My daughter, Kai Xuan, who is now 3.5 year old, is getting more vocal and independent by the days. From a tender age, I have been reading to her books everyday, hoping to cultivate a good reading habit in her. Back then, it did not come to my mind that she must be ahead of others, or to excel in whatever she does. I just hope that she learns well that would benefit her the road ahead.
From the start, Kai Xuan has been doing plenty of writing with her triangle-grip pencil that enables her to learn the correct way to hold a pencil and writing technique. I started her off with writing upper case of ABC, followed by lower case. Then, she moved on to doing numbers, number and letter recognition, counting, matching, etc. It could be that she has been exposed to such worksheets for so long that she is pretty much used to it. Having said that, Kai Xuan is not able to write all the numbers and letters yet. Only a few that she is confident in. Furthermore, I have done some simple research online on what a preschooler should know.
Maths - measurement, counting, pattern, time, addition, subtraction, shapes, sequence
Phonics - reading, sight words, upper/lower case, identify sounds, vowels
Language - description, professions, tell own name, age, recite poems, sing a song, tell a story, differences between a human and animal structure.
Everyday Skills - Veg, fruits, insects, domestic animals, motion of insects, fasten a button/zip, thread beads and buttons, draw lines, shade within contour of a picture, differentiate between left/right hands and legs.
The benefits of Phonics would be in the aspects of spelling, literacy, reading and comprehension. In school, the children would be taught to read short, easy books, read letter sound and works repeatedly. At home, what parents can do is to encourage the child to read daily, boost their comprehension by asking them questions like "What do you think will happened next?". Parents may also re-visit familiar books, and read aloud with different voices to narrate the characters in the story. It is also important to visit the library or bookstore often.
I am just like any other ordinary parent - kaisu. To date, Kai Xuan has already completed a lot of writing books, and there is still many more to go. Of course, she is not going to complete everything within a short time frame. I usually plan her course work on a gradual basis, according to the school's curriculum. I felt it is important to plan accordingly to the school's pace, as it is essential that children builds on the foundation and have repeated exercises to strengthen it. Otherwise, more books would only confuse their little minds. It is equivalent to going for extra classes without having first, to understand what has been taught in school. Extra classes are good, only when the child is proficient and fully understood the fundamental concepts of textbooks, and is ready to take on tougher and challenging questions.
Completed books - Alphabets, Numbers, English, Mathematics.
More to do - Chinese, Science, Mathematics, English, Numbers and Alphabets.
These books are purchased from Popular Book Store, Singapore.
The first thing that Kai Xuan was trained in, was writing her name. The teachers in school feedback to me that she is the only one not being able to write her name. Due to this, she had nightmares, and phobia in writing. Luckily, with constant encouragement and practice, she is now able to write her own name. Indeed, an accomplishment for her and I am proud of it.
At the beginning of year 2015, I have enrolled Kai Xuan in a piano class with Vienna Music School at Seletar Mall, next to Fernvale MRT, hoping to train her left and right hand brain coordination. Hence, her Daddy invested in a SGD $1,810 Kawai Digital Piano (with stand) for her to practice at home after her lesson each week (below picture). I really hope the money is well invested, actually. Monthly fees is SGD $130 for a half-hour lesson. I tried engaging a private tutor for her, but unfortunately, she does not like it as the tutor was a little boring in her teaching. So, we discontinued with the tutor. She likes the school teacher better. I need to re-enroll her with the school again... it means...
An 88-key Kawai digital piano with ivory-touch keys, weighing at 10kg.
It fits just nice in this corner of the living room... with all the lesson and theory books.
www.fishpond.com.sg offers a wide selection at lower costs and free shipping.
DIY music charts for learning.
It is not easy to maintain the interest of a little girl in terms of learning, especially when their attention span is so short (15 minutes or shorter). I am no professional pianist, neither have I learned playing a piano before. I did self-study during my school days, and could only manage the basic chords. I have constantly look out for materials and teaching methods on the Internet, in order to introduce the simplest and easiest way to teach. Through singing songs, clapping, and playing games on the piano, makes the session a whole lot more easier.
The note chart to the left in green is an introduction to the 3 basic notes - Semibreve, Minim and Crotchet. Beneath it is an illustration of 'escalator' or 'steps', if you preferred to call it, that showed the sequence of the notes on the keyboard. On the right hand side is another chart that looks like a small group of black and white keys. The purpose is to show the notes represented on the individual white keys. These 2 charts are colorful so that Kai Xuan is attracted to learning.
I am still in the process of researching better ways to teach at home, and if I can do it, so can you!
Signing off,
Serene Chen
