Joshua has mastered the Magic 100 words, and he's got a certificate to prove it.I'm referring to the a collection of commonly used words such as "I", "you", "we", 'yes", "no", "can", "red, "like", "some", "as", etc (you get the drift) that Preppies like Joshua are using to learn to read. There were 15 sets of such words and having mastered all the words, Joshua was given an "award" during the school assembly for his effort.
Well, the kids get "awards" for all sorts of things. A bit overdone, I personally think, but good to help boost self-esteem among the kids.
Anyway, what I want to say here is that the approach used by the schools to encourage reading is very effective. The kids have a daily reading kit that they bring home to read everyday. Joshua is picking up his reading skills fairly quickly. He can read signs on the road, notices on the wall, movie posters, etc.
The other day, I tried to avoid telling him about some kid meal that came with a toy at the Red Rooster restaurant but he saw "The Little Red Rooster Meal" on the wall and insisted that I get him that one. So much for trying to hide information from him. He can read now. He can also construct simple sentences, thanks to the weekly diary writing he does at at school.
Yes, young people here read quite well, but they don't count too well. Numeracy somehow isn't given the same focus and emphasis as literacy. Hmm, someone should really look into this. Maybe I'll bring that out when I have my next teacher-parent interview at the school.
4 comments:
Haiyo aunty, sooo Cina lah u with the emphasis on numbers & maths. Just like in yer old days, kids from Chinese schools are math genuises but can't hold a fookin English sentence together. Be thankful he is being exposed to different teaching values.
Has yer tot thought his new friends some new words like "nia ma ker chau hai", "puki tiang" etc. Celebrate Multi-culturalism! He he
oi, before i teach the kids such colourful language, i'll have to make sure they don't forget their mother tongue - spoken in the proper way.
i just hope the kids have my language skills and alex's number skills.
"spoken in the proper way"? You Hakka people are the biggest #@%*% swearers around! Is that what u mean by teaching Joshua the right way to speak his mother tongue?
very funny. most of the chinese swear words i know are in hokkien or cantonese ... and i'm neither! well never hurts to know a few swear words anyway ...
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