Posts by Dominique:

May 6, 2013

Alpha-Phonics: A Primer For Beginning Readers

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids Phonics, Teaching Resources

Alpha Phonics Book Cover

Alpha-Phonics: A Primer For Beginning Readers by Samuel L Blumenfeld is the phonics book that I have been using with both Doggie boy and Tiger girl for the past few months. We received the book together with the CD back in January and I have been working through the 128 lessons with the kids.

This book works through the different letters of the alphabet and phonetic sounds. The book is divided into two sections. It’s all contained in one spiral-bound book. The first half of the book contains the student reading lessons, and the second part of the book contains the Teacher’s Manual. The student pages are white, and the teacher pages are a creamy color so that you can easily find what you’re looking for. I found this really useful as it guides you on what to focus on while teaching the various letter sounds to the kids.

The CD-ROM attached in the book allows one to go through the lesson on the go or on the PC. I tried out both the CD-ROM and the book with the kids and we prefer the book as it was easier to read through then on the screen.

We use the book as an after dinner activity with the kids to get them ready for study time. Both Doggie boy and Tiger girl started off at lesson 1 and are at Lesson 69 and Lesson 35 respectively. I haven’t completed the book with either kid yet as we are still slowly making our way through the book. However based on the lessons that we have completed I have seen an improvement in their understanding of Phonics.

Tiger girl reading from the book

Tiger girl is now able to pronounce all the sounds of the alphabet letters and simple two vowel words. She is slowly learning to identify certain words by sight and increasing her vocabulary.

Doggie boy on the other hand I have seen an improvement in his vocabulary and pronunciation of the words phonetically. He is also able to identify more words and read more confidently after being on this program.

My thoughts

Even though reading and learning phonics through a book is not as interesting as using interactive Apps or using online games of DVDs I find this method more effective. My kids retain the information thought better and I can see an improvement in their understanding of phonics.

I certainly recommend that you consider using this book to teach your child phonics.

You can purchase this book from Amazon

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Alpha-phonics for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own.

May 3, 2013

Weekend Reflections: Looking at Architecture and Culture

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Weekend Reflections Architecture, weekend reflections

Colorful Signboards outside the shop houses.

While having breakfast in Chinatown I took the chance to take photograph of the architecture in the area. Many of the buildings in Chinatown date back a few hundred years. It is a part of Singapore’s history that has been specially preserved for its heritage.

Chinatown is one of the few places where there are still old style shop houses standing. No doubt the businesses which used to occupy their premises have long gone with new shops taking over the outlets the place still retains its special charm as the first place where the Chinese immigrants chose to stay back then when they first landed on the shores of Singapore.

A street in Chinatown

The blend of old with the modern with the HDB blocks towering in the background. The unique architecture of the Indian temple which is located smack in the middle of Chinatown. It would have been great to be able to get a close up shot of all the carved statues at the temple but being with the kids made it difficult.

Pencil Sketch of a Street Scene

I could only take pictures from the corner of the street while waiting for the traffic light to change. Maybe next time when I can do a proper photo walk without the kids around.

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About Dominique

Posts by Dominique:

Alpha-Phonics: A Primer For Beginning Readers

Weekend Reflections: Looking at Architecture and Culture

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