Just sharing some motherly tips since I HATED them when I was younger. My tuition teacher thought me because my mom could not. You can imagine how much I wanted to burn these books.
I think the books are great because when I was in primary school, I actually reread several books from 10B onwards as regular storybooks and I can still recall the storyline.
I think my tuition teacher was boring and too strict. Luckily for Tiger, FUN is my middle name.
Usually, we start off like this:
Bao Bei, you want to do P&J?
Eh, I am Darling. Mei-mei is Baobei.
Oops, sorry...
I don't want P&J, I want to (insert anything but P&J)
Okay, go ahead
Do not force
Use their natural curiosity to your advantage
For example, as he completes whatever he was doing, I will casually flip through his P&J. Sometimes, I just snicker or read out loud. Most of the time, this will make him curious and he will join me.
If the bait is taken, he will read a few pages. Sometimes not and that's fine too. Occasionally he will read the whole book. It may sound evil but hey, better than literally using force, right?
Go through pictures first.
Treat P&J the way you would with any picture book
We usually go through the pictures first whenever he upgrades.
I use a lot of adjectives like, "Look at choppy, cold, salty sea water. Look at Pat, he is such a playful and cuddly dog."
If you cannot think of anything to say, just use the key words.
Do not prompt unless needed.
I let him read without interruption. When he comes across a new word he is unfamiliar with, we will sound it out. For sight words that do not follow the phonic rules, I will sound out the first letter.
He rarely ask for my help now, preferring try it out himself.
Minimize repetitions
I find the first few books very repetitive and since Tiger already knows most of it, I skipped pages and even for words he isn't a pro at yet, I will still move on. They will make a come back in the next few pages or book anyway.
Major no-nos: tired/hungry/sleepy child
Common sense la...you will just irritate yourself to death
Not a daily 'thing'
We don't do P&J everyday. Can you imagine eating BBQ ribs everyday. To much of a good thing huh? At most, we do it once a week or biweekly. Hence the snaaail speed.
Make it fun
Reading should be fun. We act out parts like swimming, rowing, jumping, etc. So, he gets a high five every time he figures out a word. I have used stickers once and I am still battling my inner demons to not succumb to the temptations of doing it again.
Happy P&J, guys!
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