Right Reads…

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Now that other folks e.g. my husband, my siblings and my friends are reading my books, I’m eager to share my thoughts about my books on this week’s “Booking Through Thursday question:

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

I’m definitely NOT a spine-breaker or a dog-earer, particularly for books which I intend to keep! They don’t have to be in pristine condition…they just need to look like a book i.e. flat and rectangular (or square) LOL???

Read more »

Tags: meme

Otherwise known as the “Keywords Reading Scheme with Ladybird”, this set of 36 books is famously known all over the United Kingdom and possibly within the Commonwealth countries.

Did you know that this reading scheme is 44 years old? Now, I’m a strong believer of “old is gold” especially as these books are developed based on research on literacy.

The author, William Murray, an education adviser and together with an educational psychologist, Prof. McNally studied writing materials and spoken samples of English (using a tape recorder).

From their study, they found that:

12 words make up 25% of spoken, printed and written English,
100 words make up 50% of spoken English and
300 words make up 75% of spoken English.

Using the above ‘keywords’, he came up with the Ladybird Keyword Reading Scheme. If you read the books with your child, they will be able to recognize these words on sight (by memory) and have the basic and essential vocabulary to read, speak and write in English.

Basically, you’re building a strong foundation in English with this set of books!

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Tags: Ladybird, reading

On “Booking Through Thursday” this week, a serious topic is posted:

Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I know that not all of you who read are in the U.S., but still, it’s vital that none of us who are decent people forget the scope of disaster that a few, evil people can cause–anywhere in the world.

It’s not about religion, it’s not about politics, it’s about the acknowledgment that humans should try to work together, not tear each other apart, even when they disagree.

So, feeling my way to a question here …

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Tags: meme

“But my son or daughter doesn’t want to read!”

As an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teacher, I hear this common complaint all the time when I ask if their children read at home.

I also hear interesting stories about how parents try to get their children to read by:

buying books and magically wait for their kids to read them

promising them rewards if they read them

threatening them with “unpleasant consequences” IF they don’t read them

lecturing them about the “benefits” of reading the books

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Tags: reading

I know many Mums who buy the Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby VCDs by the dozen - after all, which Mum wouldn’t want a baby to grow up like Einstein?

As a Mum myself, I’ve bought a bunch of VCDs for Lucas to watch when he was a year old plus. I’m glad that I didn’t start him on these when he was a baby because this article from TIME magazine, “Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All” report that having babies watch VCDs will do them more harm than good, especially in the area of language learning.

Led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis, the University of Washington study reported that:

“…with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos. These products had the strongest detrimental effect on babies 8 to 16 months old, the age at which language skills are starting to form.”

Read more »

Tags: Baby Einstein, reading

With all the packing and unpacking going on, I never thought I’d be able to finish (BURP!) what I started through the book binge (hosted by It’s Not All Mary Poppins).

In May, I am proud to present:

1. The Healthy Lunchbox
2. The GREAT Book of Transport by Lynne Gibbs
3. Down to A Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
5. Still Me by Christopher Reeve - I didn’t reread the entire book (not sure if it still counts?)
6. Bringing Home the Business by Kim T. Gordon
7. Awake at the Wheel by Mitchell Lewis Ditkoff (stopped at page 21)
8. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (stopped at page 36)
9. Painless Writing by Jeffrey Strausser (stopped at page 125)

Amidst the packing and unpacking from my parents’ house to my little pad; rushing around with errands; picking up after the little tyke and then packing to head back to China, I think it’s a pretty good list.

But I also notice how schizophrenic my reading list seems to be!

I *really* couldn’t help picking up an old friend or a new one to peek into it and soon…I was blissfully buried between those pages =)

Looking forward to more binges (mmm, excuse me).

Tags: meme

Good morning! How do you start reading to a baby? Choose the times when both you and Baby are awake and free of any chores. This is quality time spent with your child - choose the best time that suits both of you. All you need is 15 minutes.

For Hubby, it’s usually late afternoons when both of them are alert while I need a nap. He enjoyed entertaining Lucas during this time.

15 minutes before bedtime is best for me. If Lucas’ bedtime is 8.00 pm (about 3-4 months old), I’d bring him to the room at about 7.45 pm. I’d switch off the lights and settle him next to me. His chubby legs are wrapped around a bolster and he’s happily sucking his pacifier, with big eyes turned towards me.

I face him and softly sing 3-4 nursery rhymes or songs. My favourites were “Edelweiss”, “Rock a bye, baby” and “Seek Ye First”. These gentle songs lulled both of us to sleep.

Remember to avoid action songs as it’ll perk Baby up, keep him awake and then, you’ll get Mr. Cranky! Read more »

Tags: babies, preschool, toddlers