Teaching Vowel Sounds

                           Vowels are a vital part of English grammar. Vowels allow early learners to spell and pronounce words correctly. Teaching the young children about Vowels is the most basic form of grammatical knowledge that you can impart to them. This will allow them to read and write some of the most basic words accurately.Junior Kindergarten normally gets into teaching vowels following the learning of letters. The following are some things that you can do to teach those young minds how Vowels .

To begin with, you need to teach them the phonetic rule. They should understand the difference between short and long vowels. Having them pronounce the correct sound for each vowel can be tricky. Make sure that you constantly revise all the tricky sounds. This would not only help them in remembering the difference between the long and short sounds but would also allow you to understand how many sessions per day to spend on instructions. Also, ensure that the parents or caregivers are working with the students if they also pronounce the same sound as you have taught them, this would further reinforce what they are learning at school. 

Denoting hand signals to sounds works. Using hand signals for teaching vowels is the most efficient method and is also advised by a number of teachers. Hand signals are said to be highly effective for a reason. Children are more likely to remember hand signals and gestures. Hence if you associate vowels with hand signals it will be easy for children to remember. Memory operates based on links and relevant information, if they can recall a gesture, they are most likely to recall the vowel associated with it. Another approach towards this can be using pictorial or symbols for the sound. This can also help as oftentimes children are fascinated by bright colours and pictures.

Allow children to participate in class instructions. Instead of telling them, every sound let them figure some sounds on their own. You can teach them a word and allow them to identify other words with similar sounds e.g., cat, bat, and rat. This would enable them to retain information a lot longer and would also build the habit of self-learning. They would then try to pronounce other words on their own and you can correct them if they are wrong. 

Children love activities. Use as many activities as possible, such as rhymes, songs, poems and vides. This would ensure that every child in the class participates and that you are reading different types of learners. Some fun activities include Vowel puppets/sticks, sand writing, and picture sorts. You can start with sand writing, where they write the vowel in the sand. Once perfected, you can start with vowel puppets where kids lift the puppet with the right vowel. After that, you can move to picture sorts where sort pictures with the same vowels. You can also make vowel strips where you can write the same sounding words (Homophones) for e.g hat mat bat. Hen pen men, as well let them make up their own vowel songs and poems.

Learning Vowels can be an interesting and  fun learning activities for young minds as it unlocks a whole exciting world to early readers in knowing how to read words

If you have any other methods in teaching vowels I would like to hear from you

Teach Money Management to Children

   

  Debt is the most common enemy in an adult’s life. It can eat up a person’s mind and his money in the span of months. Debt usually comes from loans, bad investments, and buying things that exceed our income rate. It is common for us to desire to purchase luxury goods, but it can lead to considerable harm if we are not aware of our financial capacity.

Hence, the concept of financial literacy must be engraved in kids at an early age. Instead of teaching things that are not practically applicable in life, schools can teach students about financial choices and the importance of saving and investing.

Importance Of Teaching Financial Literacy To Students

Students from elementary school who learn about financial literacy will be able to lobe their life independently without avoiding any debt if they know how to manage their savings. They will learn concepts like compound interest, stocks, mutual funds, investments, assets, and liabilities. These concepts will help them be responsible individuals who can manage their money without seeking help.

It is reported that most of the earned money of an individual is spent on rent. If students can avoid paying extra money on rent and learn to navigate a way out of the loophole, they can manage and make extra money by saving.

Teaching money management in schools is also essential. Teaching students not always to buy into their desires and save money for future endeavors can cultivate the value of saving money and practicing patience. This will help them avoid spending money on things they find flashy but are not of any use. Knowing these basics will allow them to take steps in becoming financially literate.

Group activities and questionnaires can do the integration of these financial literacy concepts. Parents and teachers should be encouraged to teach financial learning to their children so that they do not make financial mistakes that their predecessors did. The power of making financially independent choices will come naturally to kids when practiced daily.

Parents should teach their kids to maintain an open mind regarding their buying choices; this is useful when they need their savings down the line. Parents can encourage their kids to take part in their monthly budgeting practices. The teachers can hold acts and plays describing various financial scenarios so students can have their concepts cleared.

In the end, it is possible to raise kids and engrave the values of financial literacy. It is just as important of a subject as English and political science. It provides a basic understanding of the human world and its concepts. Money is one of the most potent things globally, and when kids are taught to control its power at a young age, they can do beautiful things with it.

Many concepts might be misunderstood, and you may need to explain them to them using real-life examples but do so because this is as important as any odd subject. There is a whole field dedicated to finance, and your child might find it interesting too. Happy Teaching!

  

Different Learning Educational Style of Children

       

   Children tend to learn through many different approaches, and diversity helps in their overall growth and understanding. To let them develop to their best versions learning, we, as parents and guardians, need to comprehend how crucial each learning process is. The education system tends be one paint brush that have only one learning method that teaches every child in the same way. The reality is that often many educators misdiagnose  many students with learning  disability when in truth it is just that some children have different leaning styles. The education system neither wants to spend the time or money in putting in the correct infrastructure to cater to the different learning styles of students.

  We have five senses and many persons use all or sometimes one sense in terms of  learning and retaining information. There is always one sense which stands out in relation to all of other the senses. Therefore a person may have an ear of music and picks up music instantly, or someone has a strong sense of scent which may aid in picking up specific scents. When a person loses one sense the other senses increase. It is assumed that sight is the main entry of  consuming material with disregard to the other senses or that learning for many persons may not be by sight.

  It is very important that parents and educators start to look at how important it is  to have diverse learning styles in the classroom and for parents to pay close attention to their child or  children in terms of how they learn. Is this child drawn to music or has a vivid memory. Does this child like to use their hands to build things or arrange puzzles and so on. The learning styles are as follows:

Learning through Sight

Colours, pictures, and visual concepts stimulate mental activity in children; in fact, our brain is mainly an image processor, not a word processor.” (Kouyoumdjian) Parents should read storybooks with their children as they have many pictures to teach them meanings, words, and concepts. Guardians must understand that what a child will be consuming by sight will be feeding it into their minds and understanding; thus, only positive and meaningful things must be shown at a young age.Children who learn by sight tends to be better at seeing the object before transforming it to meaning. In other words the child who learns better by sight as they get older moving into high school or college level, they will struggle with reading a text that has no photos as a guide. These learners will prefer to always have a graph or pictures to enhance their learning.The school system is definitely slanted to the learner who learns in this method. The education system despite its many faults will have charts and books which will appeal to this learner.

Learning through Hearing

Hearing allows children to first detect what they like and dislike, what seems wrong or safe, and when to be alert or stay calm. 

Studies have also shown that background music can help reinforce concepts, provided it is considered calming, not distracting. To that end, non-commercial noise such as instrumental music, nature sounds, and other vocalizations can help students focus their attention on the task at hand. (The Power of Context: Learning Through Your Senses, 2018). Whether we want to believe it or not that there are many learners even though they are still able to see are auditory learners. These learners listen to sounds and diction and then translate it by transforming it in their brain the concept. A child who learns by hearing will always be very good at music because they will pick up instantly on rhythm and sounds instantly. Auditory learners are unique learners as they do not rely just on sight. Blind people rely heavily on their hearing to guide them in their learning process and their hearing is normally even more acutely increased.

Learning through Touch/experiential

A baby’s first learning experience begins by touch at the 16^th week of development; after birth, the child learns affection, language processing, and problem-solving skills through touch throughout their childhood. Teachers should increase instrumental playing in classrooms as the experiential touch of an instrument is directly connected to mathematical abilities enhancement of children.Learning by touch is very special as these learners like to build and feel things in their environment. These learners tend to also be very logical as they like to figure out how things are connected. These learners tend to be drawn to building things or formulating patterns and they are always thinking about inventing something or solving problems.These learners tend to be better at math and science.Blind people also rely heavily on touch as they feel out their environment to get around and they also use their finger tips to read braille which depends on the different feel to figure out the words on paper

Learning through association

Associative learning, in a nutshell, is that a behaviour can be changed through the response that it gets. For example, teachers can help children learn through associative learning that it is using descriptive words and stimulus in their environment . Students and people who learn through association are persons who learn by experience. It is this experience that the learners makes a comparison to whatever the concept that is presented. These learners will benefit greatly from making comparisons or going on field trips or watching a video in order to make connections to what is being taught.

Learning through scent

This learning style though it is not as popular as the other distinctive styles and is more utilized with blind persons whose sense of smell will also be enhance. However there are many able learners who also rely on this learning style. In learning certain concepts they may visualize the scent of what they are learning. These learners tend to be very good at science, or anything to do with chemicals. Which is why many wine investors will develop a great sense of smell for wines or perfumes. These learners unfortunately are often ignored though not deliberately. It is a matter of poor planning as educators often over look such learners. Learners who learn through scents will normally have a great sense of picking up on faint odours which may not be noticeable to an average person.

All learning styles are very important and do overlap in one form or another. In another post I will look at the comparison of different learning  styles and how they help the learner. I do believe that educators can try to incorporate as many learning style methods into the execution of their lessons in order to make it interesting. Very often some students act out in class from boredom. A child who learns through association becomes quite bored from having pure visual lessons. And the same for any other learning style.Sometimes we will see a child excelling in one subject while lagging in another and this can be because that child is bored of the methodology of the lesson. By incorporating different learning styles then different learners can be reached.

Parents from very early years should pay close attention to how their children respond to learning so that they can also assist their children outside of school to develop as strong learners. Many children have been diagnosed incorrectly for learning problems or behavioural problems when in fact they were just bored with the learning methods.

If parents or teachers have any great learning activities for different learning methods I would love to hear from you.

Works Cited

Kouyoumdjian, D. H. (n.d.). Psychology Today.

The Power of Context: Learning Through Your Senses. (, 2018). Retrieved from Learn through experience.

Pepper Pig Book Review

  Pepper Pig is a precocious little pig loved by boys and girls between the ages of one and up. The character appeals to children from different backgrounds and she has a British accent. Peppa has a mummy pig, daddy pig and her brother George whose only word is dinosaur.

 I am thrilled at how creative designers are at coming up with creative animation characters in the 21C as opposed to when I was a child. This Pig is loved by all children and when parents or educators need a good distraction for their young children all they have to do is pull out a Peppa Pig book and everyone is quiet and all tuned in.

The language is simple and is great for building sentence structure and developing reading fluency. Peppa has many friends such as, Danny Dog, Rebecca Rabbit, Suzie Sheep, Candy Cat and many more. While children are learning new words they are also learning animal names.

 I also commend the creators for implementing the whole concept of family and community inclusion. Peppa as well as her friends belong to a nuclear family and many episodes of the show often show her interacting with her family as well as grandparents. It is for this reason we see Peppa Pig as a big hit during Halloween  and even many grandparents as well as parents are apart of Peppa pig parties. They can all relate to Daddy or Mummy Pig.

 The community of Peppa is quite close with Mrs Rabbit wearing many hats. This is a great book for  the family to read together or watch together. It is a great way for parents to bond with their children by stepping into their creative pretend world of Peppa or developing art around this delightful pig.

Educators can also find Peppa inspiring as kindergartens can draw their animal book or make their own Peppa stories. High frequency words and sight worlds on Flash Cards can be placed in the classroom from the books. This will help children to learn words faster because of association. Get to spell these words or make sentences.

This is a great way in helping Junior and Senior Kindergartens to read and write. No need to always teach through the same boring and monotonous way we were taught.Luckily we now have many options. Teachers can have Peppa Pig day and have children dress up as a character and even have a skit.

I highly recommend Peppa Pig books for reading. Parents can also go to the library to borrow books. This will make a great Christmas gift also as you have packs of five books that can be bought. It is also a must have for any Pre School or Kindergarten Library.

Peppa Pig is loveable but a little bossy but very much loved. May we all jump in muddy puddles. I think we could all do with some distraction.

Teachers and parents send me your best Peppa Pig stories or experiences. I would love to hear them and if you need ideas feel free to reach out to me. Two thumbs up for Peppa Pig’s books 👍👍

Words to watch for 

Pig      Mummy

Sheep   Daddy 

Dog      Grandma 

Rabbit    Grandpa

Fish       Parrot 

Cat          Zebra

Elephant   Muddy puddles 

Dinosaur  

How Children Learn to Read with Sight words

 

        One of the most challenging aspects of reading is when you read words that do not follow the standards rules of spelling. Examples of these are who, have, come, the, but, again, unit, better. Just to name a few. These words are what you call trick words or sight words.

 

     Since these words have spellings that do not follow their pronunciations, it can be quite challenging to decipher their meanings like other phonetic words. Hence, the best way to remember these words is through memorization. The best age to start memorizing them is at the Pre-School level to Junior Kindergarten. This is the reason why children learn sight words early. Once children build up with their repertoire of sight words, it will help them become more fluent and fast readers.

 

     But before we delve into how to teach children to learn sight words. Let us first go over the many different types of site words.

 

                                   Types of Sight Words

There are quite several sight words to remember, and these are ranked into two types:

 

                                            High-Frequency Words

These are terms that commonly appear in books. Some of its examples are: get, too, and, if, what. They are easy to read aloud. Children will have an easy time reading. It will also keep their focus on the rest of the text. Young readers normally can identify these words around them instantly when they see the same words on signs or charts.

 

Kids can enhance reading fluency when they can read the words instantly. To be fluent means to read with more accuracy and with the right tone of voice or expression. Eventually, it will then help them understand better. They will pick up on the words in sentences which will encourage them to want to go on to read all the words in the sentence. The cognitive natural reaction of the brain picks the need to identify all the words in the sentence, hence it pushes the child to become eager to want to read.

 

                                                             Irregular words 

Irregular words are another type of sight word. They are much harder to understand. Typically, their spelling and how they sound do not follow regular traditional spelling.

 

In other words, the sound does not correspond to the letters. Great, give, often, and, though, are irregular words. Sometimes, children find it hard reading these words because they are quite hard to identify. It is best to automatically recognize them in an instant to save time and enhance faster reading.

 

                      How to Teach Children to Read Sight Words

Now, how do you make the children learn sight words? That is the real question here. Memorizing words can be tedious, especially for kids who have a boundless supply of energy. That is why, in teaching children to read sight words, you must be smart and creative. You can start with three tips to make children learn sight words:

 

·         Make a list. Gather sight words in a list based on how frequent these words appear. Do not get excited and shove 100 words immediately to the child. Remember that a child should have a solid grasp of 30 sight words than a “kind of” knowledge of 100 words. Place site words on the walls and get them to identify them each day. Place site words in sentences on flash cards and each day give them simple sentences to read. By Junior Kindergarten you can get them to start making and writing simple sentences and then get them to draw a photo. Never let this seem tedious but instead make it as a game. Give rewards such as a sticker when they do well.

 

• Use repetition. Teach the child one or two sight words at a time. You can allocate 10 min every day to teach the child these words and have him/her repeat it as many times. This strategy can help beginners as well especially with children who struggle to read. This will their learning to read more interactive and engaging, you can make use of flashcards and word games. It is even better to associate these words with objects that they can relate as many children are visually learners. It is important that parents and teachers see reading and learning through the eyes of a child and not how they perceived how fast a child ought to be reading. Do not get tired of repeating the same flash cards of sight words every day as this is how children learn. Make up songs, rhymes and jingles and it will be imprinted in their minds, and before you know it they will be identifying the words in their story books or whenever they see them.

 

• Use games. Remember that you are teaching a child. They get bored quickly. So, make the learning fun for them by adding games. You can organize a sight word hunt where the child will have to look for sight words in a story you are reading. You can also use search puzzles, where children search a set of sight words in a word search puzzle. Hide words around the house and tell them to find a pair of the word and when they do, they should make a sentence. Reading is life long and we should never feel as if reading must be taught in the same boring conventional ways that we were taught as children. The possibilities are endless. Get children to make their own sight word games.

 

                                                   Conclusion

Sight words are tricky to learn, especially for children who rely on pronunciation for the first few years of learning how to spell words. However, you can easily navigate around this by making the children learn sight words gradually through memorization. Start with a few words first and build it up. Allow them to practice on repeat and give them responses or feedback along the way. Hands-on practice and repetition help children master their reading ability. It is also great if you add games into the mix to further boost their motivation to learn and keep their attention on the lesson. Parents and teachers also remember that every child learns at his or her pace. Never right off a child because it seems as if they are not reading at the standard and expected time you want them to. And lastly DO NOT compare children to other siblings or children. Let each child fall into reading at their own pace. After all we want them to have a life time of loving to read.

Fancy Nancy Book Review

                         Who can believe it’s October already. We are well into the school year despite COVID at our heels. COVID or not reading for young minds is essential. If not any other year this school year we should definitely immerse our children’s mind with reading materials. This is the time for creative thoughts and  inspirations. It has been proven that if we introduce children to reading from the early years such as kindergarten it will help them to develop a love for books and they will go on to be avid readers.

                        I will be looking at different level books through out the school year. Today I want to focus on early readers and the books I want to look at are the Fancy Nancy Series. Fancy Nancy series is age appropriate from 3 years and up. It is about a little girl who likes all things Fancy. She is very polite which means she is Canadian 😄. She is very chirpy and is always getting involved in exotic and interesting activities.

             Fancy Nancy likes to use big words because of course they sound fancy and she always give you simple form of the words as well as translate to French because French of course is such a fancy language. Children love to read Fancy Nancy as she gets into so many wild adventures and rediculous situations. Even thoug the book is loved by girls,boys can also read Them and enjoy the books and I would encourage parents to read it to both genders. This book is a big hit with children because of many reasons.

       It is fun and entertaining as the character is always getting into something. It  presents  the family as a cohesive unit. She is always looking to her parents for help or they are always involved in whatever she is doing.She has a younger sibling and a dog.Many children can relate to the characters life. She likes glitter and she likes to dress up which is a hit with many girls and even boys. Children in kindergarten are at the age where they will dress up in their parents clothes etc. Fancy Nancy series appeal to this side of their development as they try on shoes, scarves etc. This all makes it fun.My students have had many dress up sessions while listening to Fancy Nancy songs.

   The book also appeal to children’s artistic side. It will make them want to draw and colour and glue and paste as they try to come up with fancy artwork. The artwork illustration is not short of beautiful. It is colourful, it pulls you in and makes you want to see what is next. My Kindergarten students are always eager to go on to the next page as they cannot wait to see what the next illustration will be.You are never disappointed after reading a book in this series.

      If you are a parent or teacher they are many activities or a lesson that can be constructed after reading any of the books. And the best part is that for parents with older children the activity can be modified. There is always a vocabulary at the end which can be used to teach spelling or language arts.For French lovers you can use French words to teach simple vocabulary. You can have art activities based on the book or you can have a dress up session as the characters in the book or even a dance party.

       The fact is that there is never a dull moment with the Fancy Nancy series. I highly recommend this series for early learners. This should be apart of children’s book library. Parents remember that there is also the local library where you can borrow books. So do not feel pressure to go out and buy books if you cannot afford it. The library is a great source to get access to a variety of books.

    What is important is that we get our children to read. It is a great way to get them distracted from our crazy world right now but also feeding their minds. Reading is knowledge and Literacy is Power. Let’s get our children into reading now!

   Parents and Teachers if you have read Fancy Nancy let me know your thoughts and if you have a favourite one. 

      

         

  

  

     

    

  

  

Early Readers and Kindergarteners

   As children entering Kindergarten for the first time. More than likely they would have all been exposed to reading materials and letter sounds as well as letter identification. Junior Kindergartens normally  are excited about being in school for the first time. How should teachers and parents sustain young early readers to  become avid readers? 

Reading readiness are the pre experience of reading. It is very important to submerge young children with reading materials. Find a local library and sign up your child. Make it a habit to visit the library and allow your children to choose appropriate books.Some schools do have a library and they will send home books with students. At this stage children will learn their letters as well as letter sounds. Parents can encourage children to write the letter they learned as well find objects at home that begin with the letter sounds they did at school.

  Many schools have reading circle times where the teacher sets aside time to read to students. Parents should also supplement what is happening at school.This is where having a library card is of great importance because you can borrow a number of books to read at home. Many great books for reading especially at bed time are; Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Thomas, Miffy, Daniel Tiger. just to name a few.

  Have a discussion about their favourite characters. Let them tell who is their favourite pup on Paw Patrol, or why Peppa Pig loves muddy puddles. Try and limit screen time during the week . Sesame Street books are a great way to supplement learning as they are always touching on important topics as well as educational tools for learning like what is the  letter and number of the day.

Early years are the best years for readers as they are eager to learn new words.Kindergartens learn through rhymes and stories and songs. Let them express themselves through drawing and scribbling on paper and ask them to tell you about what they did on the paper. Let them pretend to write their own books.

  Dr Suess books are a great learning tool for early readers as its repetition and nonsensical verses with rhyming words lay the foundation for for 3 to 5 year olds to  start putting words together to make simple sentences.Workbooks are a great way to supplement children's reading with what they learn at school. It is also an alternative to screens and it distracts children. Many workbooks such as the Beaver Books and others normally have activities in them. Therefore children are learning as well.

  Early Readers are eager to learn and we should engage them as at this stage they are hungry for  knowledge. In all my years as an educator I have never seen a child in Kindergarten who isn't naturally curious and joyful. Unless there are other issues but young children are naturally curious about the world and they love being read to. It is important to harness this unwavering willingness to learn.

Let us keep our young children reading this school year. feel free to browse my list of books for early readershttps://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/books?ie=UTF8&pn=irid178084465

Parents feel free to reach out to me through this blog if you need help in finding worksheets or work books, or if you need recommendations in finding good books. I would love to hear from you.