• No products in the cart.
Top

PHONICS APP

Learn Your Alphabet Sounds - NZ Accent

Learn Your Alphabet Sounds (Alphabet Sounds) features 26 five-minute phonics lessons designed to teach Kiwi children how to correctly hear, read and write the 26 alphabet letter sounds.

Suitable for children at the beginning stages of learning to read (4-6 years old).

Teaching children how to hear, read and write the alphabet

HEAR the 26 alphabet sounds

• learn each sound (a-z) in the initial position of a word (except ‘x’ where the sound is heard in words rather than at the start of words)

• learn some common words that start with the 26 sounds. Pictures are provided to motivate and also to support children who may not know the vocabulary.

READ the letters for the sounds

• read the letter for each sound by itself

• see the letter in a written word with a little picture to help them read the word

• identify the letter as fast as they can when it is presented with other letters in a fun fluency game

WRITE the letters for the sounds

• learn how to write the letter with their finger (If they form it the wrong way, they have to try again.)

• plus SING a catchy song to help them remember the sound, the letter for it, a key word that is associated with it and learn the name of the letter.

The girls absolutely loved playing! My 3.5 year old was copying and my almost 5 year old was predicting the sound and word!! And I also loved the letter formation parts as she has to form them properly!! Have recommended it to all my friends!!
— Angela M

UNIQUE AND SPECIAL FEATURES

• designed for New Zealand children
• a NZ accented child’s voice makes the sounds and word associations
• familiar words of encouragement in Māori are used
• the vowel sounds are the New Zealand accented vowel sounds
• the letters are in line with the New Zealand handwriting curriculum
• characters are multiracial
• all food pictures are vegan
• created by an experienced teacher and early literacy specialist

pictures are provided for all content words (especially helpful for children with limited or no English vocabulary)

thinking time is provided throughout the lesson to give an opportunity for the child to focus and for the learning to sink in rather than rush the learner too quickly from one element to another

the children are reminded when they learn how to read and write each letter that they can use this in their own reading and writing

the pictures and key words for the letters are compatible with the Yolanda Soryl letter/mnemonic phonics scheme and is used in many New Zealand schools

lower case letters only are used and reinforced (capitals letters are best learnt later after the lower-case letters are taught)

the format and images selected are simple and clear without unnecessary visual distractions (helpful for learners with visual processing issues)

the teacher or child can choose to do either the full five-minute lesson or to just do one shorter lesson element that needs reinforcing

this app has been successfully tested in New Zealand classrooms and enthusiastically received by teachers

the child can repeat each lesson element as often as they need to by pressing the redo button

the sound files have been approved by the Speech and Language Department at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand

FAQs

Why isn’t it free?

It costs a lot of money to make an app and this one has cost well over 50k to create so we do need to charge something. We have kept the price low though.

Can we buy it bulk for school?

The app can be bought in bulk through the Apple App Store by schools. Google Play does not offer schools this option.

Is there a discount if we buy it in bulk?

There is no discount buying in bulk because we decided the best thing to do was to make the app as cheap as possible. It didn’t seem fair for large schools to be able to get a bulk discount and small schools not able to get a discount due to their smaller size and inability to buy in bulk. So we felt it better just to make it low priced in the first place. We ended up making the app at a loss but have stuck to the principle of making it affordable anyway.

How can we use the app in school?

Use it for individuals to use on tablets after the class phonics lesson as a reinforcement to the lesson they have just had. Teachers might also use it on a big screen with the class as a revision to the previous real-life lesson. Tell parents about it and suggest they consider getting it on their phones for their children to do in the car or at home.

How to download

Downloading the lite version of the app is free!

The downloadable lite version of the app allows the user to freely use all of the features and 5-minute lessons for letters a, b and c.

To obtain the full version with lessons for all 26 letters, sign up for a 12-month subscription from within the lite version. This subscription costs $3.49 annually.

Available on the App Store and Google’s Play Store.

SCHOOL BULK DOWNLOADS

Apple devices only
While the App is based on an annual subscription, we have added a one-off payment version to permit access via the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. This one-off payment version allows the user to have indefinite and unrestricted access to all 26 letters and their lessons. Whilst the $6.99NZD one-off fee is higher than the annual subscription, it does calculate to a lower annual cost the longer the App is used.

Sorry, Google Play does not offer bulk downloads at this time.

VIEW ONE-OFF PAYMENT VERSION

Listen to Yolanda being interviewed on National Radio about the app.