IQRA - Reading

Having heard in Indo that a kindy child has to be able to read, that looks a bit absurd to me, I am now thinking to make Lara start to read here before going back home. The decision has to be made, Lara has to get the Monday off from ABC Learning Centre to be with mommy to learn to read and restarting IQRA. But I wonder the speed between the alphabetic reading and Iqra reading are competing. I don't understand reading Iqra is faster than the other.

This is a big fat hard work for me.

Reading is one of life's most important skills and is the foundation on which so many educational activities are based. From any resource I read, children beggin to grasp the concept of reading from as early as 2,5 year of age. It's very important thaht parents encourage children to explore the pleasure of books.

Thru' reading Lara can :

• stimulate her imagination
• further her spelling skills
• teach her to listen
• expand her vocabs
• help to remember things
• improve her ability to articulate words, facts, thought and feelings
• promote positive attitude between boooks, facts and knowledge

Preparing her to read

Preparing to read thru encouragement might be the ways though in fact she need a little push. Encouragement is often an important factor in the childs developmental process. Early encouragement will help to foster; a positive attitude towards books, n understanding and appreciation of books and specific reading skills.

The current phase in her age is actually the pre-reading skill such as:

• Predicting - encourage her to guess what word, sentence or thought is going to cme next in a story
• Retelling - ask her to retell the story in her own words
• Picture reading - have her make up a story by looking at a book's illustration
• Sound awareness - encourage her to recognise sounds and to remember similar sounding words
• Know the letter and sounds of words - promote her phonic knowledge by encouraging her to recognise letters and the different sounds they make. This point is often done by her daddy.

Things to do

• Show an interest in books, tell her that mummy or daddy is reading and that they are enjoying it a lot.
• Show pleasure in the child reading achievement. Encourage her with lots of praise over her ability to grasp even the simplest of new reading skills.
• Do not rush her to read books that are beyond her capacity. Take is slowly and she will respond better
• Offer a variey of reading materials
• Take her to the library or bookshop that appeal
• Let her see us read
• Read aloud to her whenever possible - map, a letter, junkmail or even the Simpson comic book
• Encourge her to read aloud to us. Listen and show interest and enthusiasm in the books that she is reading - though pretending.
• Gently encourage her to attempt difficult words and correct any mistakes along the way

The trick to encourage when she is getting reluctant or moody

• Read lots of stories , do not preassure her to read but encourage her to listen
• Help her to recognise letters and sound she makes
• Find the most effective ways that makes her like to learn ( I read - she read - repeat what I read)
• Look for books, magz or other reading material that interest her - any content
• Look for books that are funny