Letter Land

ALAL

I have read thro the previous message and have made the following summaries. Hope it is helpful to newcomers. Unfortunately the picture can not be pasted.

By the way, Marie, if you are on the net, Have you made magnet for program 2 picture code. If you have, would you post it here? thanks.




Letterland Stories

Hairy Hat Man無左Hairy，佢同Clever Cat走埋一齊時，點樣令Clever Cat sneeze之後發出'ch....'的sound呢？
無左Wicked Water Witch，'wh'走埋一齊時，女巫又點用佢把掃把打HairyHat Man令'wh'的h無聲只發'w'sound呢？
Robber Red係大賊，去到programme 2佢會偷走o的vowels，於是有The Vowel Stealers的poster同故事，但係成個Robber唔見左，得番個Robot，點得？
. It's wonderful when she gets into PROGRAMME ONE and PROGRAMME TWO. She easily understands "q" must go with "u", quarrelsome queen always bring along with an umbrella, e.g. 'queen', 'quiet', 'quick', 'quack'.....see! 'U' must follow 'Q'.

3. e.g."H" is called 'Hairy Hat Man'. He hates noises so he doesn't put on shoes. He always speak in soft sound 'ha'. When he meets the 'S' (Sammy Snake--------always sound ssssssssss; it's so noisy, right!), he will turn his head to say 'SHhhhh'. It's a good way to let the child understand the structure of the sound through such interesting story.
例如解譯到"igh"是讀"i"sound的時候：

因為Golden Girl是很喜歡giggling(Alphabet Songs都有寫，可以順道唱一下首歌)，但Hairy Hat Man就很喜歡靜(你看看他愛靜愛到沒有穿鞋就知道了，他只會whispers，從不大聲的....再加多些自由發揮的描述)；慘了！這次Golden Girl 遇上愛靜的Hairy Hat Man，點算呢？Golden Girl guggling時o米會嘈到Hairy Hat Man！？
不過唔怕，你唔記得Golden Girl是個Good Girl嗎？你估一個Good Girl遇到一個愛靜的大人是的會點做呢？(你又會點做呢？又傾下計，講下邊個邊個親戚愛靜之類)無錯啦，佢會即刻好乖o甘唔出聲架！所以"gh"走在一起時，是無聲架！例如：although, bought, caught, though, fought.......

Programme 2 Teacher's Guide 是這樣寫的：Golden Girl knows that Hairy Hat Man hates noise, so whenever he stands next to her in a word she keeps completely quiet. So does he. They just enjoy being silent together
而Programme2 picture code card公仔背面的灰色hints就係o甘寫： .Golden Girl and the Hairy Hat Man are almost alwys silent when they are together
所以你估Hairy Hat Man鍾唔鍾意Golden Girl？梗係鍾意啦！(乖的小朋友個個都鍾意o架，又教化下德育之類...)於是佢o地走埋一齊時會好開心，有時重忍唔住笑(laugh)o忝！不過佢o地唔會『哈！哈！哈！』o甘笑架，因為會好嘈架o麻，佢o地只會細細聲"ffff, fff, fff,"好似個"laugh" 字o甘笑架！
例如：cough, laugh, rough, enough, laughter, tough......
Programme 2 Teacher's Guide 是這樣寫的：In one word laugh, it seems that both Golden Girl and the Hat Man cannot resist laughing softly like this, 'fff, fff, fff'. Then gh sounds just like f or ph. This also happens in the words cough, rough, tough and enough.
就係因為Golden Girl o甘乖，Hairy Hat Man好錫佢o架，佢成日會叫Ice Cream Man 企在Golden Girl的 right hand side來請Ice Cream佢食o忝！所以在gh前的i是Ice Cream 來架，"igh"於是讀"i"o刺！

例如：bright, fight, high, righ, night, might......$2，計埋一張都係約$22.5

But Golden Girl's friend Gentle Ginger
Gentle Ginger is just as athletic as Jumping Jim, whose sound is identical to hers. But she is far less shy. She loves people watching her as she practises her gymnastic tricks in words which is why she truns up in more words than Jumping Jim. (Programme 2 Teacher's Guide P.204)

Golden Girl thinks everyone should notice Gentle Ginger's gymnastic tricks in words, so she asks Mr E if he could use some of his new Blue Magic e's to light her up with sparking blue light as she does her somersaults. "Eeeasily!" cries Mr E. Gentle Ginger is so pleased to be in the limelight that she does her best somersaults every time she is next to a Blue Magic e. She also starts to say her name like this, 'ge...' for 'Gentle Ginger'.(Programme 2 Teacher's Guide P.204)

  

What to buy

1. Letterland ABC Book (太古$90)
【比所有第一次認識Letterland的小朋友認識31個主要的characters】
2. Letterlnd Software (太古$330) 或 Alphabet Songs CD & Handwriting Songs CD (太古$120 & $120)
【因為如果買了Software其實可以唔o西買兩隻CD都得，入面係有o西所有歌，而Programme 1 Teacher's Guide入面係有o西Alphabet Songs及Handwriting Songs 的歌詞】
3. Programme 1 Teacher's Guide (太古$390)
【主要的教程】
4. Programme 1 Picture Code Cards (太古$330)
【拿住卡來講故事，雖然好似好貴，但係都好有用】
5. BBC - Words and Pictures Software 【.Phonic Clip Art】CD-Rom (太古$280)
【有齊o西所有blends，digraphs及Advanced phonemes的發音, o甘唔o西驚自己唔識讀發音，入面已包括埋Programme2要學的內容，重可以印worksheet出來，這CD-Rom是我到太古問Connie如果驚唔識讀某o的發音時點算，佢介紹我買的。】
另外At Home Readers Stage 2&3我都看過o西了，都唔錯架，因為可以強化letterlanders的性格及特徵，令letters更生動。
例如letterland裏面最衰的是Wicked Water Witch；最曳的是Naught Nick；最乖Good的是Golden Girl；最幫得忙的是Fireman Fred；最愛靜的是Hairy Hat Man；最聰明的是Clever Cat；最可憐的是Poor Peter；最壞的是Robber Red；最惡的是Quarrelsome Queen；但偏偏佢個老公就係最kind的Kicking King.....letter有了性格，小朋友就會好喜歡，reading好似同letterlanders做朋友。
講開又講，我唔喜歡new edition都係因為佢新的letterlanders 既characteristic唔明顯，Poor Peter唔可憐，Naughty Nick唔曳，無巫婆、無小偷...成個letterland平淡了好多了。
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Others
I have examined the "National Literacy Strategy", I just copy part of its appendix for your reference.

Summary of the specific phonics and spelling work to be covered in Years R to 2

Reception year
To recognise all initial consonant and short vowel sounds (a-z, ch, sh, th) in speech and in writing; to identify and write correct initial letters in response to the letter sound, word, object or picture.
To recognise and name each letter of the alphabet and to be aware of alphabetical order through rhymes, songs.
Discriminate, write and read final sounds in simple words.

Year 1
Discriminate, write and read middle (short vowel) sounds in simple words: ‘a’ (fat), ‘e’ (wet), ‘i’ (pig), ‘o’ (pot), ‘u’ (mug).
Read and spell words ending in ck, ff, ll, ss, ng

Discriminate, blend and spell initial consonant clusters:
bl, br, cl, cr, dr, dw, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, sc, scr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, spl, spr, squ, st, str, sw, tr, tw, thr, shr and
common end clusters: ld, nd, lk, nk, sk, lp, mp, sp, ct, ft, lt, nt, pt, st, xt, lf, nch, lth

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the long vowel phonemes: ‘ee’, ‘ai’, ‘ie’, ‘oa’, ‘oo’:
• ee: ‘ee’ (feet), ‘ea’ (seat)
• ai: ‘ai’ (train), ‘a-e’ (name), ‘ay’ (play)
• ie: ‘ie’ (lie), ‘i-e’ (bite), ‘igh’ (high), ‘y’ (fly)
• oa: ‘oa’ (boat), ‘o-e’ (pole), ‘ow’ (show)
• oo: ‘oo’ (moon), ‘u-e’ (tune), ‘ew’ (flew), ‘ue’ (blue)

Year 2
Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: ‘oo’ (short) ‘ar’‘oy’ ‘ow’:
• oo (short): ‘u’ (pull), ‘oo’ (good)
• ar: ‘ar’ (car)
• oy: ‘oi’ (boil), ‘oy’ (toy)
• ow: ‘ow’ (cow), ‘ou’ (sound)

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: ‘air’, ‘or’, ‘er’
• air: ‘air’ (fair), ‘are’ (scare), ‘ere’(there), ‘ear’ (bear, wear)
• or: ‘or’ (sport), ‘oor’ (floor), ‘aw’ (claw), ‘au’ (caught), ore (more, store)
• er: ‘er’ (her, were), ‘ir’ (bird), ‘ur’ (fur)

Discriminate, spell and read the common spelling patterns for the vowel phonemes: ‘ear’, ‘ea’
• ear: e.g. fear, hear
• ea: (bread, head)

content of parent course

.Overview of how Phonics can help children to read and spell
2. Impotance of parents' participation in supporting their children to learn phonics
3.Sounds of all 26 letters in English
4.Activities that can be done at home reinforcing these sounds
Module 2: Combining letters into words - focus on the various approaches to help children blends words that do not involve change of sounds
1.Learn to build 3-letters words through rhymes and letterland stories
2. Examine the sounds of various consonant blends such as "bl,"cl,gl,br, cr, pr etc
3.Examine the sounds of some common word endings wuch as ck,ss, nt etc
4. Suggest early reading strategies and the choice of suitable reading books.
Module 3: Combining 4-letters words and beyond-focus on the change of sounds of some major spelling patterns
1. Examine short and long vowel sounds.
2. Letterland's way of teaching slient magic 'e'
3. Examine digraph such as 'ch' 'sh', 'th' through Letterland stories.
4. Examine some common spelling problem 'r' & 'w' controlled vowels, and other common spelling patterns.

Module 4 : Practise-it-yourself workshop - focus on practicein word building, syllabication andstress.
1. Practise spellng, slow-speaking dication and pronunication of different spelling patterns.
2. Examine some common spelling anomalies
3. Introduce the concepts of syllabication and stress
4. Practise checking pronunication from dictionaries
5. Move from sounds to grammer and meaning.

YatYatmommy

Hi 行行媽,
Thanks for your advice. I tried
I sing : Clever cat says
then my son will wait me to sing 'k', then
he sing : 'in words'
If I don't sing 'k', he will stop  

I'm using the ABC book only, but maybe I cannot creat a good & funny story from it, so my son will runaway after 2 minutes study the ABC book then bring the Thomas book from the bookshelf & request me to read it to him.

Let's share the experience  

行行媽

At the very beginning, I only brought the wall poster and the Alphabet Song CD, and I played the CD during the play time, my girl was 18 months at that time. We used to point the Character on the wall when its song was singing.  Then, she started to recognize some characters. We didn't teach her how to sing the song, instead we only told her what the Clever cat says, "c"...

Then I brought the teacher guide, and the ABC book, you know what, I found the ABC book is not really interesting to my girl, she like to read the teacher guide with me. (Maybe she think it's more interesting, cos' I read it a lot).

Then she pickup the characters bit by bit, with the letter sound, the action of the sound (introduced by the teacher guide), and we also drew the character on a small whiteboard.  We read readers to see how Fireman Fred fishes a big fish ... there are a lot of interesting things to do.

包包媽咪

Hi ALAL,

好多謝分享您既心得,資料好詳細…

“wh” 個故仔真係好有趣, HairyHat Man 同
Wicked Water Witch 用把掃把打黎打去
重有yellow yo-yo man 點解要做part time job
naughty nick 同 golden girl 原來係好朋友
Mr. O 兩個孫boot and foot 係埋一齊會點呢

ALAL

包包媽咪,
it's my pleasure.
By the way, why naughty nick 同 golden girl 原來係好朋友?
By the way, Marie, if you are on the net, Have you made magnet for program 2 picture code. If you have, would you post it here? thanks.

包包媽咪

Hi ALAL,

golden girl 知道naughty nick 雖然比較曳,
但係心地善良,佢地兩個好多時都會係埋一齊,
之後會做咩呢? 打波? 唔係, 游水? 唔係,
係唱歌… 佢地會 “ng…. ng…” 咁細細聲唱歌

我係ETC 都有買 BBC - Words and Pictures Software【Phonic Clip Art】CD-Rom, 但係發覺去到Programme 2 已經唔夠用, 唯有一邊查字典睇注音符號, 一邊用另一套software 聽番個發音

ALAL

thank bao bao ma ma.
you are familiar with Letterland. Share more when you are free.

03baby

I just asked my relatives from england. she said that both gov sch and private sch used letterland in england. it's very popular.

i just bought a set too. i hope my girl likes it.
my main concern is whether her nursery or kindergaten uses the same method.

do you know which school is using letterland and which is using jolly phonics?

年糕仔媽媽

Hi all,

I just want to know that is it a right time to start the letter land with my 20mths baby boy?

Thanks

wendysoft

我想問下仔地會唔會幫到我, 我買左letterland ABC, 但未買early years' cassette, 因為我完全冇機聽cassette, 為左一餅cassette 而買個 player 就似好浪費, 請問有冇家長有 cassette 嘅 cd 版本? 又或者可以替我將 cassette 轉成 cd? 我諗過買handbook用佢個tapescript, 但係又驚自己d讀音唔得正確, 請問你地有咩建議?

ching媽

我想知邊道可以學letterland, for kid, Thank you.

包包媽咪

Hi wendysoft,

我同我既小朋友係由睇Letterland DVD開始,
睇左幾次之後已經記得一部份人物同發音,
不過問過ETC職員既意見,始終呢隻DVD唔係教材,
最好自己再確定一下小朋友已經可以讀出正確發音
先繼續課程會比較好

除此之外, Letterland有一隻Software
可以聽A-Z發音, 我另外係三聯買多一隻
Go Go KK音標 Software, 呢隻
Software 有口型示範,可以知道舌尖位置同邊個
部位發聲,不過要事先查字典check 個音標,跟住
自己記住個發音先教小朋友

包包媽咪

wendysoft 寫道:
我想問下仔地會唔會幫到我, 我買左letterland ABC, 但未買early years' cassette, 因為我完全冇機聽cassette, 為左一餅cassette 而買個 player 就似好浪費, 請問有冇家長有 cassette 嘅 cd 版本? 又或者可以替我將 cassette 轉成 cd? 我諗過買handbook用佢個tapescript, 但係又驚自己d讀音唔得正確, 請問你地有咩建議?

Eve

After reading all your messages, I am very interested in Letterland. Besides, I find that my daughter's school also teaches Letterland. I decide to pay a visit to the showroom this or maybe next week and check about their materials. Hope to get more advice from all of you. Thanks.

janetlo

Hi, i am new in this topic, My daughter is 2 yr old and she learned letterland from her playgroup, and i found that she has already memorized all the character names.  So how can i continue to teach her and what kind of material should i buy??

Please give me some advice.

kittylock

When you start knowing & learning letterland, you will find yourself like them so much, and cannot resist to buy more and more letterland materials, even they're expensive.

I let my kid start letterland from the ABC book and casette ordered from Yesasia (I know it is now out of stock).  After he has been familiar with the songs and characters, I bought the letterland DVD and software. And then parent's guide, teacher's guide, bedtime stories, magazines, readers, sticker, magnets, activity book, flash card, puzzle,...., and much more.

My son is now aged  3 and he has been using letterland for almost 2 months. He shows great interest in it and he is now able to say the name of Annie Apple to Zig-zag Zebra and its sounds correctly. He can also play the Level 1 game in the Letterland software. And now I teach him to blend the sound, still in progress.

Though his kindergarten will teach letterland at school, I also plan to send him to attend the letterland course.

gogocat

Hi, kittylock, eve and janetlo,

may I know which kindergarten/playgroup does your kid attend now? I wish to know which school is using letterland as their teaching material.
thanks

gogocat

Eve

gogocat,
My kid attends Jimmy's.

kittylock

SKH Kindergarten

BBMMUMMY

Dear Kittylock,

Similar to your case, my son loves the letterland very much.  He is now 3 years old.  I bought my first ABC book in April/May, he now can sound a to z without naming the charaters.  He also know the sound of vowel men, ch, sh, wh, magic e, sc, cl,.....  He can also blend many works and love to blend the words that he likes.   He still in programme 1.  I recently have bought the song CD of programme 1.  He listened the CD everday and over and over.  He mainly learns those sound by himself.

I do buy a lot of Letterland materials.  As children love new, I usually will hide those material and give him little by little.

BBMMUMMY

ALAL

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