Singapore Expats

Hi Everyone,

My seven year old son is in a local primary school in Primary One. He is very good at everything except reading. His teachers say that he needs help to learn how to sound out the words he doesnt know. Unfortunately I work riduculous hours and am unable to tutor him myself (although I try my best!). Does anyone know of a tutor or tuition centre in Jurong West area that might be able to help him. He already knows all his phonics and letters and quite a few words it's just the handling of words that he has never seen before that he cant do and of course being at school they sent him to remedial classes, but after six months he is still having the same problem and I can only assume it is because they start out from basics like phonics which he already knows. So any suggestions would be great...maybe even suggestions on books that are good for kids to read that will help him. thks!

Hi Kirsty,
A friend of mine had the same problem with her 6 yo son and put him in for 1:1 tutions at a tution centre for a couple of months and now he is doing much better. He still has tuitons but in a group. My friend is away for a week so once she is back i will get the name and PM you,
Take care.
Neeti

Thanks for your help.

Hi
I would recommend that you take your son for an assessment at - http://www.enigma-variations.com - in Camden Medical Centre.
I am a primary teacher from Scotland and in my opinion he should have made some progress within six months of remedial work. It is a good idea to act now rather than him struggling as he gets older and the work gets harder. Hope this helps you.

Hi thks for your reply. I hope its not that serious. he gets 100% on all his remedial work, so I am not sure why his teachers say there is no progress in his ability to read. Could it be that they are not focusing on his reading as the remedial class is quite large and covers english and maths? Sometimes I wonder why he is there if his marks are always 100%. I am not really sure of how the system works. Do you have any experience with local school? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know if you need an assessment yet, as there could be a perfectly reasonable explananation for this. However, if there is a difficulty, you need to get help for him as soon as possible. Enigma has an excellent reputation. Have you noticed anything in his writing or reading - words or letters confused? Some words are ignored/repeated? Low retention?

I would recommend you send him to a tuition agency here that is focused on reading and writing in small groups. There are some good ones with trained teachers. Please feel free to PM me and I can point you in the right direction.

If I'm not wrong, children in remedial programmes in local schools stay there all year. If your son is doing better by the end of the year, the school will probably move him out of remedial classes then.

Thks Kiwi,

His writing is great ( a bit messy sometimes as kids do tend to get a bit lazy) other then that no back wards letters (my four year old does that) or wrong letters, its just the reading. I think I will use the holidays to get him some tutoring. i dont tend to like pushing too much on him at one time, so when he is in school and has all that plus remedial classes I have not been sending him to any other classes. I still want him to have a childhood! But i think now its holidays for a whole month, and he is kinda bored, so i will have to find him one, my main problem is i just moved to Jurong West and dont know the area too well, so no idea where to find a tutition centre or if they are any good. do you have any recommendations?

kirstyL wrote:Hi Everyone,

My seven year old son is in a local primary school in Primary One. He is very good at everything except reading. His teachers say that he needs help to learn how to sound out the words he doesnt know. Unfortunately I work riduculous hours and am unable to tutor him myself (although I try my best!). Does anyone know of a tutor or tuition centre in Jurong West area that might be able to help him. He already knows all his phonics and letters and quite a few words it's just the handling of words that he has never seen before that he cant do and of course being at school they sent him to remedial classes, but after six months he is still having the same problem and I can only assume it is because they start out from basics like phonics which he already knows. So any suggestions would be great...maybe even suggestions on books that are good for kids to read that will help him. thks!

Hi Kirsty.

I think I can help you with your problem there. I'm a teacher who has graduated from the National Institute of Education, and has recently undergone a programme which specifically targets a child's reading. There are many techniques that have been proven to help a child, somebody just has to help him find that right one.

I would love to tell you more, and help you out, just give me a call @ 81685437. My name is Juanita, most people call me Jay.

I am also available for tutoring, if you are looking for some help. I'm currently working with expat children, teaching them English and Reading. I'd be happy to give you references because I'm so proud of the progress my students have made and some of them just moved to Singapore only in January, speaking hardly any English at all!

Anyway, do give me a call, I'd be happy giving you some tips, if you like!

Good luck!

.....

Pardon me, but who the hell are you to tell me I'm not genuine or serious? And I don't see YOU offering any help at all.

I'm a certified teacher who can offer real help. I've had students improve greatly and their parents RECOMMEND ME TO OTHER PARENTS. You, on the other hand, are just a nosey little loafer, who just pops in to make lame comments to incense people.

Please go find something better to do.

by the way, shidal,

i've looked at all the posts you've made and none of them actually answer anybody's questions or help anybody out. it's mostly questions and useless one-liners like the one you just posted in this thread.

I suggest you do something productive and get yourself some credibility before slamming another person's efforts.

and please do not reply with more useless one-liners as this is not a place for arguments. I genuinely wanted to help Kirsty. If that's not your intention, stay out of this.

KirstyL,
You have mail.

All the best.

think ur mistaken ms kay , as a friend here says there is no response from the thread starter after offering help..not u

i don't understand what you're saying. please speak better english. do you need my tutoring?

i don't care if there is no response to my offer of giving tips and such. i offered SOMETHING, which is more than what you can say.

anyway...

I'm not bothering to come back to this thread. Save your replies.

Hi All,

Thank you all for your replies...it has been very helpful. I am sorry if i have not replied to some of the posts as I am working and with end of month and closing accounts, I have been pretty busy. I will certainly take into consideration all the efforts to help that were given and have contacted some of the places that were recommended already. The others I have not contacted....sorry and I will be calling you soon!! Once again thks for your help!!