Programmes
Preliminary
From the age of four, most children are able to appreciate that a spoken word is an assembly of (smaller) sounds (phonemes). The ability to hear and identify the sounds in spoken language is called phonemic awareness and is a prerequisite of learning to read. The I Can Read Preliminary (ICR-P) Programme is designed as a foundation programme that precedes learning to read.
Children are enrolled in this programme once they are able to name a wide variety of objects from pictures and can demonstrate an ability to access the first sound in the words for such pictures. In I Can Read (Preliminary), the child will acquire phonological and phonemic skills which include syllabic awareness, oral segmentation, oral blending and phonics. At the phonics stage, parents will be asked to support their child at home with learning sound-letter correspondence using the ICR alphabet card.
Each lesson includes 'Stage Talk' which helps the child master the One Minute Speech, wherein the child is required to speak to the group on a variety of subjects, usually selected by the teacher. Other children form the audience and participate in listening comprehension, following each child’s speech with questions and answers.
Each lesson includes 'Story Time', an important feature which helps the child to love story and participate in discussion and listening comprehension questions as well as role playing.
This programme takes between three to six months if the child attends once a week for an hour. ICR-P skills are very important because the ability to manipulate phonemes and use sound-to-letter correspondences identifies who will become a strong reader of English. After this programme, children will approach text with an awareness that sound is represented by letters and that by combining or blending the sound-letter sequences, words can be decoded easily and without effort.
At this point, the child is ready to enroll in the I Can Read Programme. Every child’s progress is recorded by the teacher at every lesson. When required skills are attained, the child will be promoted to the I Can Read Programme (ICR). Children progress at their own level of skill and are evaluated and taught individually. Hence, each child may be set different activities within the context of the lesson, and new children can join the programme at any time.
