Pbk Language Skills

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ISL – CHILDREN LANGUAGE SKILLS 8 JULAI 2008

Language is the medium through which children are able to organise and express their ideas and experiences. The development and use of language is very important as it enables children to communicate with one another. Language development flourishes in an environment where children feel emotionally secure. When language is associated with happy and pleasant experiences, children are more likely to be motivated to use it. While at the kindergarten, children should be given the opportunity to make use of all amenities that encourage them to learn, communicate and read. Activities in the kindergarten are aimed at providing children with learning experiences and the acquisition of skills in listening, visual perception and speech as preparation for early language learning. These activities should be carefully planned and worked out in details in order to enable them to gain experiences through listening, seeing and speaking besides providing experiences in pre-writing and writing. While children are doing these activities, they can communicate orally, by using simple sentence structures commonly used in day-to-day speech. Children will realise that what is spoken can be written, what is written can be read. With the encouragement and motivation given by the teacher, it is hoped that children will want to read and be interested in the written word and books. Reading and writing are a natural development of the spoken language and should be learnt when the children are able to express their feelings and varied experiences effectively. Pre-reading, pre-writing, early reading and early writing activities should be carried out in gradual stages using the play-way method to enable children to acquire pre-requisite skills in reading and writing.

WRITING SKILLS Hand skills refer to the strength and the dexterity (how well we can handle small objects) in our hands. Both depend on how we use the small muscles of our hands.

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However, we also need the muscles in our forearm to provide strength and stability. In fact, we often must coordinate and use both types of muscles to do things such as holding and using a pencil, using scissors, managing buttons, handling coins and using various utensils for eating. The thumb, index and middle fingers carry out the skilled movements while the ring and baby fingers provide stability and increase strength. It is also important to develop strength and control in the upper body and shoulders so we can steady ourselves. This gives us the freedom to use our hands to manipulate and control objects in a very precise manner. Good sensory information is important for hand skills, as it tells our brain what we feel, how we move and where our hands are as we do a task. The brain must coordinate these sensations with what we see so we can make small changes for precise coordination and muscle control. Imagine you are wearing a pair of heavy gloves and blurred glasses while you try to do your work. You would have difficulty coordinating your movements for most tasks! Children need to receive and coordinate accurate sensory information when developing pre-writing skills.

Pre-writing skills activities Here are some suggestions to help your child develop good pre-writing skills: 1. Scribbling with crayons. •

Have plenty of paper and writing materials on hand for your child.

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Place paper pads and pencils throughout the house.

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Encourage all efforts to write.

2. Making circles and other basic shapes. •

Again, put plenty of paper and writing materials around the house.

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Point out shapes in the house and try to draw them together (be encouraging).

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Have stencils available for your child to trace.

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Discuss your child's attempts with him/her in a positive way.

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Encourage your child to look at and talk about their work.

3. Beginning to make drawings of real people, objects, and events. •

Encourage all efforts (stick people are beautiful when your child draws them).

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Ask your child about his/her work.

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Keep samples and encourage your child to look at and talk about their work.

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Hang your child's art in their room or on the refrigerator.

4. Beginning to make drawings of real people, objects, and events. •

Encourage all efforts (stick people are beautiful when your child draws them).

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Ask your child about his/her work.

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Keep samples and encourage your child to look at and talk about their work.

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Hang your child's art in their room or on the refrigerator.

5. Beginning to recognize letters. •

Write your child's name on a card so they can look at it often.

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Find the letters in their name in other words.

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Encourage your child pick out letters they know.

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Talk about the letters in your child's name.

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Point out and talk about capital and lower case letters.

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Play letter lotto (a Bingo type game using letters).

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Read alphabet books.

6. Beginning to recognize written names and some words. •

Work with your child on picking out words they recognize in magazines and books.

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Together, notice similarities and differences in words (bell & dell, wall & walk).

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Make a word box with a word and a picture of that word when possible.

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Encourage your child in their efforts.

7. Realizing the permanency of words (r-u-n always spells run). •

Write down a story your child tells you and reread it every day. Read familiar books with only one or two lines on a page.

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Notice word labels on boxes; reread them to reinforce their permanency.

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Buy a first words dictionary and use it together.

READING SKILLS Learning to read will be difficult if these skills are not present. Children are natural imitators, and it is important that they should see others reading. Often they will attempt to copy this activity without prompting, pointing to words on a page and making up a story. Story time quickly becomes of great importance in their day, and the teacher should choose the stories she offers them with great care. Young children are often not equipped to cope with the fantasy world of witches and ghosts, which can arouse fear in impressionable minds, and lead books to acquire unpleasant associations. Such children needs stories about the world they know, the world of birthdays, seasons and weather, or about children who are recognizably naughty, stories to give vicarious experience of toothache and visits to the doctor.

Pre-reading skills activities 1. Talk to your child whenever you are together.

Tell her about an interesting story you read in the newspaper. Describe a conversation you had at work. When you go shopping together for clothes, tell

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her about the shopping trips you used to take with your mom. It may not seem as if your child is paying attention — but she is. Do not be surprised if you hear her repeating something you said when she talks to someone else. And remember: Children are natural mimics, so as adult, we must watch our language especially when we speak to them. 2. Ask open-ended questions.

As a parent, if you ask your child a broad question such as "What did you do at school today?" you will get a much more detailed answer than if you ask a yes or no question like "Did you have fun at school today?" If she is slow to answer, then get more specific: "What science experiment did you work on today?" Give your child a chance to describe what she's been up to, and listen enthusiastically. She may tell you lots of seemingly trivial details, but all of it is important to her. And you might as well enjoy the conversation while it lasts: Soon enough, you'll have a close-mouthed teenager sitting across the dinner table from you! 3. Tape her singing a song or telling a story.

Your child will love to hear her own voice on tape, and she will be surprised and fascinated by how she sounds to other people. Hold on to those tapes — years from now you will be glad to have an oral portrait of your child at this age. 4. Rework a favorite old story. Bring out one of your child is most dog-eared, battered books and read it aloud yet again, only this time pause at key points to let her supply the words that come next. Or read the story and purposely change key details to see if she corrects your "errors." 5. Request a book report.

At the dinner table, or wherever the family is gathered together, have your child summarize the latest book she's read. Have family members pose questions, and ask your child to describe what she liked or did not like about the book. 6. Have your child read aloud.

You have spent the last six years or so reading to her. Now it is her turn. Find books she can read easily and that aren't too long — this way, she won't lose her enthusiasm.

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SPEAKING SKILLS Learning to speak happens naturally and normally for most children. Speaking is learned without traditional "studying". By age 3, most children are talking very well. However, children master grammar and social rules over a period of time. Non-verbal or unspoken aspects of talking with others also are learned over time. Non-verbal "language" includes eye contact, gestures, body posture, as well the "tones" in a person's voice that have meaning. Children learn to communicate by interacting with their parents, families and other people in their lives. It is the back and forth of speak with others that helps children not only speak, but learn how to use language socially. We all speak and use language because we need something or want to share something. By helping children to speak well you are also growing their social skills

Pre-speaking skills activities 1. Read to your child. Read to your child as much as you can, and as often as possible. Needless to say, most parents will not have the entire day free to sit and read to their child, but you could certainly take out some time in a day. Some parents like to read to their children when they are feeding them, since it is easy to feed a small child while telling him a story. However, instead of reading to him at this time, it may be better if you tell him a story ad hoc. Read to him at night. This way, you can cuddle up with your child and with a nice picture book. Hold the book so both you and your child can look at it. Follow the words with your fingers as you read. Don't force your child to look at the book or to follow your fingers with you. Let

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him pay attention to the story. He will learn to read eventually anyway - this will just make him more familiar with the written word. 2. Encourage him to read aloud. Once your child can read, encourage him to read aloud every night. This increases your child's ability to read from text. Think back to your own classroom experiences. At times certain teachers would call upon students to read paragraphs aloud from their textbooks. Some students read flawlessly, while other students, who otherwise have no speech problems or impediments, suddenly started stumbling with words. Both parents made it a point to pay attention to their children when they were reading, and to turn off the television for around half an hour. Not only did the children is reading aloud ability improve dramatically, but in this manner they also did an enjoyable semi-revision at home. One of her children is now a successful freelance writer, while her other child is working with a news channel, as a broadcaster. 3. Talk to your child. Parents spend a lot of time coochie-cooing to their child, and less time actually talking to him. Speak to your child as much as possible, even if your child is a baby. You will be surprised at how much your child will pick up, and when it is time for your child to speak, he should be able to speak a lot earlier than other children. When first confronted with the idea of talking to a baby, you may wonder what on earth to talk about. Speak to him about the weather; tell him what a beautiful, sunny day it is, or how it rained so much. Ask him when he thinks his father will be home from work, and you wonder if he will be late again. Tell him what you are going to be eating for dinner that night. Be happy when talking, as children, even babies, can pick up unhappy vibes - so if you have any problems, it is not a good idea to unburden them on your baby even if he cannot understand what you say. The world of babies is indeed mysterious!

LISTENING SKILLS Teaching children listening skills by reading to them will improve their listening skills and train them in the art of active listening. In fact, teaching children listening skills is one of

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the most important traits we as adult human beings can help them develop for many different reasons, ranging from academic and real world success to becoming a friend and experiencing true friendship. If we are not talking or reading, we most likely are listening. We listen to the radio, the television, our friends, our family, and our coworkers. But listening is something we have to do actively because "listening to" something and "hearing" something are two very different concepts. This is why teaching children listening skills is so important. We hear the familiar sounds of the refrigerator humming, the microwave beeping, the dog barking, the baby crying, and the cars honking. And if we are fortunate enough to break out of the rat race, we can even enjoy the sounds of nature like birds chirping, a brook babbling, the wind blowing, or leaves rustling. But just because we have heard these sounds doesn't mean they have registered in our brains.

Pre-listening skills activities Activities, fun, and games are some of the best ways children learn. You can integrate their learning style into helping them improve their listening skills. I’ve come up with some practical listening activities you can do with your child to improve their communication skills: •

You can read to your child and have them tell you their understanding of what you read. This is an excellent activity that will also develop their knowledge depending on what book you read.

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Not so much an activity as it is a skill, but teaches your child to listen nonverbally. Too often children can get distracted and do not pay attention. Have them maintain reasonable eye-contact to the person who is talking and where

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appropriate have them develop other non-verbal skills such as facing you and not fidgeting. These skills will carry over into improving their confidence. •

Throughout the day, when you say something to your child, ask him/her to repeat the message. They do not need to mirror word-for-word what you say as they just need to retell the main message.

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You could make up a game if you have several children. Have someone talk up the front and ask a question at the end about something that was discussed in the talk. The child with the best answer can get a reward. Now watch how closely the children listen! Spending the time with your child develops their knowledge, listening skills,

focus, and your relationship. It’s harder to do then plonking them in front of the television, but the rewards are worth the small effort. As a parent, teacher, or someone who is involved with children, you have the opportunity to build your child’s communication skills through your influential power. By teaching your child how to listen, you are teaching them vital communication skills that many adults go through life without.

REFERENCES David Fontana (1984). The Education of the Young Child Second Edition. Cambridge: Open Books Publishing Richard D.Parsons, Stephanie Lewis Hinson (2003). Educational Psychology. Belmont: Thomson Learning Rohani Abdullah (2001). Perkembangan Kanak-kanak Penilaian Secara Portfolio. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Zulkifli bin Yaakob (2007). Perkembangan Bahasa dan Pembelajaran Kanak-kanak. Selangor: Universiti Terbuka Malaysia http://pemulihankhas.blogspot.com/2008/01/pengajaran-bahasa-melayu-kelas.html http://blog.cepatbaca.com.my/20080324/perkembangan-bahasa-kanak-kanak-2/ http://members.tripod.com/ipdares/baca.htm http://nurjenna.blogspot.com/2004/10/kemahiran-menulis.html

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