By Crystal Nay

The YMCA of Los Angeles has seen a marked improvement in the literacy of its preschoolers after implementing a new curriculum for alphabetic and phonics learning.

When Alessandra Pinheiro, Senior Director of YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, met a representative of Zoo-phonics, Inc. at an educator’s conference in Pasadena, she had no idea she was going to change the literacy rates for hundreds of preschoolers in the Los Angeles area.

YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles operates 24 locations, with nine hosting preschools. Most of these kids are native Spanish speakers, with Spanish being the primary— and often only— language spoken in the home.

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By Crystal Nay

Teachers, administrators, heads of educational departments, and school board members are firm believers in educational studies because the results give them pertinent information to help them make classroom decisions. In order for the study to have integrity, it has to have a large enough student sample and must be able to demonstrate reliability in order to generalize to a greater population. One of the most important tests that studies go through (or should) is the t-test. The hope of the t-test is to show that the results of the study were not found by chance and the study can be replicated with assurance.

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On their somewhat harrowing drive through Kenya, Africa, Wrighton and her husband, and Watchman International volunteer staff, William Carver and Jeanne Brown, stepped into a land abuzz with social activity, with vendors lining the streets to sell their fresh fruit, just-caught fish, and hand-carved wood adornments. Giant piles of clothing for purchase could be found dotting the roadsides, where families come and pull from the pile the items they want. Infrastructure consisted of macadam, dirt, and muddy roads, with a mix of cars, vans, scooters, and taxi-motorcycles (called Boda-bodas) moving swiftly and dangerously in a driving free-for-all. People carried items on their heads, and others pulled carts. No matter what hour of the day (or night), people were in the streets, laughing, talking, selling, working.

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A two-day Zoo-phonics presentation was given in Eldoret (the fourth-largest city in Kenya) by Dr. Charlene Wrighton, author, CEO of the Zoo-phonics Mnemonic and Multisensory Language Arts Program.

Wrighton stood before 35 teachers and school administers/pastors, from six different African nations: Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, and South Sudan. With three of these countries speaking Swahili, and the rest speaking their own proprietary languages, she anticipated having to slow her presentation and wait for translators to convey the message.

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by Crystal Nay

Imagine a school in rural Kentucky that routinely shows below average performance for its young early language learners and readers. It checks all the boxes for what are commonly accepted today as norms: the boys trail behind the girls in learning to read, those coming from poverty level are behind those who are more affluent, those who are English language learners or those with developmental delays trail behind further still.

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A new independent research study shows incredible research results with Zoo-phonics.  Read the full Gender Alphabet Proficiency Study here.

The effectiveness of the Zoo-phonics Language Arts Program among 3 and 4 year old Head Start students was studied over the course of a year.  The results were incredible.  Read the full study here.

Click here to review the California Department of Education’s decision.

or

Click here for the California Department of Education’s full FAQ.

By Bill Carver

Watchmen International Training
Introduction to Zoo-phonics®

A team from the US just completed a two week interaction with WI nursery schools that included visits to four schools (Kenya–Anthony and William’s schools, Uganda–Rukoki and Hamakungu) and an ESL seminar teaching Zoo-phonics to representatives from eleven schools (Kenya–Pauline and Roselyne, Rwantda–Rosemary and Faith, Kilembe–Dinah, Buhuhira–Rose, Kyaka–Racheal, Hamakungu–Pearl, Rwempiche–Resta, Rukoki–Peace, Chrisco–Victoria).

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By Bill Carver

Watchmen International Training

Introduction to Zoo-phonics®

In June 2012, a team from Sanford, NC traveled to Kasese, Uganda to conduct training for nine teachers associated with nursery schools sponsored by Watchmen International (WI). The team included Bill Carver, Director for Schools, Gena Carver, 1st grade teacher at Grace Christian School, Nicole Terhune, 2nd grade teacher, and Janna Ptak, a rising 12th grade student at Grace Christian School.

Attendees at the training included two teachers from Kenyan (WI) nursery schools, one teacher from Rwanda, and six teachers from Uganda. The teachers from these nursery schools had participated in training with WI in previous years. They are representative of the skill level typical of the staff found in WI schools; they were enthusiastic and positive about the new curriculum.

The goals of the training included:

1. Basic introduction to the concept of teaching phonics using Zoo-phonics® curriculum
2. Introduction of the animals for each letter including a mini-natural science lesson for each
3. Introduction of the stylized form of the animals, their names, and the associated sounds
4. The hand motions for each letter/animal
5. Teaching the song for the whole alphabet
6. Basic instruction on teaching children to decode using Zoo-phonics® and introduction of lists of sight words
7. Practicing lessons for introducing each letter to the nursery and kindergarten school children (classes characterized by predominantly 5 year-olds with 3 to 6 year olds attending)
8. Provision of laptop computers and videos to reinforce the training

The teaching included direct instruction, whole group practice, small group practice, and trial instruction in the nursery schools. The training lasted five days, Monday through Friday, and instruction included about six hours of classes per day, including visits to two schools.

Introduction of the Zoo-phonics® curriculum promises to enhance learning of English in East Africa. Progress can be made in the African classroom with modest investment in printed curriculum. The pilot program in 2012 encouraged our team to plan subsequent training and to attempt to introduce Zoo-phonics® to all eighteen schools supported by Watchmen International in East Africa.