Kai Qing 10th June 2011
Wow I’m amazed. Kai Qing obtained a score of 16/20. By any standards that is an amazing improvement. But of course she received some help from me. I will try not to guide her the next session and let her attempt it with her own ability. However if she’s able to attain a score of 16/20 with guidance, it definitely says something about her inference skills. I am glad to see that Kai Qing has developed so much in terms of proficiency in English and also her comprehension skills.
Kai Qing 3rd June 2011
I was quite impressed with Kai Qing today. I started on a new set of flashcards, taken from a list of vocabulary words for Primary 6 students. Kai Qing got a score of 10/20, which was relatively impressive considering that the words that she could not define included words like “cordial” and “controversy”. I would not be expecting Kai Qing to improve a lot by the next session as I know that she does not retain information very well. I was surprised, but at the same time very glad that Kai Qing chose an informative book on the earth. She was very intrigued by the book and was very keen to share the nuggets of information in the book. In order to help her benefit more, I searched for fun facts and shared the information with her too. All in all, it was a fun, interactive and beneficial session.
Kai Qing 30th May 2011
I gave Kai Qing spelling today as I forgot to bring my new stack of flashcards. The list of words was taken from a list of vocabulary words for Primary 6 students. She managed to spell out some of the words like “abundant” which made me very happy. We read “Geronimo Stilton and the Mysterious Cheese Thief” today within an hour. I stopped her at separate chapters and asked her to predict how the book will develop. Kai Qing managed it quite well and her ending was similar to the ending in the book. I also asked Kai Qing to be the author of the book and change the ending. Surprisingly, she was able to voice out her thoughts instead of keeping to herself. She changed the thief in the book and developed her own ending which was comparable to the ending in the book. We also read a book on the human body and I told her many fun facts. She was also very talkative and made many comments which made the session a very enjoyable one.
Kai Qing 20 May 2011
Kai Qing has shown great improvement today as she was able to match all the words with their definitions. I am very happy and I would be preparing a new set of words for the next session. However Kai Qing was quite lazy today and she did not want to read a book. So instead, I got her to draw a picture, since she mentioned that she likes drawing before, and told her to talk about the picture. After talking about the bird/owl that she drew, she asked me to draw a character from the book and so I complied. Similarly, I asked her to talk about the character I drew and I was quite surprised that she is able to infer quite well. I am hoping to improve her inference skills for the next few sessions so that she will be able to do well in her comprehension. During the little conversations I had with her, I found out that she is afraid of making mistakes as she always hesitates to give me an answer. She thinks too much as she is always looking to give the best answer to me. I hope that I can get her to say anything that comes to her mind so that she will be more vocal in a certain sense
Kai Qing 13 May 2011
I was quite disappointed in Kai Qing today as she had forgotten most of the words on the flashcards. However after talking to her after the session, I found out that she was nervous as there were many volunteers observing us during the reading session. It was still good that she was able to recognize some of the words with some guidance from me. I was extremely happy when she told me the meaning of “nonchalant” without my help. Kai Qing read a book on dinosaurs today. After these few sessions, I found that she had very varying interests. The first non-fiction book that she borrowed was a book on volcanoes and the next book she borrowed was a book on science experiments. I had no idea why she borrowed a book on dinosaurs. But what made me glad was that she managed to sound of all of the scientific names of the dinosaurs, which shows that her phonics foundation was very good. Also, I realized that Kai Qing was very happy today because her tests were over. Overall it was a very fun session today.
Kai Qing 6 May 2011
Kai Qing was really good today and she made a great improvement. Even though she missed one session and we did not see each other for two weeks, she managed to recognize 24 out of the 30 words that I prepared on the flashcards. That is an improvement from the score of 15. I felt a great sense of satisfaction and I was overjoyed. We read a book on jokes today since it was the examination period and I did not want to stress her out. Even though it was a lighthearted book, I made use of it to test her thinking skills. She managed to make quite good guesses and it was an enjoyable and enriching session overall.
Kai Qing 28 April 2011
I believed that Kai Qing enjoyed today’s session as she smiled quite frequently and wasn’t distracted by the people around her. It was good that Kai Qing recognizes some of the words on the flashcards. Of course, I wouldn’t expect her to recognize and explain words like “nonchalant” to me. It was understandable since I obtained those words from an American website for vocabulary for fifth graders. Out of the 30 words that I chose from the internet, she was able to recognize 15 of them with some help from me. Today, she chose a book regarding science experiments, something that is out of her comfort zone. She selectively chose experiments that she has never done in school. I am happy for her as I can see the curiosity and passion to learn.
Kai Qing 15 April 2011
Without prompting, Kai Qing has started to ask me questions. I can see that she wants to improve in her English. Also, she read out of her comfort zone today. Instead of choosing mystery books, she chose a book about a person pursuing his dreams. After reading this book, I shared with her what I wanted to be and asked her to share with me. I was glad that she was able to tell me why she wanted to be an artist or an author. This led to other topics and I found out that she is not able to think on the spot as she told me that during oral exams, she will lose marks during the conversation. I believe that this is due to the fact that for the past few years she has been reading books from the same author. Since most of these books are mystery books, she does not have anything to say when the questions are, for example, “what do you think of punctuality”. If she continues to explore different genres of book, I believe that she would be able to improve in her conversational skills very rapidly.
Kai Qing 8 April 2011
Kai Qing has shown a lot of improvement today and is willing to speak up and answer my questions now. She is also starting to ask me some questions, even though I have to prompt her to do so. She read a book on Earth today and was able to use phonics to pronounce many difficult words such as “catastrophe” and “bombardment”. I found out that she is particularly interested in volcanoes and Singapore’s history. Overall, I am very happy with her today.
Kai Qing 31 March 2011
Kai Qing has not shown any progress in her level of confidence. At first, I suspected that she was unable to articulate her thoughts. However after talking to her mum, I found out that Kai Qing is a very talkative girl at home and has a lot to say when she is with her friends. However, she read a very difficult book with decent fluency and was able to read some of the more difficult words which included “extravagant” and “and “eloquent”.
Kai Qing 25 March 2011
Kai Qing is a very diligent child and has a good command of English. She takes joy in reading mystery books. Some of her books include the Nancy Drew Series, Mr. Mystery series and books from Enid Blyton. During silent reading, she read very fast and managed to finish one book in 40 minutes. However, I felt that this session was quite wasted as I only managed to get her to read 2 pages to me. Being naturally bashful, I could understand how she felt as after all, I was a stranger to her. I also found out that she rarely speaks up in school. However, I am confident that I can help her speak up and build her level of confidence to be able to converse with other people naturally after a few more sessions. This would also help her academically if she is able to ask questions next time in class. When I got her to read to me, I could identify problems like not being able to stop at appropriate parts of a sentence, which is not too big of a problem to solve. Being shy, she did not ask me questions about some tough words in the book, which is not very good since it shows that even if she has a good habit of reading, she might not fully comprehend the book. To make sure that she understands what she is reading, I got her to borrow 5 books home and read during her free time. During the next session, I will get her to tell me what she has read in simple words. When I was talking to her, she only spoke a few words and I felt that she was unable to find the right words to say. This might also be a result of being shy. Since she regularly goes to library and is already 11, I feel that there is no need for me to teach her to borrow books and get her interested in reading. What is important is that I must teach her to recognize more words and get her to slowly read nonfiction books. Also I must help her to build her level of confidence and express herself.
