Adneen's colouring her drawing. Very nice...  

Look at Abbas showing Afham how to draw his face. All because they read "Lihat Wajah Saya!" from BAWAL set. 

Post-Reading Activities: 

Group B's reader was Kak Wan's daughter, Aishah Fauzi. As a first timer, I think she's quite good, and can really make the kids responded to the story she read. 

Mums and kids giving full attention to the story. 

"Abbas, can you say, 'I can do it.'?" This book is so much fun! 

Kak Ann reads 'From Head to Toe', an interesting picture book by Eric Carle. 

Read Aloud Session on February 26, 2005

Venue: Kids Corner, Dar Nur al-Zahra'

Agenda:

9.30 am: Registration, kids will be separated according to age group.
10.00 am: Reading start.

Group A (4-7): Book, 'From Head to Toe' by Eric Carle and 'Lihat Wajah Saya' from BAWAL set.
Pre-Reading: Sing Islamic Song
Post-Reading: Guessing Game and Drawing

Group B (8-12): Book, 'Unity is Strength' from Sheikh Big Books set.
Post-Reading: Questions & Answers, Word puzzle

12.00 am: Session End

NOTE: We welcome all parents to sent your kids or join us there.

FEE: RM3 per kid

TIPS FOR READING ALOUD ... ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS

• CREATE A SPECIAL TIME and place for reading aloud in your home.
  
• CHOOSE A BOOK THAT IS FUN, exciting , and interesting for both you and your child. If either of you is bored, find another book - there is a book for everyone!
  
• PREVIEW YOUR READ-ALOUD BOOK to be sure it has action and emotional impact, so that you and your child can share these experiences together.
  
• BE A HAM! Read with expression and feeling - try different voices and sounds - make the snake hissss and the door creeeak! Use pacing by reading slower or faster as the story changes.
  
• SIT CLOSE TOGETHER and enjoy each other's company.
  
• VISIT THE LIBRARY often and let your child help select books for reading aloud. Ask the librarian for suggestions if you need them.
  
• ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD to be involved by talking about the book. Share your feelings with each other during exciting or sad parts.
  
• CULTIVATE THE HABIT of reading aloud by making a commitment - for some families it may take time to enjoy fully and feel comfortable with reading aloud.
  

Becoming a Reader -- Helping Your Child Become a Reader

Every step a child takes toward learning to read leads to another. Bit by bit, the child builds the knowledge that is necessary for being a reader. Over their first 6 years, most children

• Talk and listen.
• Listen to stories read aloud.
• Pretend to read.
• Learn how to handle books.
• Learn about print and how it works.
• Identify letters by name and shape.
• Identify separate sounds in spoken language.
• Write with scribbles and drawing.
• Connect single letters with the sounds they make.
• Connect what they already know to what they hear read.
• Predict what comes next in stories and poems.
• Connect combinations of letters with sounds.
• Recognize simple words in print.
• Sum up what a story is about.
• Write individual letters of the alphabet.
• Write words.
• Write simple sentences.
• Read simple books.
• Write to communicate.
• Read simple books.

Children can take more than one of these steps at the same time. This list of steps, though, gives you a general idea of how your child will progress toward reading. (For more details, see Typical Language Accomplishments for Children, Birth to Age 6.)

Talking and Listening
Scientists who study the brain have found out a great deal about how we learn. They have discovered that babies learn much more from the sights and sounds around them than we thought previously. You can help your baby by taking advantage of her hunger to learn.
Hearing you talk is your baby's very first step toward becoming a reader, because it helps her to love language and to learn words.
From the very beginning, babies try to imitate the sounds that they hear us make. They "read" the looks on our faces and our movements. That's why it is so important to talk, sing, smile, and gesture to your child. Hearing you talk is your baby's very first step toward becoming a reader, because it helps her to love language and to learn words. (See "Baby Talk".)
As your child grows older, continue talking with her. Ask her about the things she does. Ask her about the events and people in the stories you read together. Let her know you are listening carefully to what she says. By engaging her in talking and listening, you are also encouraging your child to think as she speaks. In addition, you are showing that you respect her knowledge and her ability to keep learning. (See "Chatting with Children.")

for more details, click http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/reader/part4.html

Writing Children's poems

If you've read the writings of Dr. Seuss, children's writing may seem to be a snap. However, anyone that has ever tried to write a children's poem knows that the process is much harder than it seems. It's very easy to fall into overused conventions and produce work that is not original. It is a well-known fact that publishers rarely accept children's poetry. This is the reason that there are so few established children's poets. Use the following tips to create original and engaging children's poetry that may just beat the tough market:

1. Don't Be a Mimic
The first mistake that all new writers to children's poetry fall into is writing like another writer. Publishers receive tons of Dr. Seuss-like poems from hopeful writers. If you are going to write children's poems, you first have to develop a unique voice, one that no one can dispute or copy. Courses in this area are usually available at local colleges, and writer's groups are invaluable for testing new work. This is the key to breaking into the poetry market.

Visit this site for more... http://www.readprint.com/article-7

NOTE: FOR THOSE WHO'S INTERESTED IN CHILDREN LITERATURE

Introducing 'Program Bacaan Awal (BAWAL)' reading set.

Regular=RM500
Now = RM250 (50% Off) for 50 books + 3 Guide Books + a carrier bag

BAWAL is a set of reading materials in Bahasa Malaysia, a product from collaboration between DBP and Education Faculty of UKM in early 1990. The writers are from the teaching staff of Tadika Taman Siswa UKM as well as lecturers in the Education Faculty of UKM.

BAWAl set is intended to provide the family or child care center with variations of reading materials. The 50 books have variety of topics from fiction, short novels, "berpantun' and 'teka-teki', eg 'Bermain Batu Seremban', 'Dua Kereta', 'Na dan Ni', 'Siapa Saya', etc. Some books are equiped with the 'flip flap' to create suspense while reading the books. The beautiful illustrations complement the sory line.

BAWAL comes in 3 Level: Level 1 - 25 books, Level 2 - 15 books and Level 3 - 10 books. It is also accompanied by Teachers/Parents Instruction Guide.

CALL 019-9403659 or 09-7653121 for details or log on to www.maribaca.com .

Read Aloud Session on February 11, 2005

Assalamualaikum mothers, fathers, teachers and care givers.
Today, we have a RA session in conjunction with the Awal Muharram's holiday. Although it is Friday and our library's closed for users, we managed to entertain kids and parents alike at our RAS.
Below are some photos that were taken during the session.


Children and their parents were waiting for Aunty Niza to start the session. This is where we have read aloud at Dar Nur al-Zahra'


Today we have many children and parents too. We have 37 children attending our RAS today. We started at 3.30pm and ended at 5pm sharp. That was quite fun, isn't it?


Aunty Niza (that's me) will be reading the book today. Book chosen is, MY MUM IS A WONDER.

Children were busy drawing inside their book. "That's good! Draw a picture of you and your mum. You can draw some books too...", said Aunty Niza. 

Soon to be published: Books Books Books

Aunty Je read the second book. The book entitled; BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS actually written by Kak Je herself. Insya-Allah she'll be publishing it soon.

More kids... 

Post-Reading Activities: Book Making

Children are busy making their own book.

Talk on Read Aloud by Kak Ina to PASTI's Teachers of Rantau Panjang

Some of the teachers at the talk.

I don't know what she's doing, maybe asking questions to the teachers. In the foreground is one of our big books entitled: Unity is Strength. 

Last Saturday, Kak Ina was invited to give a talk about read aloud to a group of pre-school teachers from PASTI (Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam, Rantau Panjang). Kak Ina during her talks on Read-Aloud. 

Encourage the love of reading at home.

If you want your kids to LOVE READING, make an effort to furnish your HOME with LOTS and LOTS of BOOKS, EDUCATIONAL MAGAZINES and NEWSPAPERS. This is my living room cum showroom of MariBaca. I use this room for relaxing, reading activities, read-aloud with neighbours' kids, doing my works and sometime sleeps. For me it's the most comfortable place at home. So...what about you?

Rent-a-Book at Mari@Baca Bookstore

Assalamualaikum wbt. Today I'd like to highlight my new business venture; Rent-a-Book or can also be called Rent-a-Novel. These are some of my novel collections from various genres. As I have so many of them and they keep growing every month, I think it would better if I could rent them out with a minimal fee. What do you think? If anyone interested, pls. contact me for details. From: Niza of www.maribaca.com