Zoo-phonics makes ABCs fun

I'd been meaning to try both phonics as well as whole words with B, regardless of the ongoing debate. Besides daily reading, we started regular flash cards (real images, Doman style) with words spoken in English and Chinese after he turned one.  This has improved B's focus and vocabulary (or at least his comprehension since he's hardly a talking encyclopedia!).  However after several alphabet attempts, the latest being Dr Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book, I realised B needed something more "whole brain" to connect the abstract letters with concrete words.  By chance, we stumbled upon Zoo-phonics when a friend passed us her son's used cards. I decided to give it a try after researching online and seeing this method adopted in Singapore (e.g. Growing Up Gifted includes it in their enrichment curriculum from infant to kindy).  If B remains interested after we run through all 26 lower case merged animal letters (!), I might get the full essential pack.  For now, here's what we're doing and why.

Zoo-phonics was developed in the mid 1980s by Charlene Wrighton and Gigi Bradshaw, two teachers in Northern California, who developed a strong phonics and physical component to enhance the existing whole language methods. Zoo-phonics introduces the alphabet as one thing with 26 parts via a multi-sensory approach involving the whole child, eyes, ears, mouth, mind and body. 

• Endearing animals as letter shapes (visual learning) - Shows animals in the shapes of lowercase letters before teaching the actual letters for easy remembering.  Lowercase letters are taught before capital letters as it's easier for a young child to form a lowercase letter and 95% of reading materials are in lowercase anyways.  In addition, when you flip the Animal Letter Cards around, a "bear" is always a bear but a "b" can easily be a "d" "p" or "q." 
• Sounds and songs (auditory learning) - Teaches sounds of the letters through the animal names ("a" as in Allie Alligator, etc.), and letter sounds are taught before letter names.  The sound of each letter comes through the initial sound of the animal name. 
• Hand and body motions, games and activities (kinesthetic learning) - Introduces a body signal to represents each animal letter, which in turn helps them lock in the learning.  Children decode letters (read) and encode letters (spell and write) all at once to songs and what looks like dancing, sucking the stress out of building phonemic awareness.   

For 1-2 year olds like B, Zoo-phonics is taught via music and movement, animals and nature, all which he truly enjoys.  According to them, parents can start as soon as your child is ready to sit for a few minutes and listen to a story.  Teach the individual letter shapes and sounds of the lowercase alphabet with the Animal Letter Cards and Body Movements, which will lay the foundation for all future reading, spelling and writing.  Show one Animal Letter Card at a time then reinforce all the letters you have taught previously with the fun games and activities.  Leave the Animal Cards where your child can find them easily and play with them daily!