The program begins by introducing alphabet letters and sound cards that associate the phonetic sound to the letter using visual clues. All vowels are red and consonants are blue.
Next is the fun "Peek-a-Sound" game which re-enforces the sound and letter cards by using the same visual clues. The repetition of this game, which the child can use to self correct, will help the child gain comprehension and memory of sound to shape and symbol.
The next activity is Blending Sounds to Make Words, which is designed for the child to learn to use auditory processing to “hear the word” as they blend the sounds together. The last activity is Sound It Out cards, which have one, two and three letter short vowels sounds.
When the child has mastered the recognition of all of the letters and phonetic sounds, has learned to sound out two and three letter short vowel words, and lastly, is successful in “HEARING” the word and they are sounding out without assistance, they are de-coding words and are ready to begin reading the books.
Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read.
The Zeb Books series are written and illustrated by Carol Zerboni. Carol attended the University of Oklahoma to receive her degree in Elementary Education. She’s a Lifetime Member of AMS, trained at the Oklahoma City University Montessori training program. Carol has been teaching children to read at her school, Southwind Montessori Preschool and Kindergarten in Norman, OK, for over 42 years. Through her years working with kids, she’s used countless books and tools to aid in early reading and writing development. Carol began to pick up on things different books did that either helped or harmed how quickly her children would learn. Through the process of trying to find the perfect learning tool box for her kids, Carol began to realize that she simply needed to make her own. Thus, Zeb Books was born - a tried a tested learning series designed to slowly introduce the basics of phonics to children between ages 2-7. The books were such a success at her own school, Carol was motivated to produce them into a series for children all over the world.