As soon as a child is nearing the age of three, it’s inevitable that parents start fretting over their literacy skills. You’re moving on from getting them to recognise letter sounds to grooming their literacy skills which include understanding, writing, speaking and ultimately ensuring that they become confident and independent readers.
Here’s how you can groom your child’s total literacy system and help them keep up with the demands of today’s world!
What is a Total Literacy System?
If you want to raise an independent and confident reader, you need to go beyond the basics of teaching your child how to make alphabet sounds and recognise sight words. What your child needs is a total literacy system to understand what they are reading and to become confident speakers and users of the language.
Apart from conventional print texts, your child should be learning and reading through various platforms such as video, music, and digital resources. If you want to teach your child how to read, and to raise an independent and confident reader, you need to embrace the multi-modal world of the 21st century.
Challenges that Parents Face
While it all sounds good, teaching your child to read is easier said than done. For one, you may have difficulty engaging your children in learning how to read. Children learn best with consistency and routines; however, working parents are constantly pressed for time.
It may not always be possible for you to set and stick to a reading routine with your child. Frequent distractions from work emails and WhatsApp messages don’t help either.
In addition, given the plethora of resources and learning platforms that are available today, you may not know where to start. It also begs the question of whether the learning path that you select for your child’s literacy ability is the right one.
The journey towards raising an independent and confident reader is a long one that can be fraught with challenges. You may also struggle to keep track of your child’s progress and to build their confidence as the reading level gets progressively harder.
At this point you may ask – don’t they learn to read in preschool? Schools tend to focus more on the whole learning experience and may not have sufficient time to zoom into making your children confident and independent readers.
They may be focused on more measurable goals such as blending alphabet sounds and how many age-appropriate sight words your child is able to read.
If your child doesn’t have a solid foundation, the problem starts to manifest when they go to primary school. Spelling and comprehension start becoming a problem, especially from primary 3, when they start taking examinations and are required to write proper compositions. Need we mention oral examinations as well?
As such, it might be a better idea to leave it to the experts to teach your child to read and mould them into independent and confident readers.
I CAN READ Discover Programme
When it comes to raising an independent and confident reader, the I CAN READ Discover Programme is just what you need.
I CAN READ Discover takes an experiential, innovative and motivated approach to learning to foster a sense of enhanced independence for students. The entry age is 2.5 and the programme is designed to guide the youngest students towards the early acquisition of English literacy skill development.
Unlike many other enrichment lessons that take place once a week, I CAN READ Discover ensures that there is consistent practice and reinforcement of what is taught in class. This is done by extending the lesson with an independent home-based digital experience.
Moving from in class to online allows your child to:
- Explore interactive educational activities
- Have access to unlimited learning resources
- Engage in personalised lessons that help to harness passion and creativity
In addition to raising an independent and confident reader, this multi-modal approach to learning moulds your child to become digitally savvy.
As such, it ensures that he keeps up to the demands of the ever-changing education landscape. Students who sign up for the programme can look forward to age-appropriate digital solution materials such as:
1) ICR Heroes
ICR Heroes is for students in the ICR Discover programme which consists of 3 different courses – pre-reading levels 1, 2 and 3.
The materials allow students to practise phonological awareness skills learnt in class through fun-filled games and activities that your child can engage in at home. It offers:
- A full 360 Offline an Online Learning Experience
- Opportunity to practise skills learnt in class independently
- Success and achievement through reiteration
- Digitised activities for targeted learning
- Engaging and effective interactivity
I CAN READ Programme
I Can Read is a 12-month course that focuses on developing independent readers. The course follows the renowned I Can Read System, which teaches and reinforces one new sound each week. The students are taught to identify sounds via the use of a series of I Can Read proprietary marks or clues.
This is a structured reading course using the unique ICR Screener and ICR Code Card that embeds reading skills into long term memory during the 12-month course.
2) ICR Champs
ICR Champs is for students in the ICR programme which consists of 6 different reading levels. It is a unique mobile app that personalises your child’s learning from their own active speech through enjoyable engaging activities such as:
- Voice Analyser guided pronunciation too
- Interactive educational activities designed for your child
- Unlimited learning resources beyond the classroom
- A learning path created and endorsed by educational experts
- Track and learn with your child as they progress
Why I CAN READ is a Great Choice
I CAN READ is a great choice to help you raise an independent and confident reader as it is the leading English enrichment centre in Singapore. Its unique methodology is backed up with 15 years of research by educational psychologists and the programme has more than 300,000 success stories in its 20 years of experience.
You can trust your child is in good hands for the programme boasts an effective curriculum developed by academic specialists backed by research in more than 14 countries. Your child will develop confidence in the language with this proven and unique method used to achieve reading independence and fluency.
The great news is that you don’t have to worry about travelling as there are 20 centres located islandwide. Your child will be placed in a small class size according to their ability for consistency.
Moreover, I CAN READ provides your child with a 360 degree English literacy learning experience with physical and online lessons as well as eLearning. Online lessons are just as good as physical lessons, with fun and engaging activities through built-in games and videos. It is easy to use and supported on tablets and computers.
eLearning allows for both offline and online learning and helps your child to move from in-class to online in one seamless step.
The best part is that it is personalised for each child’s reading level and interests. The unlimited learning resources outside the classroom and interactive educational activities will harness your child’s passions and creativity.
So, mums and dads, don’t be pressured to take it upon yourselves to teach your kids. Instead, leave it to the experts in the I CAN READ classroom. You can be rest assured that your child will learn based on his own ability and time, given the right exposure and resources.
Seeing is believing so book your free assessment at the nearest centre to understand more about the programmes and digital learning materials.
In no time, you will raise an independent and confident reader who is ready for the challenges of the world!
To build your child’s reading and digital literacy skills to be future-ready, book a free assessment with I CAN READ to understand more about its digital learning materials here.