Books for students to Revise, Practice, Assess and Reinforce Learning

As we wind down for the year 2019, some parents are starting to plan for the new academic year 2020 by buying  reference texts and even workbooks. There are so many options in the physical as well as online bookshops that while this means that we are fortunate to be so spoilt for choice, we can also be a little bit confused.

Which books to buy? There are revision books, topical practice books (according to textbooks topics), model test papers based on past year papers, memory cards etc.

This is where Oxford Fajar's Complete Study Solution come in handy. It is essential for students to practice repetitive revision by using various materials and study methods. You can use it as a buying guide to decide what types of books to buy at which stage.

The Oxford Fajar's Complete Study Solution

1. Revise Topics Learned at School.
It is recommended that at the start of school, you first select revision guides to help students REVISE. Revision guides help students to understand what they are learning at school with comprehensive notes. You can use this as a daily revision book to supplement or compliment school textbooks.

2. Practice, practice, practice!
Next, workbooks that help students go more in depth into each topic for further PRACTICE is useful to reinforce learning. These books come with exercises to help students explore each topic they have learned more thoroughly.

3. Assessment is necessary to prepare for exams
After revision and practices, it is time for assessment. Model test papers focusing on past year test papers are useful to prepare students for the next step in learning ie examinations. While Tahap 1 students ie P1 to P3 students are no longer tested at schools with exams to move away from an exam-oriented environment, it is still useful to have some sort of informal assessment at home to gauge if your child has understood what they have learned at school. Parents can get these mid-year and end of year assessments to ASSESS their knowledge at home in a safe, no exam pressure environment.

4. Reinforce with study notes
Oxford Fajar has study tools like memory booster cards to help students recall key topics of importance quickly at a glance. This is the last stage of workbooks required to REINFORCE learning before students sit for their school exams. They can be bought together with the Past Year papers or assessment workbooks to prepare for examinations.

Dear readers, we hope this post has helped you to see how workbooks are published with certain intent and purpose. Knowing this will help us to select the right kinds of books for every stage of learning from start of school to exam season.

This post was brought to you by Oxford Fajar Malaysia.

As before, we will be doing giveaways for lucky winners. This week 5 lucky winners will win a set each of revision books tailored for their child's level from Standard One to Form 5.

Join giveaway here. 

Fun With Phonics

Phonics can be confusing for parents who didn’t learn to read and write English that way, and many parents are uncertain how best to help their children, but rest assured there is a lot you can do. 

Believe it or not, there really is a system linking English spelling and pronunciation together and phonics teaches children that system. Rather than teaching them letter names, phonics teaches them the different sounds that individual letters and groups of letters make when they’re written down so that children can blend the units of sound together to read whole words. This is a tried and tested method. By the end of primary school, children who learn to read with phonics can attain a reading age 3.5 years ahead of those who do not. 

The Best Way To Help Your Children Is To Learn With Them

Phonics may seem a bit overwhelming to you at first but the best way to help your children is to learn with them. Check which sounds they’ve been learning in class and start by watching some phonics videos online with them. This will refresh their memories and show you what and how they’ve been taught. The Alphablocks is an excellent BBC series of phonics videos available on YouTube as is Geraldine the Giraffe – a series made by a British school teacher. 

Help Your Child Practice Using Their New Phonics Knowledge

After watching a video, set your child a task to help them practice using their new phonics knowledge. First, they need to practise saying the sound and identifying words that contain it. So you could send them on a treasure hunt where they have to find things around the house that begin with or contain the correct sound. For example, if they’re practicing /p/ as in paper you can ask them to find five things that begin with the same /p/ sound. As they collect items, encourage them to say what they are to check if they begin with the correct sound. You could also ask them to draw five things that begin with the sound or to make five models out of Playdoh of things that begin with the sound.

After saying the sound, children need to practice writing it



After saying the sound, children need to practice writing it and at this stage it’s important to refer to the written form as a letter shape rather than using its letter name which can be confusing. So, you might say something like “Can you write the /p/ letter shape?” while making the /p/ sound - as in the beginning of the word paper.

A variety of arts and crafts activities can make this stage fun and stimulating. For example, you can use a glue stick and some dry rice or glitter and ask your child to write the letter shape with the glue stick then sprinkle on the rice/glitter to reveal it. You can ask your child to make the letter shape with Playdoh or you can fill a tray with shaving foam and ask them to write the letter shape using their fingers. Equally, you may want to make letter shapes that you can keep so that you can help your child to practice reading simple words when they reach that stage in their phonics journey.

Download some phonics apps onto your smartphone

If your child enjoys technology, you could download some phonics apps onto your smartphone. Both Jolly Phonics (the British state school standard phonics system) and the Alphablocks available both for iOS and for Android devices have fun and well-designed phonics apps. If you are not familiar with the letter sounds yourself then these apps can help you to learn phonics skills as well, so you can support your children.

So, learn with your children, get creative and try to choose practice activities that your child will enjoy. Good luck!

These tips were brought to you by British Council Malaysia. British Council Malaysia provides Phonics courses at the KL and The Curve branches. Further course details can be found at https://www.britishcouncil.my/english/courses-children/phonics

To learn about our courses for children aged 5 – 17, visit British Council at https://www.britishcouncil.my/english/courses-children

Join the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 Today!

Are you passionate about writing poetry and public speaking?

If the answer is yes, the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 is the perfect platform for you to showcase your talents!



The 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 will be held at the 13th Private & International School Fair in Kuala Lumpur on 22 & 23 June 2019 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre. The competition aims to promote the creative use of the English language through the medium of poetry.

The competition is divided into two stages which includes an online submission of poems and live performance. Participants first need to submit a poem revolving around the theme, People Who Inspire Me. Those whose poems meet the requirements will be shortlisted to perform at the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 in front of a live audience.



The competition is open to individuals and groups in two categories, Category A (11 to 12 years old) and Category B (13 to 14 years old). Last year, the inaugural PISF Poetry Slam received over 150 entries from almost 40 private, international and national schools in the Klang Valley.

Send your entries for the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 today and stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes!

Find out more about the competition below:

http://www.privateinternationalschoolfair.com/events/13th-private-international-school-fair-in-kuala-lumpur/contests

Watch the highlights of the inaugural PISF Poetry Slam 2018 below:



This is a sponsored post.

Fun Printz Starting School Giveaway

"How do I label my child's shoes"

"Oh no, my kid lost their water tumbler AGAIN!"

"Where can I find cute personalize labels with cartoons and my child's name?"

This is the hot topic in our FB group right now and we hear you! That's why we're teaming up with Fun Printz to bring to you this Starting School Giveaway. 

What are we giving away? 

12 Lucky Winners from our FB group will win a set of Fun Printz Personalized School Labels 

Iron on labels set worth RM 68 each ( 85 or 45 pcs depending on the size you pick )  - 3 Winners

S labels set worth RM40 each ( 50 pcs )  3 Winners

M labels set worth RM40 each ( 36 Pcs)  3 Winners

Shoe labels set worth RM40 each ( 8 pairs )  3 Winners

Cool right? Go here to enter this giveaway contest. It's really easy. All you need to do is answer one simple question and fill in your details in the contest form. Winners are chosen randomly. T&C applies.

Join Contest here

School Holidays Giveaway For Our Website Members

It's the mid year holidays. Yay! Time to rest and recoup for parents and kids alike.

We're pleased to let you know that we are running a giveaway on our website. You are going to love this one.

We're giving away 5 pairs of tickets to Potted Potter worth RM 200 per pair. Potted Potter will be playing at KLPAC from 2 June 2016 to 5 June 2016.

Visit our website contest page now for details.

Online Colouring Contest 15 April - 30 April 2016

Hey there parents,

With April being such a hot month, outdoor activities are not encouraged. So what do you do with a bored kid at home? You can colour!

Mumsgather Finds is delighted to bring to you a digital online colouring contest sponsored by Books Kinokuniya Malaysia Webstore in conjunction with their colouring books promotion in April 2016. It is extremely easy to enter. No registration is required. You don't have to book a space or make sure you remember to mark  your calendar to go to the colouring contest venue. You can do it in the comfort of your own home.

Make it a fun family project. Mom, dad, child. Even grandpa or grandma can join in.

This online colouring contest is open to Malaysians only, both East and West Malaysia. 

Criteria:

1. You must have an account with Books Kinokuniya Malaysia Webstore
2. You are a member of Mumsgather Finds
3. You are a member of The Malaysia Primary and Secondary School Parents Group on Facebook

Here's what you need to do.

3 Simple Steps

1. Go to our free printables page for members to download and print your colouring sheet. It looks like the image above.
2. Rope in mom, dad and every child in your house to come up with ideas to colour the colouring sheet that you printed. You can use any media, colour pencils, crayons, water colours, glitter pens, sharpies. Anything! Be creative and get everyone involved. This is a family project. You can print as many sheets as you like and try to colour as many as you like to test out or have a mini contest at home, then submit the best one. However, only one entry per family is allowed. Submission dateline is 30 April 2016.
3. When you are done, take a photo of your creation, then go to our Facebook group : The Malaysia Primary and Secondary School Parents on Facebook and submit your entry by uploading your picture in the album called "Books Kinokuniya Malaysia Webstore Colouring Contest". The album will have the following sample photo in it. Click on "Add Photo" to add. In the description, type in your name and media used as per the example given.

Winners Selection

• Organizers will select 10 finalists from the Books Kinokuniya Malaysia Webstore Colouring Contest Album and the artwork will be featured on our website on this page.
• FB Group members will be called upon to vote for the best 3 out of the 10 featured artwork
• The best 3 artworks will win the following prizes (subject to change by organizer)
• Winners will be notified by private message

Prizes:

Mother Earth Colourart by Emila Yusof

Nature Sings Colourart by Emila Yusof

Treehouse Colourart by Emila Yusof

Good luck and have fun!