Did you know? The above learning difficulties are almost the problems that most children face when they are in the first or second year of elementary school ! However, to get to the bottom of it, it is because at the age of 5/6, the foundation of word recognition and reading was not well established. The main reasons are due to insufficient of teaching manpowers in the kindergarten, lack of professional training, the needs to learn many and complicated learning subjects and lack of professional training models for literacy and reading, etc.;
According to experts, children aged 3 – 6 years are in their golden period of learning. They learn the fastest and the most during this time. Their brains are akin to a blank disc, ever ready to absorb new information. To your child, memorizing is not a burden but a biological necessity. Thus, it is important to harness this potential during this period so that your child can learn to master about 2500 common Chinese/Malay words, i.e. the vocabulary needed in the primary school syllabus.
The Mandarin/ Malay Language in primary school no longer remains at the level of learning basic words such as ayam, itik and arnab like what we learned once upon a time. When your child does not do well in exams, do you make him/her attend tuition classes to improve his/her grades? Is the unsatisfactory result caused by not understanding the lessons or actually the language used in the questions?
Is tuition the solution to poor academic performance? Many children might be ‘slow’ in learning but they are not ‘stupid’. Making him/her to attend tuition is not the solution because your child does not have other options other than complying with your request. Do parents like us understand their real needs? On the contrary, we should improve their ‘learning pace’ rather than using derogatory labels like ‘stupid’ or ‘hopeless’ or simply blaming the teachers in school of failing to teach???!!!
○ In Primary One, a child is expected to master a total of eight subjects, namely Malay Language, Chinese Language, English, Arithmetic, Science, Moral Studies, Area Research and Living Skills.
○ If the child has a poor command of languages, he or she will not be able to read and understand textbooks. Homework becomes a difficult task and the child will eventually do badly in examinations.
○ Lacking a good vocabulary of Chinese words makes learning of school subjects more and more difficult as the child moves up to higher levels.
○ Many students in Chinese primary schools have a limited vocabulary of Malay Language and English. They are often unable to pronounce and understand words in Malay Language and English.
○ When a child is unable to keep up with the pace in school, he or she is likely to lose interest, become lazy and defiant. This is certainly a serious cause for concern to the parents.
○ When the child reaches secondary school, the disinterest in reading and schooling grows deeper. Little wonder that the child eventually quits schooling. It is a loss to the society.
Most Chinese children fear and shun the Malay language because it is not their mother tongue. More often than not, most parents place greater emphasis on Chinese and English during preschool than the Malay language, resulting in weak foundation of the national language amongst many children.
It becomes a challenge for these young learners, who have not even mastered suku kata, when they enter Standard 1, especially in SJK where maths and science are taught in the national language.
YelaoShr® Malay & English Syllable Pronunciation, Reading and Comprehension Programme uses stress-free learning method to nurture children’s interest in the Malay & English languages so that they can master suku kata, perbendaharaan kata, tatabahasa and pemahaman at an early age.
Is your child’s vocabulary up to age-appropriate standards?
At the Beginner stage, teachers will use flashcards to guide young learners in recognizing words, which in turn improves their memory gradually. At this stage, the words are large and printed in red to attract their attention and reinforce impression. Children aged 3 to 4 years will be able to read 100 Chinese words within 2 months.
Some 4-year-old children will be able to pick up 500 words within 8 months, which is equivalent to Standard 1 level. At this stage, your child can read short stories independently. The role of the teacher now is to guide your child in independent reading, hone his/her reading skills, and cultivate the habit of reading.
The ultimate goal of literacy is to cultivate a child’s interest in reading, but not for coping with exams. Studies show that a person with a command of about 1000 words can read and understand up to 80% of the content in normal books and newspapers.
