Zoophonics

[autumnbronze]

vonneee86:

Hi autumnbronze,


I am helping a friend to find out information on good enrichment centre
for writing and for phonics, I have heard of zoophonics but i have
also heard a lot about I Can Read, do you know what the difference
is? The teachers seem great from what you described, did you have
a chance to look at their materials? Thanks.

Hi vonneee86,

Sorry I am not able to furnish more information about Zoophonics because that is all I know. I am also not able to comment on ICR as I am not familiar with their programme

Perhaps some other forummers will be able to help :?:

[jon00]

My 2 kids have been with zoophonics since they were 2.5YO. Currently, my gal is in K2, going to P1 next year , and my son is in N2. He will be continuing to K1 and K2.


Zoophonics, like all Kindies have structured and theme based syllabus. In the daily programmes, time are allocated between english, maths, science and chinese. The kids are also encouraged to attend the school holiday programmes which focus on specific theme (good general knowledge, IMHO).

One of the key area is phonics, so in N1 and N2, the school set the foundation on phonics, sound of letters and word blending. Proper writing and writing techniques are also emphasize during these 2 years. Comparing to other phonics school, you may find that the pace is relatively slower but I can see the vast improvement in my kids attempting to blend and read a word at later stage with the strong foundation build into them. Again, in my opinion, I believe in building strong fundamentals and not rushing through it since learning is a continuous process.

In K1 and K2, the kids would have acquire the ability to read. These 2 years will also see the syllabus tailored to the preparation of P1. Spelling, english language (i.e verbs, nouns...etc), mathamatics concept, chinese hanyu pinyin, journal writing, short comprehension and composition, science concept are all part of the learning.

One of the thing I like about zoophonics is the class size. It is between 10-12 kids in a class, and the teacher has pretty balance focus on each of the kids. My gal's class even has a \"mentoring system\" where the better kid guide the weaker kid. The class bonds very well.

This is a brief snapshot of my review for Zoophonics. Hope it helps.

[vonneee86]

autumnbronze:

vonneee86:

Hi autumnbronze,


I am helping a friend to find out information on good enrichment centre
for writing and for phonics, I have heard of zoophonics but i have
also heard a lot about I Can Read, do you know what the difference
is? The teachers seem great from what you described, did you have
a chance to look at their materials? Thanks.

Hi vonneee86,

Sorry I am not able to furnish more information about Zoophonics because that is all I know. I am also not able to comment on ICR as I am not familiar with their programme

Perhaps some other forummers will be able to help :?:

Hi autumnbronze,

Thanks for trying to help anyway, appreciate it!

[vonneee86]

jon00:

My 2 kids have been with zoophonics since they were 2.5YO. Currently, my gal is in K2, going to P1 next year , and my son is in N2. He will be continuing to K1 and K2.


Zoophonics, like all Kindies have structured and theme based syllabus. In the daily programmes, time are allocated between english, maths, science and chinese. The kids are also encouraged to attend the school holiday programmes which focus on specific theme (good general knowledge, IMHO).

One of the key area is phonics, so in N1 and N2, the school set the foundation on phonics, sound of letters and word blending. Proper writing and writing techniques are also emphasize during these 2 years. Comparing to other phonics school, you may find that the pace is relatively slower but I can see the vast improvement in my kids attempting to blend and read a word at later stage with the strong foundation build into them. Again, in my opinion, I believe in building strong fundamentals and not rushing through it since learning is a continuous process.

In K1 and K2, the kids would have acquire the ability to read. These 2 years will also see the syllabus tailored to the preparation of P1. Spelling, english language (i.e verbs, nouns...etc), mathamatics concept, chinese hanyu pinyin, journal writing, short comprehension and composition, science concept are all part of the learning.

One of the thing I like about zoophonics is the class size. It is between 10-12 kids in a class, and the teacher has pretty balance focus on each of the kids. My gal's class even has a \"mentoring system\" where the better kid guide the weaker kid. The class bonds very well.

This is a brief snapshot of my review for Zoophonics. Hope it helps.

Hi jon00,

Thanks a lot..you said it was a kindy..I thought it was an enrichment centre, is it possible to join their phonics programme but not the kindy?

[tree nymph]

LKVM:

vonneee86:

Hi jon00,


Thanks a lot..you said it was a kindy..I thought it was an enrichment centre, is it possible to join their phonics programme but not the kindy?

I had sent my DS for their enrichment classes and not for the kindy so they allow that... I was quite satisfied with their classes!! I hope it helps

Hi jon00,

My kids are with Zoophonics for their once a week enrichment class. thanks to the teachers, my #1 is able to read and write in time for his P1... that means he doesn't need to go for remedial class in school for the weaker students who can't read well yet. His P1 teacher commented though he is chatty and not paying attention in class, he can still read well... not that its a fab comment but it shows that phonics class works.

Like ICR, Zoophonics also promote kids based on their abilities. I know of a kid who got promoted by 3 terms and still doing well in the new class - this kid is a year younger then the kids in the same class. Normally by June for the K2 kids, they would have finished the pre-school stuff and will start P1 prep, which includes grammar, cloze passage, more reading and also simple creative writing.

If your kid has no phonics knowledge, its good for you to start from TERM 1.

The difference between ICR and Zoo is ICR has spelling... big long words too. So it really depends on what you want your kid to achieve.

[vonneee86]

LKVM:

I agree with tree nymph, even my DS couldnt read at all before joining Zoophonics and had sent him for 1 yr, couldnt continue due to change of place and the new place was far from Zoophonics.. however I am thinking of sending my DS2 earlier so that he can learn better... only problem is its far

Hi treenynymph and LKVM,

Thanks for the information, seems like Zoophonics is good..will let my friend know to give it a try.

[maisy]

Hi Tree Nymph

Possible to share which Zoophonics your son attended ? Thanks v much

[jon00]

Tree nymph,

My 2 kids are with Zoophonics daily programmes.

Vonneee86,
Yes, like LKVM said, they do have enrichment classes, both in weekdays and weekends.

[mrswongtuition]

My boy was with Zoophonics (Tampines Mart) for once a week enrichment.

I took him out after 1 term.

Main issues:
1. Teacher is a middle age lady who can’t speak proper English. Her pronunciation was not clear and my boy also picked up the poor pronunciation for certain new words which were taught during the lesson. (Until today, he still pronounces the word ‘nurse’ wrongly as taught during his lessons in Zoophonics. We tried correcting him but he insists that the teacher was right.)
2. The teachers could not manage the class.
3. When given feedback (before we decided to withdraw him), no action taken and no effort to explain.
4. They took very very very long to refund my deposit although I gave them more than 1 month’s notice. (I paid for a while term, so when we told them we wanted to withdraw him, they told us that they will pass us the cheque for the refund of the deposit on the last lesson with them. However, it did not happen and we had to keep calling in and emailing them. When I call in, it was hard to get hold of anyone - and they supervisor of the centre kept persuading me to let my boy join back. Finally, the sent us the refund after I called their HQ to complain. That was 3 month after his last lesson!)

Things we liked about the class:
1. My boy likes the songs.
2. The thematic approach is fun for my boy.

Anyway, we let my boy join the class for fun (more for social interaction). Before he joined the class, he already knew all this basic phonic sounds but the teacher insist that they cannot let him join the older children though he is independant (can attend class without us accompanying him) and his standard is faster than the older kids.

For the price you are paying, I think there are better options elsewhere. I’m glad to take my boy out and he’s having lessons elsewhere now - with very fast improvements.

[jon00]

Well, I guess it depends on the teacher as well (the execution process), even though the school has good teaching materials, and methods. I think my kids are fortunate to have good teachers (both english and chinese) in their daily programmes, and I am happy

For the record, my kids are not with Tampines branch