Honey, I Wrecked the Kids!

I was quite surprised when, during one of my son's check-ups, my usually stoic male pediatrician shared this piece of personal information. He came earlier than usual to the clinic because he couldn't stand the shouting at home. My innate counselling instincts led me to ask him why as well as to jokingly ask, do you have teenagers at home? Yes, he said, there are two. Oh, i said and then didn't pry anymore. I suppose the 'oh' had a whole world of meaning to his dilemma.

You don't have to wait till your kids turn into teenagers before you have a similar scenario at home. My kids are at 7.9 and 2.10 yrs and already, the home has turned into a battlefield of some sort.

I exhasperatingly tell my husband that I don't like having to resort to shouting and all these things that you know have been used on you by your parents in the old days that seem to have worked but are 'psychologically' unacceptable, just to get my message across especially to my almost 8 year old. This is a terrain totally unknown to me except for memories of course of how I was quote unquote, disciplined by my parents. Can't children with a wave of a hand, just magically be sweet, well-mannered, compassionate, understanding and gracious?

So on my wits' end I am currently reading this book and will post some updates on any tips I can get from it. Wish me luck!

The Reading Nook Summer Programs 2010

If you are looking for Reading Programs this summer, you may want to inquire about The Reading Nook's programs for your children. Since Bea is going to be Grade 1 this incoming SY, I'm going to let her take the Beginning Filipino class under Teacher Ricah =)

The Reading Nook is a home-based Children’s Library in Makati City run by a former English Teacher, textbook author and DepEd Consultant. Here, children from ages 2-and up are exposed to the joy of the wonderful world of books through programs that start with developing pre-reading skills to appreciation of children’s literature.

For Summer 2010, choose a Reading Nook program that best fits your child:

Pre-Reader Program
Description: The 10-Session Pre-Reader Program is for toddlers (2-3 yrs. old) who need to increase their vocabulary and start building up on pre-reading skills . The Program focuses on learning the Letters of the Alphabet, Letter Sounds and Vocabulary Building (shapes, colors, numbers and animals). The End Objective is for the toddler to improve speaking skills through an increase in vocabulary words learned. Story-Telling included in every session. Fee: P3,500

Beginning Reader Program
Description: The Beginning Reader Program is for kids (3-4 yrs. old) who have existing knowledge of the letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds. This program moves to the identification of the Upper and Lower Case Letters of the Alphabet and the Mastery of Letter Sounds. Other topics to be taken up are Pre-school Fine Motor Skills such as tracing, cutting and drawing; Pre-School Thinking Skills on matching, coloring, and finding the difference; Pre-School Concepts such as large and small, opposites, more or less, and same or different are also introduced. End Goal is for the child to be able to read 3-letter words. Story-telling included in every session. Students can borrow and take home books from the library. Fee: P3,500. Materials: P500

Continuing Reader Program (A)
Description: The Continuing Reader Program (A) is for children (4-5 yrs. old) who have already mastered the Upper and Lower Cases of the Alphabet and their corresponding sounds; can identify simple beginning sounds in 3-letter words, have good pencil grip and have previous experience tracing the letters of the alphabet. The program moves to the Identification of Beginning, Middle and Ending Letter Sounds; Making 3- letter Words with the Vowels a, e, i, o, u; actual reading of 3-letter words and introduction to sight words. The end objective is to be able to read simple sentences (eg., The cat is on a mat). Story-telling included in every session. Students can borrow and take home books from the library. Fee: P3,500. Materials: P500

Continuing Reader Program (B)
Description: The Continuing Reader Program (B) is for school-age children (5-6 yrs. old group & 6-7 yrs. old group) who are existing readers, with adequate skills on reading sentences and mini-paragraphs and have mastered their handwriting skills. This Program is a combination of enhancing Reading and Speech Communication Skills. Children in this program are tasked to read 3 primary category/young adult books and to come up with 3 simple book projects based on what they have read. Students in this program also develop their Speaking Skills since they will be taught how to do story-telling on their own. Students can borrow and take home books from the library. Fee: P3,500. Materials: P500

Individual Programs
Description: The Individual/Personalized Programs are for children from all ages needing special supervision on their reading and language skills. A 10-session Program is created for the child after initial assessment is made by the teacher. Schedule and fees to be discussed between parent and teacher.

Beginning Filipino
Description: This is a basic preparatory course on the Filipino Language for students who are about to take the Filipino subject in their own schools for the coming school-year. Fee: 3,500

-----------------------
“Happy is he who has laid up in his youth, and held fast in all fortune, a genuine and passionate love of reading.”

Encouraging your Child to Learn Filipino

If you notice these days, Filipino children are more conversant and fluent in the English language rather than in the Filipino language, more known as Tagalog.

The initial assumption for this prioritization of speaking in English here in the Philippines is of course, rooted in socio-economic implications. However, if you look closely, it is actually harder for a child to learn Filipino than English because of the variety of the former's phonology (sounds). Pardon me for this over-simplified explanation:

From the original 20-letter ABAKADA (remember this song?) it has now metamorphosed into ang Makabagong Alpabetong Pilipino, all the 26 letters of the English alphabet plus 2: ñ and ng.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beb5SU1yzX8&feature=related

Imagine all the possible consonant-vowel combinations of an expanded alphabet! Can the child go through all of these?

Apart from this, try asking your child to produce the ng sound as the first sound in the word. Example: Ang titik ng sa salitang ngipin, at ngayon. I'm pretty sure your child's lips will try hard to pull hard backward and his/her teeth will grind.

So how does a parent make the Filipino language easier and more enjoyable to the learning child?

The approach I can think of that can work best is using tools in the child's environment. One can start off by giving the Filipino equivalent to the things that the child sees around her. The first on top of my mind are the things that you see in the kitchen, probably because eating time usually takes looong for a child, thus, to make those feeding times much more enjoyable and productive, ask, "Ano ito?" Kutsara, tinidor, plato, baso. "Ano ito?" Kanin, ulam, gulay, tubig. Moving on to various ingredients: manok, baboy, isda, bawang, sibuyas, kamatis, etc, etc. This also works best when you are in the supermarket with your child.

Thus, the very first Filipino book I ever used in teaching is the classic Bahay Kubo:



















It is also easier to teach the child Filipino, or any new language for that matter, with the use of music. Remember how English nursery rhymes worked for kids? It works the same in teaching Filipino.

The Song Bahay Kubo can be found in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojSRxbwJmJE

Ako ay May Lobo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsQVBvb7U4


Paa, Tuhod, Balikat, Ulo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7n-2KTNo8


This is not a plugging for Knorr, but the song Makulay ang Buhay sa Sinabawang Gulay seemed to be a hit with kids at the time it was shown on television. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meCbmp0AUF0&feature=PlayList&p=E6CAFDD4E44891F0&index=17


Other Videos:
Learning Numbers 1-10 in Filipino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxBkvdchII0&feature=PlayList&p=E6CAFDD4E44891F0&index=10


There are so many Filipino children's books out there but I feel that some of these books are too text-heavy or that the message and values they want to impart are a little hard for a young child to comprehend.

It is best for the beginning Filipino language learner to start out with Filipino books whose main characters are animals because children recognize animals easily.













(don't mind the "moral lessons" tagline, sheesh)




If you are living abroad and want to purchase Filipino books over the internet such as Amazon.com, the books are so expensive! Better to ask a balikbayan friend to purchase for you when he/she is back home in the Philippines.

In the meantime, here are some free online story-telling videos in Filipino. Happy viewing with your child!


Ang Unggoy at ang Buwaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmBaqix8_0&feature=related


Ang Leon at ang Daga(music is weird though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBnZXDb_JSQ&feature=related

Just right in: Results of a Study in Early Reading to Children

Infant reading 'boosts performance'
(UKPA) – 20 hours ago

Children who are read to daily at the age of three are more than two months ahead of their classmates in literacy and maths by the age of five, research has found.

Reading is more important to a child's academic development than teaching them the alphabet or how to count, a study by the Institute of Education, University of London suggests.

The study analysed the Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) results - the teacher assessment of five-year-olds carried out at the end of reception year of primary school in England - for more than 10,600 children taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

FSP is not usually used in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but teachers carried out one-off assessments for the MCS.

The findings show that daily reading sessions boosted children's scores in all areas, including knowledge and understanding of the world, as well as literacy and maths.

Children who were read to daily also outscored their classmates, on average, in assessments of their social, emotional, physical and creative development.

Researcher Dr Kirstine Hansen said children who were read to daily were two and a half months ahead of their classmates in their maths and communication, language and literacy score at the age of five.

She said: "The relationship between teaching the alphabet and counting is insignificant, but reading every day to a child has a positive effect on their outcomes."

The study comes days after research by the Sutton Trust found that Britain's poorest children are already almost a year behind their richer classmates in their language skills by the time they start school.

It also revealed that good parenting behaviour, such as reading daily to children or making sure they have a regular bedtime can have a positive impact on a youngster's vocabulary skills, regardless of their background.

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.


http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/blog/BlogSinglePost/10-02-17/Reading_to_3_year_olds_better_than_teaching_alphabet_study_says.aspx

or

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gj14SvjpMNjJgRozk0dDm316v6cw

Language Delays in Young Children

I am currently fixated on researches on learning disabilities, in particular, reading and language disorders, as these have a huge implication on the conduct of my work with young children. This entry in particular deals with language delays in children.

The usual response of people when they encounter a child of say, 2 or 3 years old, who has not yet learned how to speak is, "Oh, he/she will eventually outgrow that stage and learn to speak."

This response is more so pronounced when the child in question is a boy because traditional expectation is, boys learn language a little bit later in their toddler life compared to girls.

Because of this response, or general perception on language delay in children, some parents feel that they are being paranoid or over-reacting when they notice the smallest trace of language delay in their child. "Why is my son/daughter not yet talking?"

Well, parents, here is something you should know.

While it may be true that young children eventually outgrow this language delay, a research conducted by Dr. Leslie Rescorla, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child Study Institute and Director of Early Childhood Programs at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, shows that children who are late talkers may have weaker language endowment. This means that those children who were late to talk pretty much eventually go to school but they have significantly less advanced language skills compared to their peers (from the same background) and that this pattern of weaker language skills was evident at age 5 and 6, during their 9 and 10th year, and through age 17.

What does this research imply?

At the onset, parents who notice a hint of language delay in their child can already provide some enrichment in the child's language environment early on. They can use techniques like shared book reading, or be taught focused stimulation or other communication techniques, and all these can provide a rich language environment that may have some facilitative effects.

If, by the age of 3, no significant growth is seen, direct intervention must be initiated together with a speech language pathologist, aka speech therapist. Now, here's the rub - there aren't too many speech therapists in the Philippines and if you find one, the waiting list of clients is usually very long.

So before you reach that stage of panic looking for a speech therapist, it is important to know that as early as possible, expressive language can be taught through gestures, sounds, vocalizations and words to help a child express his/her wishes or desires. Help your child improve his/her listening and to learn to recognize familiar words and phrases in their environment and to respond to them appropriately.

When a parent comes to me for help on reading and language intervention at the age of 10 years old, I just mentally shake my head.

Really, I cannot stress it hard enough, to READ, READ, READ out loud to your child. It really helps.


-------000-------

If you want to listen to Dr. Rescorla's discussion of her study together with Dr. Rhea Paul, Professor Amerada at Southern Connecticut State University and Professor and Director of the Communication Disorder Section of the Developmental Disabilities Program at the Yale Child Studies Center, go to Episode 13 http://podcast.asha.org/ or http://asha.http.internapcdn.net/asha_vitalstream_com/podcast/ASHAPodcast13.mp3


For a copy of Dr. Rescorla's article Language and Hearing Outcomes in Late-Talking Toddlers, it is found in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 2009; 52: 16-30
http://jslhr.asha.org/cgi/content/full/52/1/16