Hooked on Phonics - Levels 1 thru 5

by Laura O
(Maryland)

Product: Hooked on Phonics
Subject: reading/phonics
Levels Used: 1 - 5 (deluxe edition)
Dates Used: Sept. 2008 - present

Likes: Most of the materials are colorful which helped to grab my son's attention in the early stages of reading. The material is laid out well and makes it easy for just about any motivated parent to help teach their child how to read.

The included audio tapes (or CDs if you have a newer edition) with the sounds for the child to listen to while looking at cards. Often times, we opted to do this without the tape. But, if you are concerned about your dialect interfering with a clear pronunciation, then the recordings are good to have.

Dislikes: We had great success with this program (as did my sister who passed it on to me), so no negatives really come to mind. The only thing that some might wish for would be that the charts recording progress were made reusable for multiple students. We tried prying off stickers from my niece's use, but found they really couldn't be reused easily.

It wasn't an issue for my son who was just so excited to have it all click and start reading. But, it could be an issue if a family plans to reuse this for multiple kids and there is one that needs the extra motivation.

Hooked on Phonics

by Heather
(Sachse, TX, USA)

I used Hooked on Phonics with my son in his 3rd grade Summer (Summer before 3rd grade, that is). He had strabismus in one eye that made it hard for him to read before this time. Hooked on Phonics, along with another product (100 Easy Lessons) helped him to catch up to where he needed to be. The cassettes(an old version) along with the books really helped him as a visual and kinetic learner. I'm glad that we had this resource as it was life-changing for my son.

Hooked on Phonics

by Russ
(Los Alamos, Ca)

Product: Hooked on phonics
Subject: reading
Levels Used: kindergarten
Dates Used: 2011

Likes: Fun early reading program that my son still asks for (songs are great!)

Dislikes: A lot of content to get through to go ahead in reading. My wife could hardly believe her son was reading. Since have switched to ultimate phonics by Spencer learning, a great program after letter recognition and consonant blends are learned.

Hooked on Phonics

by Sue T.

Hooked on Phonics
Phonics/Reading
2006

Likes: The concept is great. One-on-one time with the workbooks does teach your child how to memorize phonetic sounds.

Dislikes: Hooked on Phonics didn't work for me. The timing of the CD's frustrated my child. After several months of working through the workbooks and diligently trying to memorize our cards, he was still too slow to keep up with the CD. After one too many bouts of tears, we packed it away. We did, however, pull out his SRA's after he learned to read using another method. We still use those to this day and love them!