Reading and Writing: Stella’s Journey (Part 3)

When teaching a child to read, many people place strong emphasis on the initial sounds of words. After teaching Stella the sounds of consonants and short vowels listed inside the covers of the workbook they bought, the little family made an Alphabet book. Each page is devoted to one sound and the adults helped Stella in hunting down and pasting pictures of objects sharing that same initial sound on it. They had a ball. I, on the other hand was more curious to find out if Stella was able to hear those sounds if they were in other parts of a word. Sorry that I love complicating things but there is a reason behind this: The ability to hear the sounds inside a word made makes it possible for a child to realise that each word is made up of sounds and the ability to manipulate the sounds within a word will help the child to learn to read later on.

I decided to find out one day during her 3rd term holidays in 2006. So while Stella was busy lining up her plastic animals, I casually asked if she could hear the ‘f’ sound in the word ‘elephant’. (No written word was involved in this little activity.) She looked at me suspiciously, probably wondering what I was on about. It was quite an obvious example as well. She probably thought that I didn’t think much of her! LOL. She didn’t answer the question until after her naptime! Before going to the park that day, she played with her line of animals left there since that morning. Without any prompting from me, she announced that she can hear the ‘g’ sound in ‘tiger’. She even said, “It’s like the ‘g’ in ‘girl’.” In a matter of weeks, she was telling everyone who would listen what she can hear. It was like an obsession for a while and it was all done without looking at any words. She concentrated on saying the words (sometimes slowly) and listening to the sounds. She paid attention to every sound, not just the one at the beginning. You should see how delighted her parents were. Instead of playing I-Spy in the car, they turned this into a game and played it together.

Midway through the first term in 2007, an older child in the same 4 year old Kindergarten group pointed out to her the way to read words of things printed on a set of flashcards that the two were looking at. (This older child was staying for an extra year at the Kindergarten because he was apparently too socially immature to proceed to Prep. He also had a tendency to baby the younger ones in the group – very interesting. (Unfortunately for Stella, he moved to another state.) After learning a few neat tricks from the boy, Stella came home to show me how to ‘read’. I eagerly reported that to her parents knowing that they would definitely be delighted by the news. We soon realised that she didn’t really read but was in fact parroting what was shown to her. Days later, I noticed something interesting. We were supposed to be tidying up but Stella went to look at her alphabet cards. I could see that she was working with them but was too busy to pop over at that instant. When I did, I saw the letter cards for ‘e’,’l’,’f’,’n’ and ‘t’, all lined up next to her favourite plastic elephant. I will admit now that I felt dizzy at the time. She was outside the back door retrieving a painting that she left outside to dry. When she came back in, she wanted to pack them up but I asked her to leave them there to show her mum. She pointed to them proudly and told me that it said ‘elephant’. I was so excited that I nearly fainted right there, right then. The adults’ reaction (including my own) reminded me of the kids in the movie ET when they discovered that the ‘Man from the Moon’ could talk.

Stella’s dad kept asking what I did but I didn’t do anything. That wasn’t the only thing that she ‘wrote’. From then onwards, Stella began to enjoy word building almost every day. The boy didn’t manage to successfully teach Stella to read but I strongly believed that he had propelled her into writing. This must be the power of peer tutoring. No one is sure if the boy ‘taught’ Stella again but according to the teachers, the two had been seen sharing picture books together at the book corner sometimes.

Note 1: In the eyes of many people, what Stella was doing is not accepted as writing because many words were misspelled. This is a matter of differing opinions. To me, that’s a child’s early writing. I am so very glad that Stella’s parents accepted her inventive spelling as a stage that Stella had to go through to truly practise the sounds that she had learned.

Note 2: In the next part, the coin dropped twice and a beginner reader was born!

Reading and Writing: Stella’s Journey (Part 2)

Through trial and error, Stella’s mum learned that her daughter absolutely disliked the worksheets she printed off the computer. Now, Stella has always been very artistic, sharing the same interest as her mum. She loves painting and to a lesser extent, drawing. But, like many other things to do with Stella she doesn’t like to be told what to do with her own art projects. Unless she is making a craft project with me, suggestions may be offered but she may not necessary accept them. So, when the Supergirl is asked to draw another apple or another object on the worksheet, her interest is likely to diminish because she gets very hung up about the quality of her own drawing as compared to the rest of the printed page. Her mind is very precise but her somewhat immature motor skills made it hard for her to recreate it in a small designated area on the worksheet. Stella encountered the same problem when learning to write letters on lines. Many worksheets and workbooks teach children to write on lines right from the start. As these were mostly made for older children, they may not be a problem for them but it was a painful experience for Stella.

Other options were needed to make learning to read and write fun for Miss Stella. I was consulted at one point. Yes, I was. Believe it or not, this nanny was consulted! I have plenty of ideas but unless I am asked, I am not prepared to step in. Years of working with parents, I have learned not to extend any help unless they explicitly wanted me to. What do nannies know? I also felt that I might ruin the mother and daughter’s journey so far if I got involved.

During one of our many conversations, Stella’s mum asked me for my opinion and with the permission via such a question, I stopped being a quiet observer and joined them in their journey. I suggested that they ditch the idea of making Stella write on lines. Instead, she was encouraged to write her letters on paper, in scrapbooks, on the whiteboard or draw them with a paintbrush at the easel; the more room to move the better. Finger painting the letters helped too. I also encouraged Stella’s mum to search the internet for some games to play with Stella. Worksheets are not the only way to learn to read and write. We soon witnessed the fun Stella had sorting picture cards into groups, playing Bingo and Snap. These literacy based games were mostly home made. Her parents also made use of things around the house, especially when they played their version of the treasure hunt game. Another thing worth mentioning is the Alphabet book that the little family made. Stella’s dad was so impressed with the end product that he had it properly bounded at Officeworks.

Most people think that children must learn to write repetitiously on lines to improve their writing skills but for a child to write well, he or she needs good fine motor skills to start with. (I am actually referring to handwriting skills here; not creative composition.) Stella did plenty of lacing/threading activities, very simple sewing, weaving and tracing stencils. She also designed and made simple decorations using Hama Beads and modelling with clay. All of these activities kept her fingers busy. As she had lots of fun, she was also preparing her hands to one day write with flair. When she did attempt to write, we encouraged her to love her own style of handwriting. Tracing dotted letters can be frustrating for the child who wishes to exactly clone what’s printed on the worksheet/workbook. What’s most important is for the child to correctly form each letter.

Note: In the next part of this theme, I will blog about the Sound Games and the unexpected ‘Teacher’.

Off To School Stella Goes

It is now definite that Stella will not be returning for a 3rd year of Kindergarten, aka Pre-prep. She is definitely going straight to Prep. Other than her mum, no one (me included) ever expected Stella to stay for another year. She is absolutely more than ready despite her age. Born in April and being the youngest in her group, her mum was worried that she might not be able to cope socially by going to primary school next year. In recent years, I saw quite a few parents of children born between late December and late April freaking out and surrendering their child for an extra year at Kindergarten. As her nanny, I have not seen Stella struggling socially. What does a nanny know? Okay, her teachers reported that she fitted in very well in her group as well. Both her mum and I have been told by the teachers that Stella is a natural leader, capable of initiating group play and contributing ideas for group projects. She can focus for long periods when working independently and loves the company of others as well. Unlike Alexandra (a girl I used to look after), the teachers are not requesting Stella stay for another year, but they will support her mum’s choice if she insists.

No concrete decisions were made as to what will happen to Stella next year until recently. After the first week of returning to Term 4, her mum finally decided that Stella was definitely going to primary school next year. Stella is way ahead of her peers academically. To hold her back so that she can work on her phantom social problems is likely to also hold her back on things that she is extremely good at. Stella’s dad is not confident that the Kindergarten can offer a tailored programme to suit just Stella. He thinks that since she is already so far ahead of her peers now, the gap would be even wider next year. He told me the other day that Stella can’t possibly be the youngest child in Victoria to enter Prep. I reassured him by telling him of a boy (who is now a teenager) that I used to babysit occasionally. The boy’s birthday was right on the cut-off date. I don’t think he displayed Stella’s maturity at around that age. In fact, he was quite shy. Today, he is a confident guy doing well academically as well as in swimming and cricket.

Now that they have made the decision to move forward, they are looking at the list of schools that have offered their daughter a spot again. Stella has been going through the enrolment merry-go-round since she was barely one. Enrolling for the Kindergarten was easy because her parents only tried 3 facilities. Enrolling for primary school was a whole different ball game because they were keen to get her into popular schools that they believe will cater to her needs. For some schools Stella didn’t even get to the interview stage. Her name was placed on the waiting lists instead. For the schools that they successfully gained a spot, her parents have responded to a handful. They accepted before making their final decision. LOL. Their favourite is a famous girls’ school in Melbourne. If she goes there next year, Stella will be there till she finishes Year 12. Apparently, 2 other girls from Stella’s group are also heading to that school next year. Her parents are keen to place her in the boarding facilities from Year 7 so Stella can mingle with her peers on weekdays. Two of the other four schools offer an alternative education that appeal to Stella’s mum but her dad is not very keen. The last two options are also traditional private schools but they are located further away. One of these two is slightly alternative and both offer education up to Yr 12 but only one offers boarding facilities for older children.

Stella has since been told that she is going to primary school next year. On hearing the news, Stella couldn’t stop asking questions. She wants to go right away. She wants to visit. The majority of the children in her group at Kindergarten are going to two private schools nearby. Two trips have been organised for the children to visit the two schools. Stella already knew that she was going to neither of them and requested for a similar visit to ‘her’ school. The thing is that her parents have not made a final decision on which school as yet. I told her to enjoy visiting those schools. I asked her to check out the classroom and tell me about the teacher. Later, if her parents take her to visit the school they have chosen, I will ask her to see if the classrooms are similar to the ones she saw when she visited the other schools. I am pretty sure that her parents will have to decide on a school very soon. There are usually things to be done to prepare the little rookies and their parents for the first day of school life.

Sometimes parents choose to hold their children back for reasons that I do not agree. I have heard that boys have been held back because of their size. There is this ‘better be a bully than to be bullied’ mentality. If children are held back for an extra year, they will then be among the ‘oldest’ bunch in the playground when they enter Prep. The chance to be selected for sports like footy is also greatly enhanced for these boys in later years. However, I believe that this move may back fire later on because being older means that many issues that usually arise between Yr 7 and Yr 9 may be brought forward into the final year of primary school. I am not entirely against the idea because for some children, the option to delay is absolutely essential but decisions should not be made without careful considerations. Zoom out a little and look at the bigger picture. Avoid focussing on just the age of entry. Think also about the other end and the stages in the middle.

Note: At the time of posting this, Stella’s parents have finally picked a school. To protect the family’s privacy, the school’s identity will not be revealed here on this blog. It will be known simply as Stella’s school.

‘Illiterate’ Nanny Ranting About Literacy/Spelling

A popular half hour show on TV has bugged me a great deal last week. The issue of poor spelling among young Aussies was brought up again and of course TEACHERS were to be blamed again. What infuriated me most was that the show has used the same case study of a father and son time and time again.

In the short segment about the father and son, the show highlighted the father’s frustration when he found out that the child’s teacher had not corrected his spelling mistakes in what looked like to me, an exercise book for creative writing. I really can’t stand parents who seem to think that they know it all because they have managed to produce little human beings. So instead of finding out why the mistakes were not corrected and read up on today’s literacy education, he jumped to complain to the media first.

Anyone who has seen a child develop from being a newborn to an active toddler would have realised that a baby that has just learned to sit up unaided is not going to step up in the next minute to hop to the toilet. There are other skills in between for the child to master first. There are different stages too in Language Development. In speech development, interested people are often at awe at how a toddler masters his mother tongue without signing up to a formal language course. In reading and writing however, the child must be shown keys so as to gradually apply them to unlock the mysteries of reading and writing. This can be a speedy process for some children and a slower process for others. Do not be fooled into believing that a preppy will learn all he needs to be a reader/author in the first year of school.

When a child enters the first year of school, he brings with him an extensive and well developed vocabulary. At school, his teacher will offer him the keys (like learning the alphabet and their sounds) to learn to read and write in a well-designed language rich classroom. It is in such a secure environment, (hopefully) free from unnecessary interventions and judgements, that a child experiments for himself, trying out the keys (he has learned so far) to write for the very first time and then to read simple text. This is when inventive spelling starts to appear in the child’s work. For example, the child may write ‘cum’ for the word ‘come’ or ‘egs’ for the word ‘eggs’. This is the stage when the child is trying to write phonetically. Read the misspelt words and you will find that they are pronounced the same as the original words. This shows that the child is intelligent and resourceful in trying to apply some of the sounds he has learnt into his own writing. Parents should be happy to see that their child is inquisitive enough to want to experiment in different ways. Gradually over years (shorter, in some instances), the child will master the entire set of 44 (or 45, depending on where in the world you are) sounds of English and then begin to learn alternate spellings for sounds they have learnt earlier. (English is a non-phonetic language. There is a combination of skills to learn to be able to read and write properly.) This is when the child will start to show accurate spellings. Instead of writing ‘plai’, he may now be able to write it properly – ‘play’. Continued exposure to book language through read-alouds and shared-reading enhances spelling accuracies as well.

Most teachers are discouraged from correcting the young author’s spelling mistakes. This is partly because teachers do not wish to discourage the child’s new found interest in writing. By being a picky parent, judging the child’s every mistake, he runs the risk of putting the child off writing. Visualize a child too worried of failing to even want to try. I believe that Cathy Freeman as a 6 year old didn’t run as fast as she did at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Everyone should be patient and allow each child the time to blossom naturally.

The little boy featured in the TV show was 6. His state of origin was not mentioned. He could have been a preppy or in Grade 1. From the footage no one can be sure if his teacher never records his mistakes into her own folder. Respectful teachers do not mark out a child’s beautiful piece of writing. (Which La La Land is this nanny from?) That’s like tagging a beautiful public structure. Dedicated teachers are likely to record the child’s mistakes in a separate folder. From there, the teacher may invite the child for an individual or small group (with children sharing the similar mistakes) discussion. If not, the teacher may create a mini lesson to be presented to the whole class. No shaming is necessary and the child/children who made the mistake/s are never mentioned. The teacher may include examples she created herself. No one can be sure if the boy’s teacher ever carried out what I mentioned above. (Why would the show’s producer want to give her a chance to speak up? She is only a teacher.) Facing a dad who was on a mission of picking errors from the child’s work, the boy is likely to just back down and accept what is dished out. As a nanny, I have seen children who are so tired at the end of the day, they just agree with what is ‘thrown’ at them from their parents. This is quite a funny sight because children are known to be troublemakers and not the parents.

I love this blog. I get to speak my mind even though I am just a nanny. Readers may not agree with what I have to say but I get to say it anyway. If you totally disagree with this nanny, please drop me a comment.