The Art of Creative Writing

The art of creative writing in Primary school is totally different from what I expected when Dumpling was in Primary 1. Most of my friends’ children, like Dumpling, started on creative writing / composition in school in Term 3 of Primary 1.

Being a voracious reader from a young age, I had the expectations that writing would come easily to Dumpling. Though the flow was easy for her, I later realized that there is a difference in writing for pleasure versus writing for exams. The latter can get very technical in how (teachers / schools) they grade the children and what they look out for.

The kiddo previously trialed on online writing class which I have shared here. This course is great for parents who are stretched for time (no need to worry about transportation and parking) as the composition elements are watched online and the child (P3 onwards) attempts the homework piece and scans it over for the Teacher Hui Ing to mark.

If, however, you are looking at initial assistance for your child, here are some quick tips to share:

:: Time management and planning

This, for me, is one of the most important elements in taking any exams / tests. If the piece is not completed, it usually does not warrant a passing grade.

So sit down and work on time planning with your child. If your child is given for e.g 45 mins, then you can recommend 5 mins to read and plan, and the remaining 30 -35 minutes to write before the last few minutes to read through and check.

:: Format

As a general rule of thumb, I told Dumpling when she was younger that if there are 3 pictures in the composition, then write 3 paragraphs. If there are 4, then it will be 4. Unless your child is able to write quickly and plans his / her flow well, I would encourage such a format so as not to “underwrite”.

Additionally, it is not uncommon for children to only write perhaps 1 – 2 sentences per picture so this is where you can also give clear guidelines. E.g. Picture 1 ~ introduction: to write 2 sentences.

If it were to be a 4 picture composition, then the body needs to be longer to build up the story and this is where it will be for e.g. 3 sentences for each picture with conclusion back to 2 sentences. With such a format, it usually will fall within the minimum word count required.

Usually for P1 and P2, schools will use picture compositions and this can be 1, 3 or 4 pictures. Depending on level and schools, the word count can differ.

:: Technique

This is where it gets a bit more technical. Compositions are usually graded based on Content and Language at the lower level. Hence besides having a strong logical story flow, students need to be able to display their pen welding prowess and showcase a variety of skill sets.

Story starter

Instead of the usual “One afternoon” / "One day", work with your child to start a story differently. I personally prefer to start with a sound effect or dialogue but I do know many start with description of settings. 

I am wary of the last option because I have come across many compositions where the child starts with superfluous descriptions such as “fluffy white clouds dotted across the cerulean blue sky” and how “dragonflies with their iridescent wings were darting around the pond” only to realize that the story is about a trip to the Science Centre where it is not even related to the story. (I have shared my thoughts on this in a previous post.)

Sentence starter

Children have a tendency to start sentences in a similar manner.

Start with a continuous verb

Instead of always starting with “I” – e.g. I ran after the bus as it looked like it was about to pour”, consider starting with a continuous verb “Looking up, I saw dark clouds gather and realized that it was about to pour.”

Start with an adverb

Other sentence starters can start with an adverb (-ly).

E.g. Angrily, I stuffed my book into my school bag and stormed off.
Hungrily, I stared at the mouth-watering spread in front of me. 

Metaphors and Similes

Besides being mindful of technique, I have also learnt that teachers look out for strong vocabulary and good descriptive phrases. So you can remind your child to be more intentional.

Here’s a good poster to make reference to – words to replace “said”.

Additionally, you can also introduce similes or metaphors to your child so that they can describe the “moments” better.

So what are metaphors and similes and how are they different from each other? 

Here are some more examples of Metaphors

(Source)

And some simple Similes here

 

(Source)

You do not necessarily need to stick to these similes or metaphors; you can also encourage your child to create their own. I have to add on to say that it is not necessary to pepper the composition throughout with these similes and metaphors, otherwise it can be an "overkill". 

 :: Practise practise practise

Above and beyond all these tips, do note that regular practice matters. It matters because even in the "strongest" of children (in this area), regular practice allows them to hone this craft. They learn to plan better and write faster with more intentional use of such techniques.

What we also do regularly is to listen to audio CDs and when I hear good phrases, I'd usually pause and highlight that to the kiddo. :) 

If you like to consider reference guides, Susan from A Juggling Mom has shared some resources in this post. 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

A Busy Mum's Cheat Sheet: Composition Writing Made Easy eCourse by Big Ideaz Education (Review + Giveaway!)

I recently had a chat with a friend who shared wisely reading and writing should not be seen as "work". How true that is. As one who is in the early childhood industry, I would love for children to have more time to acquire the love for the language naturally and by naturally, I mean to read to and read, many many times over, with them. 

Alas, things are somewhat different when children enter mainstream school. Though tests are now called holistic assessments (which are basically tests broken down into bite size assessments and last over a span of 4 – 5 weeks!), end of the day, marks are still given and the papers are still graded. I have previously blogged about my thoughts on composition here. 

(Source)

Creative writing is a skill which needs to be wielded like a sword; to mesh different materials together using a variety of tools and techniques. With Primary 2 being an important year for her (the school will be streaming them into different classes), Dumpling has expressed an interest to learn more and hone her writing skill and we were blessed to have the opportunity to review a Composition Writing Made Easy eCourse by fellow mummy blogger - Hui Ing. 

:: The eCourse 

This eCourse spans over 8 lessons covering a range of techniques which includes:

• Writing a good introduction
• Describing events and problems
• Creating suspense, etc. 

What you need:

The eCourse is pre-recorded where you will need a working laptop / PC, internet connection and printed course notes. The page / materials are easily available with a simple log in where the each lesson focus is very clearly titled. 

What it entails

Each lesson comes with 3 components

• A pre-recorded video clip (which lasts about an average of 8 mins elaborating on each of the topic)
• Comprehensive course notes as well as 
• Weekly assignments

Hui Ing, in her videos, reminds the children weekly to print the course notes and have them ready before she starts. The files for the weekly course are all in PDF where it maps back to the videos and the students makes the connection with the video viewed and attempts the questions on the spot.

(The above are all discussed in the video and Dumpling would pause the video to fill in the blanks)

So basically, for each lesson, the children are to watch a video, complete the notes and then work on their weekly submissions and then submit the work. Submission can be via a scanned  PDF file / good quality jpeg file. The turnaround time for Hui Ing is 3 working days. 

:: Our assignment

Dumpling is not familiar with the new PSLE format though she is attempting 4-picture compositions in school. With the new PSLE format, the good thing is that it allows for more imagination and creativity but the concept can be a tad "abstract" for the younger children or for children who are not articulate as they may lack the vocabulary and skill set to elaborate on the essay. 

The below is a portion of Dumpling's writing assignment from Lesson 3 and Hui Ing's comments. (Lessons 1 and 2 were focused on introductions so I am not sharing here.)

:: Our thoughts and experience

A busy mum's cheat sheet!

Being a FTWM, my worst enemy is time. It is hard to schedule my time and send Dumpling for classes in addition to her already busy schedule peppered with CCA, Art, Violin, etc. So this course is like a busy mum's cheat sheet as it works like a dream. It allows us to work on things anywhere and yes, the kiddo can even watch the video on my iPhone too! How's that for mobility? 

(Print screens of the video clip from my iPhone!)

The kiddo went through the first two lessons like a tornado as she found it to be really useful. Hui Ing was able to bring the point across in a short and succinct manner for e.g. using acronyms such as "SAFE" to prompt the children to be more intentional in their attempts at writing direct speech (elaborated below).

The marked paper was also sent back within 3 working days promised where she requested for a final draft to be sent back to her. :)  

:: What I like about it:

No memorising of fabricated phrases

In my opinion, Hui Ing made some simple but sharp suggestions on Dumpling's essay. In one of the holiday workshops that Dumpling has attended (and apparently at a rather "famous" writing enrichment centre), Dumpling shared that the teacher wrote some "power phrases" on the white board and the children were told to choose from the list to use it in the composition. She hated that. 

With Hui Ing's comments, as you can see, there was none of those. Hui Ing basically worked with the children's essays and guided from there. In the weekly course notes, examples of good phrases / vocabulary are given but she also requests for children to add on to the list to build up their own phrases / vocabulary bank. 

With Dumpling's compositions, the issue is not on grammar or on the vocabulary. As her stories tend to run a bit long, she sometimes does not elaborate enough on the "climax" / problem and Hui Ing was able to pick that out and zero in from there. Thereafter she gave a suggestion to guide Dumpling in her thought flow. In her email reply to Dumpling, Hui Ing was very encouraging too and I could see that was a confidence booster for the kiddo. 

Systematic approach on framework

The eCourse outline is well thought through and well planned. The lessons are systematic and the content short yet crisp. It has a very strong focus on helping children to get the framework right. 

For e.g. some of the courses which I have come across use the 5W and 1H approach. This I find, may be too generic for young children. In the children's writing, they could have all these 5W and 1H information but the story may not engage. In essence, the story does not draw the readers in. 

With Hui Ing's suggested "introduction" approaches and using acronyms to guide the children, it gives a framework where it becomes more intentional. For e.g. SAFE stands for Speech Action and FEelings and with such a technique, it helps the children to focus better when they are using direct speech, where the writing and thought process take on a more intentional and systematic approach. 

:: What Dumpling likes about it

"I like the lesson because there are lesson notes which are useful for me to refer to when I am writing. The videos are cool ~ I have never had e-lessons before. There are certain phrases and tips which I did not know and they were useful too." 

:: What the eCourse is NOT

The eCourse is great for the working mums as you can view the lesson anytime, anywhere. Having said that, there is support needed from us parents. For Dumpling, I had to support her in guiding her initially on this format and of course, we will also need to ensure that the children do their assignments and then send it back for marking.

The process of writing intertwines with other aspects of English such as grammar and vocabulary. While some of these will surface in the writing, essentially, this is a composition writing course and may not be able to deal with root problems such as poor grammar where the kid may not understand some basic grammar rules.

Lastly, like all things, practice makes perfect. The student needs to work on this consistently to be able to see an improvement over time. 

:: Extra, extras!

Keen to learn more? You can read some of Hui Ing's students' work here.

Now that you have read about this eCourse, I am pleased to share that Hui Ing will be starting a new enrollment for July! And best of all, I have a give away for 2 readers worth a total of $400!

Just take part using "Rafflecopter" below!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

:: Terms and conditions:

1) The prizes are not transferable and they cannot be exchanged for cash.

2) Only entries via Rafflecopter are valid. 

3) Answers to the question via rafflecopter (What is the most challenging area in the coaching of your child's writing process?) MUST be listed in the comment box below to qualify. Please remember to leave:

- your child's age
- your name &
- your email address in the comment box too. 

4) The eCourse is for the advanced Primary 2 students to struggling Primary 5 students and lasts over 8 weeks (2 months).  The course commences in July 2016. 

5) Closing Date of Giveaway: 16 June 2016, 2359 hrs.

6) Winners must respond to my email within 48 hours otherwise, they will be given to another winner. 

7) The giveaway is not endorsed, associated with administrated by Facebook. 

Note: Hui Ing only accepts up to 10 students per eCourse intake. So if you cannot wait for the giveaway results, please add your name to the eCourse wait list here. 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored giveaway. We were invited to review the eCourse so that we can give our opinions about it. We are not compensated for the post. All opinions expressed are entirely ours. 

:: About Big Ideaz Education

Big Ideaz Education is the brainchild of former MOE English Teacher Hui Ing. Big Ideaz Education provides resources for Creative Writing & Composition, Writing Workshops & Online Writing Courses for primary school children.  

The Composition Writing Made Simple eCourse is designed for Primary School students who are beginning to write compositions for examinations. It is targeted at Primary 3 and 4 students but is also suitable for more advanced Primary 2 students as well as Primary 5 students who are still struggling with the basics of composition writing. The course focuses on writing compositions based on the new (2015) PSLE format.  You can subscribe to Big Ideaz Education's mailing list here to receive the latest tips and news!

This is an ongoing series on documenting my learning and Dumpling's Primary School journey. 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Creative Writing: The sleuthing way!

When I was still in school, English was my favorite subject. Being the bookworm that I am, I found the subject fairly easy as there is not much prep-work to be done. The secret to English, I discovered, was to read, read and read.

Perhaps because the syllabus was more forgiving then so children were not expected to write compositions until they reach the Upper Primary level where at that age, most of us would have matured and are able to voice our thoughts and pen our plots well.

Now that I am a parent, the challenge is different and the struggle, many times, is real. I am blessed that the kid loves languages and reads a lot but she was a reluctant writer. It took a few years to build up the practice before she was more intentional with her vocabulary and plot development. It is no secret that I am not a big fan of memorized phrases as I find such approach meaningless. My thoughts are if the children are inspired, there will be that innate passion and interest to pursue / delve into that area of interest.

With this belief, I recently helped organize a creative writing workshop and not just any “regular” workshop but one facilitated by the authors of Sherlock Sam, a popular children’s series! From an educator and a parental perspective, I wanted the children to have a chance to meet published authors and understand their process, their work and the “pains”! 

:: The authors

Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez are the authors of the Sherlock Sam series. Under the pen name of AJ Low, this husband and wife pen wielding team is well-matched both in interest and in the humour department, judging at some of the funny antics our hero Sherlock, gets up to. 

:: The workshop

The workshop started with an introduction on themselves as well as how they organise their ideas and co-write before they moved on to share on character development. 

The sharing was light-hearted and engaging as it was peppered with their own experiences while developing the characters - Watson and Sherlock Sam. (It helps that funny illustrations were shown too. LOL)

After every "segment", the children were then given time to work on their versions.

What I like was that tips were also shared and the authors walked around to interact with the children, asking them about their progression, prodding them to extend the storyline a bit more, etc. 

E.g. Dumpling decided on a super hero dog. Adan then "challenged" her to think deeper about the villain's background, the language her super hero spoke (LOL), what crimes her superhero would solve, etc. 

(The young participants were raring to share their characters with the authors) 

(Some of the boys' characters)

Judging from the response from the children, many were really excited about reading and parents have shared that they almost dove immediately into the series after the workshop. Some mums have also shared that the children discussed about the session / characters with them on the way home too.

:: How to book for it

The event was booked through the publisher - Epigram where a flat rate is charged for the workshop (about 90mins). Venue has to be arranged on your end. There is no minimum number of attendees to start the workshop since it is a flat rate. 

For this group, we prefer a smaller and cozier group so we had a size of 13. To support the event, Epigram also brought down some books for onsite purchase (though pre-orders can be arranged) and autographs were done by the authors after the workshop.  

:: What this workshop is not

The session is not a tuition session nor is it a diagnostic clinic. If you are looking for a workshop where you wish to expose your child to "power phrases" or to learn about certain "said formats" ~ e.g. the 5W and 1H, then this will not be for you. 

The attendees of this workshop were mainly in the Lower Primary (all except 1) and objectives that the parents had were to encourage the children to write in a meaningful and fun manner.

This is through inspiring the children through the engagement of these 2 published authors who bring with them a different set of experiences. Experiences on how they get ideas, how they work on developing the characters and story lines of Sherlock Sam, etc. 

 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Creative Writing - Teaching our Children to Fish OR Giving Them the Fish?

(Source)

About 9 months ago, the kiddo brought home a piece of homework which is to write a personal recount of her field trip. As with my usual approach towards her homework, I did not hover. For English writing, what we would do is to usually jot down the ideas that come to her mind and the few key points pertaining to each angle she has thought of.

By talking it out and planning it through, what I aim to teach is for her to learn to plan the story and the flow. We also spoke about ideas on “story openers”. I then sat down to work on my blog and she proceeded to write on her own, stopping me only twice to ask for assistance on the spelling of some words.

A day or two later, she brought back her piece and a 5-page piece written by her classmate which was shared by the teacher with her class. Yup. A 5-page essay. And before you need ask, my kid was only in Primary 1 then.

So you can imagine my surprise when the 5-page essay came back as a “sample” along with paragraphs written by her other classmates, printed on a separate sheet. I understand that through sharing, the teacher is hoping to share some good phrases but I struggle with how a 5-page essay is shared as a “model” composition.

3 reasons:

Expectations:

Are the children expected to churn out 5-pagers for their P1 tests too? I am sure that they are not but is that what is implied? For parents who do not know better, they may mis-read the intention behind the sharing and start scampering to work on a similar 5-page wonder, thereby increasing the stress level of their households! 

Parental involvement:

The piece was meant as "homework" where the children brought back what they did in class and they further edit / work on it at the home-front. So, it seems likely that there was heavy parental involvement in the essay. Therein lies the question “as parents, are we teaching them to fish or are we giving them the fish”?

Overuse of flowery superfluous language

The attempt was of good effort I have to say, but what did not particularly impress me was the use of adjectives, or in this case, an overuse of them.

Like a model essay that is typically published in books which showcase “super model” compositions, the over use of adjectives to describe a simple field trip gave me a headache. As a first-read, the starting sentences were impressive but it quickly became “draggy” for me. The focus of the essay was a personal recount to the Science Centre but as I read on, the first page mainly consisted of sentences and sentences of description on the weather and the surroundings. It did not even lead into the field trip (which should be the gist of the essay) even when I got to the beginning of page 2. So are those phrases necessary? 

At Primary 1, the usual requirement is to write about 5 - 8 sentences (varies across schools) about a picture composition (it can consist of 1, 3 or 4 pictures). To produce a 5-page essay during test / exam time, to me, at Primary One, is neither practical nor doable. 

More importantly, are pieces expected to be so “manufactured” where all the starting sentences of compositions are expected to be filled with superfluous sentences? It seems many such phrases are memorized and some are not even related to the composition. A quick check with my friends confirmed my worries. It seems that many teachers do look out for such use of adjectives in essays (which they deem as "good") and it is because of that, parents are sending their children to writing classes to be exposed to adjectives and expressions, and apply it, cookie-cutter manner, to their compositions during exams.

I do not agree with that at all.

Clearly, there should be better ways to write and to engage. Of course there are common phrases which we use and yes, it is perfectly fine to be inspired by authors where we sometimes use similar phrases in our writing, but I find it a shame to encourage our children to use “short cuts” such as through memorizing. More than that, are they using the phrases meaningfully?

The kiddo has been to writing workshops during the school holidays where one centre was also heavily focused on using suggested power phrases too. That prompted me to ponder and think: whatever happened to reading good literature (across a wide genre) and the good old practice of journaling? Am I the only naive parent here and the only one who feel this way? 

As parents who aim to support, are there better ways to go about this? Should we then be so involved in these "homework" where we are giving them the fish (or the answer) than teaching them the skills to fish? Please, do share your thoughts and suggestions with me! J

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Primary One - Nurturing a love for Chinese #5: Write it! (小书 Small Book)

From an earlier post where I reached out to a friend, who is also Chinese teacher in a Primary school, on sharing some tips on Chinese Composition, came the suggestion of creating a 小书, Small Book. The idea of creating one is to engage the children to reflect and write, and at the same time, in a fun and creative manner!

So I decided to take this on to try with the kiddo and we created 1 小书 so far with another still "work-in-progress". 

For our first attempt, because I did not want it to be so taxing for her, I decided to make it with a 填充 format. To start, we made it as a 6 panel book using this format. I wanted to set her up for success so that she has a positive experience and I made it a fun story with open ended sentences where she can pen down her portion. 

I also cut out a window with a pen knife so that she is able to slot in whichever illustration she fancies for the moment. 

Pages 1 & 2

After jotting down the start of the story, before Dumpling began, I got her to read to me first and we discussed this in Mandarin. I prompted her with questions such as "她是一个怎么样的女孩?", "你觉得她会怎么样做?", etc.

She then started to fill the book on her own. 

I also left the illustration half completed so that it has room to allow for creativity and she can doodle what she likes.

Pages 3 & 4

As part of the objective of this exercise was also to encourage her to converse in Mandarin, I got her to write down dialogue too. It would then allow me to be able to gauge her sentence structure, the high frequency words knowledge (if she is able to recall), as well as to expand her vocabulary range.  

Pages 5 & 6
For these last 2 pages, I wanted to make it fun for her. Because we have loads of stickers at home, I cut out a plastic sheet and drew the face of the girl on. With the plastic sheet, Dumpling can then paste on whichever dress she fancies for the moment, making this activity an interactive one too as she can change the dress design any time she wants to. We also made a "closet" where she cut out dresses for the girl. These dresses can be "worn" by slotting them under that same plastic sheet. :)

If you are keen to make one too, here's what you may need for materials:

- A4 paper (if it is a 4-page book) / A3 (for 6 pages book). I prefer using construction paper as it is thicker
- Colourful pens / markers
- Scissors (may need pen knife)
- Glue stick
- Scotch tape
- Old magazines where you can cut out pictures from

- Optional: scrapbook materials (I bought 2 made-to-go albums for this purpose!) 

So there you have it! Our very first 小书 (Small Book) which is not unlike the lapbooks we have made in the past, only just in Chinese. :) I hope to share our next book soon!

This is an ongoing series on documenting my learning and Dumpling's Primary one journey. 

This is part of a 5-part series:

Part 1: Read Read Read (books of a different kind)

Part 2: Speak It, Use It

Part 3: Watch It!

Part 4: Play It! 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Primary One: Chinese Compositions

I am blessed because in my circle of friends, I have many educators whom I am able to reach out to, to clarify and seek for advice / opinions. Though I was a part time tutor years back, there have been many changes to the Primary school syllabus over the years. I even had to do "investigative" work to understand the Stellar system and learn about the English curriculum again.

Importantly, there has also been a total change in the Chinese syllabus where the course materials have been updated and the focus is now on communication/oracy skills. (I have previously shared a post on helping your child to prepare for Show and Tell.) While working with the kiddo on Chinese oracy (will share in another post), one other thing that came up was composition.

To be able to write, it must mean that the children need to be able to string sentences together, have the right vocabulary and write the right words. Hence I reached out to a friend (a current Chinese teacher) to ask more about Chinese compositions in Primary schools.   

Q: Based on the current system with the change in P1 syllabus, which year is Compo needed?

A: Currently schools are doing 4-picture compositions from Primary 3, and 6-picture compositions from Primary 5. For some schools, they may start earlier with a 4-picture composition; these all vary slightly from school to school. 

Q: How do we support our children in writing? There seems to be a jump from just "fill in the blanks" (Tian Chong) to suddenly needing to produce a piece of work?

A: Basically, activities like Tian Chong in Paper 2 test on the pupils' reading and comprehension ability. To do so, they need understanding of vocabulary which is taught via textbook. Of course the new textbook teaches beyond vocabulary. Since at the moment, with the new syllabus, we only have P1 textbook, I would say that for P1, focus of the textbook is really more on oral and listening interactive skills.

Q: In terms of flow / content, is there a suggested format? (Say for lower primary?) Are there specific areas to watch out for?

A: Writing at young age is more about writing sentence or short story - 写句／写话. Importantly good sentence structure is very important for the Chinese language: 句式练习. The progression should be in this manner: 从字、词、短语、句、段、篇.

I engage my child (who is in lower primary) through the making small books (小书). I also use picture books to build up my child’s comprehension and inference skills. Hence, my child is very quick in Q&A sessions after being read a book.

With the picture books we read, I will then encourage my child to work on writing. To start off, it can be something that is related to the book we just read but progressively, my child has started to work on writing which is not related to the books we read.

To elaborate, for e.g. after reading 我爸爸，you can design the small book in the form of a大嘴书 to express what your child wants to say to his/her father. Also, for this book, there are many repeated sentences that begin with 我爸爸真的很棒，他像什么一样。So in my child’s small book, the same sentence structure (句式) was adopted. You can build up slowly – at first my child only started with drawing, then I guided on the writing slowly.

You can also do thematic topics too, like festivals or special days. Here’s one we did on National Day. 

(Above sample provided by "interviewee")

(If you like to know more about this approach, I adopted it from a Taiwanese master teacher, 林美琴, in her book: 从阅读到写作).

As for Primary 3 to 6 picture composition format, many schools train their pupils in having 开头，内容，结句，结尾.

结局 is the ending of the story, as in what happen to the character(s) in the end, but 结尾 is commonly expected in Chinese compositions when character reflects on the lesson learnt from the incident.

An example:

“怎么了？”林老师好奇地问。小美把事情的经过一五一十地告诉老师。林老师听到了，马上跟小美跑回课室。林老师一看到天明和大山打架，马上大声地喊他们，要他们立刻住手。林老师狠狠地把两人骂了一顿。大山和天明知道错了，马上跟对方道歉。林老师要他们握手言和。最后，这场风波就这样平息了。（结局）

俗话说：“经一事，长一智”，这件事让大山和天明上了人生宝贵的一课，他们从此做什么事情之前都会三思而后行。（结尾）

However, with so many model compositions available in the market, I feel that this has also led to pupils (even for Higher Chinese pupils) writing only in this genre/way. To write about life experiences, however it requires a different skill set. 

This will require parents to read to and read with your children and engaging them in meaningful conversations so that they are sharing their thoughts and views. Through small books, children can then write whatever that is on their mind or apply their experiences into these stories.

This is an ongoing series on documenting my learning and Dumpling's Primary one journey. 

Disclaimer: the article is a sharing based on my friend’s observations and it does not represent the teaching fraternity / education system.

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Primary One: Learning about the English Curriculum

Frankly, the transition into Primary One seems to be easier on Dumpling than on me. Transiting from doing the Math, Science and English on my own to having someone deliver the lessons and not having the level of visibility that I need (yes, the tiger mum in me is growling) have been a tad hard on me. *guffaws* 

So it has been a learning journey (and I suspect that it will be the case for me daily!) but here’s sharing on what my child has been doing for the past month in school for English.

:: English

Stellar Programme

Dumpling's school uses the Stellar programme which you can find out more about here. Basically, the teacher uses a story book with the students and teaches grammar, vocabulary, etc. with it, uses it for discussions and writing experiences.

Photo source

There is a list of books under this programme and there is no fixed sequence – meaning schools have the choice of introducing whichever titles in whichever order. So what this means is that your child may be reading a different book from your buddy's child. 

Based on chats with my mummy friends and with Dumpling, teachers typically use a big book for “read aloud”. Class activities can range from fun activities such as getting them to move around while learning about prepositions, to re-enacting, and to seat work.

For e.g. with the book “Hairy Bear”, Dumpling’s class has re-enacted the various characters from the story (1/3 of the class was Hairy Bear, the father; 1/3 acted as the mum and said her lines, with the remaining third acting as Baby Bear). They learn about intonation and how to use ‘voices’ when they took on different roles. 

For parents who are exposed to the 'literature based approach', then this method of teaching will not be new to you. Now, for those of you who are going "Alright, fun learning is all good but what exactly do my kids learn?"  There are worksheets and spelling, etc., in this Stellar programme. 

1) Worksheets

Seat work wise, children learn about grammar and new vocabulary from the stories. In Hairy Bear, my kiddo learnt about contractions (e.g. I’ll – I will, I’m – I am, etc.) and did a cloze passage with some of the vocabulary learnt.

She did similar worksheets for Dan, the Flying Man with the focus on prepositions.   

2) Spelling

A quick check with my friends and it seems like the spelling list for most of our children are similar and based on the words introduced in stories:

Spelling lists for Hairy Bear:

Spelling Lists for Dan:

Spelling Lists for Mrs Wishy Washy:

3) Other supporting resources

Besides the worksheets done in class and the spelling exercises, Dumpling brings home penmanship work and the work ranges from 2 – 4 pages so far. For a friend whose child's school does not use the penmanship book, they do hand out their own penmanship worksheets. 

(The above is what we use for penmanship which is part of our Stellar Programme) 

Depending on the school's practice, they may give out other grammar worksheets too. Dumpling's school uses a grammar book which the teacher uses in class. 

So far, Dumpling enjoys the work in school and finds it manageable (except for the time where she had 4 pages of penmanship work but that's another post altogether). If your child is going to P1 in one or two years time, I dare say that most Preschools would have prepped the children well in terms of reading and writing. 

The readers used in the Stellar programme are quite simple so frankly, there really is no need to get your child(ren) to read these before entering P1. I think that may kill their interest as they may find it boring having to do the activities again. It is for that same reason that I do not do any activities relating to the books/stories during our home learning time. I rather she gets that from school. But I do google for materials and watch YouTube for read alouds on those stories so that I know what she is reading in school. 

However, if your child's preschool does not introduce to them the concept of spelling, then I would suggest that you may wish to do so - just 3 to 5 words from the homefront. I personally know some children who struggle with spelling as they are not sure of the concept (for e.g. they thought that the dates indicated on the list is the date that they will be learning the words as a class and not realising that's the test date) or that they are not too sure of the whole phonics / sight word approach. We have yet to receive our Chinese Spelling list at this point and when I do, that will be another post on its own. :p 

Edit: 7 Jan 2016
I have previously shared a series of posts on Primary One which you may find useful:
What to and how to prep for Primary One Prep  

6 things that I learnt about Primary One!

What to expect for and tips on Primary One Show and Tell! 

5 tips (after surviving 2 terms in Primary 1!)

Primary 1 Bento Tips and FAQs! 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram.