
Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten:

• Learning the alphabets
• Initial sounds
• Colors
• Shapes
• Left & Right, Names of the fingers
• Counting to 100
• Skip Counting
• Money
• Opposites
• The Seasons
• Rhyme
• Positional Words
• Body Parts
• Five Senses
• High Frequency Words
• Telling time
• Learning the Months and Days
• Learning to write their name, address and telephone number

Let’s Get Ready For First Grade:

• Vowels and Consonants
• Long and Short Vowel Sounds
• Word Families
• Prefixes and Suffixes
• Contractions and Compound Words
• Capitalization and Punctuation
• Plural
• How to Measure
• Geometric Shapes
• Even and Odd Numbers
• Skip counting and Ordinals
• Addition and Subtraction
• Fractions
• Graph
• Food Groups
• Internal Organs
• Counting Money
• Day and Night
• Solar System
• High Frequency Words
• Reading Comprehension
• Telling Time and Making a Calendar
• Primary and Secondary Colors
• The US Government

My Review:
What can I say? I’m totally impressed by these two books. As a mother who does home-preschooling, I sometimes ask myself the question “what else do I need to teach?” Then there is also the fear that I’ve forgotten or missed out a skill. Now with these two books, I can check myself. The books cover all the basics needed for each level. You could say that it provides a ’syllabus’ for me to follow.

Each lesson is only a page long. There are questions and tips at the bottom of the page to help parents make the lessons interactive and interesting. So learning is made simple and fun.

This book makes learning flexible. If you don’t have much time or have a little waiting time, you can whip out this book and have a quick, short lessons. If you want to have a proper lesson, this book serves as a good opening exercise. Sort of like an appetizer before the main meal. Use your own imagination on how you can expand on the lesson.

The last page of the books highlight tips for parents and caregivers. The author shares some really good advise.

I highly recommend this book. Not only for it’s educational value, but also because it encourages parents to play a more active role in teaching their children. Whether children are homeschooled or attending regular school, parents are still their no.1 teacher. These books will help you inject some fun into learning. Happy Teaching!

Learning these days have become so rigid. Many parents believe that learning means reading books, doing endless worksheets and slogging away at homework. But what happens when the child becomes unmotivated? How do we help them continue learning? Well, ABC news has a story that might just help us be more flexible in our teaching methods.

It’s a story of how David Gilmour, a former Toronto film critic, allowed his son, Jesse, to drop out of high school and turned to homeschooling. Afterall, his son was doing horrible at school with bad grades and bad attitude. He decided that Jesse needed a different kind of learning. What did he do? He used famous films to teach Jesse important life lessons. This is what David said:

“I thought, ‘we have got to do something. Movies are the only education that he’s going to get that I can actually get down his throat without a jack hammer.’”

So they watched at least 3 movies a week, every week. Jesse’s “syllabus” included movies such as “The Godfather,” and “Ishtar.” Father and son studied famous actors, the movie scenes and searched out life lessons.

And did it work? Absolutely. 2 years later, Jesse obtained a high school equivalency. And guess what? He is now applying to film school. No surprises there I guess.

Well, I’m not advocating that you plop your children down in front of the tv the whole day. The point I’m trying to make is this — there are many forms of learning. If your child has become unmotivated in learning, then it’s time for you to see what kind of changes are to be made. Learning doesn’t always have to be about worksheets and extra tuition.

Oh, another point that shouldn’t be missed. Here’s another quote from David:

“In a way, sometimes the movies themselves weren’t that important, it was the time that we spent together.”

To a child, spending time with parents is another form of learning. So don’t forget, you are their most valuable teacher.