Mar
1
2011

Learning to read with e-Xra

When Ethan was younger, I taught him to read using the whole word approach. Here’s a video of him reading at 16 months old.

*pls excuse my loud voice, did not realise i was being loud* :(

And here is a video of him reading at 20 months old.

Now that he’s over 3 years old, I introduced reading the phonetic way. I don’t usually use phonics to teach kids below 5 years old as I find it too confusing but one fine day when I was coaching a 7 year old girl to read, Ethan repeated after her and I realised that he is picking up fast on phonics. I tested him and well enough, he is coping well.

We use ‘e-Xra’ (eclectic – Express reading approach) and I highly recommend this book!

Watch this video and you can see what it is like during any one of our reading sessions..

Watch how he struggled on the word ‘could’. He mistook it for ‘cloud’ :P

Watch the video above. You will see that he got distracted by the box of colour pencils. If you encounter distractions during reading time, simply remove the object of distraction and continue reading. You’ll also notice that he had trouble with ‘bug’ and instead of telling him the word, I got him to sound it out to learn the word.

The video above shows how to utilise the book. First I coach him with the phonetic sounds and he’ll blend them together. You’ll also see that he is getting restless and common sense will tell you that it is enough reading for a day :D

Ethan and I refer this book as “ONE page a day book” as we read only ONE page every single day. It was an exception when we recorded those videos above (Ethan @ 3 1/2 years old) as he read THREE pages.. :P

Update:

Since the publication of this entry, I’ve received numerous emails on where to get the e-xra books from.

Click here to be directed to them and you may purchase it directly from there. They’ll be able to deliver the books to you with a small fee. TQ

About the Author: Merryn Tan

21 Comments + Add Comment

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suituapui March 1, 2011 at 9:39 pm

Bet he can read very well now. Good boy, Ethan!

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Tekkaus March 1, 2011 at 10:14 pm

Wow…how much this Xtra cost? Xtra money? :p

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Alice Law March 1, 2011 at 10:58 pm

Good job Ethan, and he is very guai (attentive and obidience) too can listen to what you taught him, mine like talking to walls!>_<

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life-muses March 1, 2011 at 11:04 pm

yay, I managed to locate this book already! thanks for your recommendation.

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Merryn March 1, 2011 at 11:29 pm

Tekkaus.. it's not expensive.. really!

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MeRy March 1, 2011 at 11:35 pm

Good job,Ethan..

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mNhL March 2, 2011 at 1:36 am

Ethan is sure hardworking and obedient to listen to you. Well done to both Ethan and mummy

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reanaclaire March 2, 2011 at 4:06 am

Your boy have all the motherly attention that he needs.. so good for him!

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wenn March 2, 2011 at 4:39 am

he sure grows up smart and intelligent!

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Caroline Ng May Ling March 2, 2011 at 5:00 am

Ethan is really a fast learner! :D CLEVER boy! ;)

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Silkina Coco March 2, 2011 at 6:14 am

Wow that is so impressive!

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iamthewitch March 2, 2011 at 7:16 am

Aww looking at his first video is so cute! Ethan still in diapers!!

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Irene March 2, 2011 at 8:36 am

ethan mmg pandai, thanks to his dear mom! wish mine was as pandai o.O

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Vickylow March 2, 2011 at 8:19 pm

Good boy, he can read so well.

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Wonderful Life March 2, 2011 at 10:43 pm

smart ethan!

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Lil' Dahling March 2, 2011 at 11:31 pm

I really admire you lar. Such a good mother. And you got a very obedient boy. :)

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HappySurfer March 3, 2011 at 1:18 am

Way to go, Merryn! I read that teaching a child to read should be teaching him to read words (like what you are doing) instead of reading letters. Many people use the Ladybird series of books and their cue-cards. Thanks for stopping by.

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Food Dreams March 3, 2011 at 2:25 am

So nice of you to share your method to teach Ethan. He is certainly a genius.. thanks to mommy!

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[SK] March 3, 2011 at 5:52 am

interesting history of Ethan's learning experience huh, and you still keep those videos and able to show them here.. :)hmmm, seems like you are a good educator woh~~ :p

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ChloeRuoyi March 3, 2011 at 9:00 pm

Smart & attentive child + good & dedicated teacher = Genius in the making! :)

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Mummy to QiQi March 8, 2011 at 3:54 pm

wah…your boy can read soooo well at such young age. U done so much for Ethan !

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.