Customer Reviews

Hooked on Phonics: Learn to Read Deluxe System

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been looking for reading activities to do with my son, Drake, so his reading skills won't get "rusty" over the summer. I recently purchased the Hooked on Phonics kit for second graders and Drake loves it! He actually asks me to get it out and do the activities with him. I think the little successes he experiences every night make him want to continue with the program. Hooked on Phonics makes it so easy for the child to gain mastery of various concepts because the lessons are short and sweet and only focus on one skill at a time. This system is perfect for my son's limited attention span and I am seeing some really significant results.

I used this program with my child who was having trouble keeping up with reading in his class at school so I purchased this program. I worked with him 15 minutes before school each morning and within 2 weeks there was a noticeable improvement in his reading abilities. The progress charts gave him a visual goal for him to see that he was learning and succeeding! It was a huge ego boost for him to put a sticker on the chart to show that he'd passed a section. I can't say enough good about this program. Even if your child is having trouble reading, or is a good reader but could use some work in efficiency, this is the program for you. We completed this program in 2 months, it's up to the user to determine how motivated they are to push through the levels. The easy color coded levels guide you step by step through workbooks and tapes, defining and mastering sounds and rhythems of reading. Being able to work at home and find what his problems areas were took the fear of embarrassment infront of kids in the class out of the picture. The books for reading were interesting and had very cute animals and modern pictures that kids this age would relate to. I'm so happy with this program, I'm moving on with Hooked On Phonics Master Reader. I only wish I'd done this program with all my children.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I have the version with audio tapes. I loved this product. We never used the tapes, because they were boring, but we did use the workbooks and the reading books. I do not know what instructions the other reviewer was talking about. The workbooks are lists of words broken up by family with review pages and stories interspaced. Oh wait, there are instructions in the "parent's package and the video tape". Level 1 is CVC words. Level 2 is beginning sound blends. Level 3 is ending sound blends, and Level 4 and 5 are vowel blends. My son loved the ABC cards, and learned his ABC's by age 3. Level 1 was a lot more difficult, because it just took time for him to emotionally grasp the concept of "reading". For that level we actually used the Kumon workbooks and the HOP readers, but we went back to HOP workbooks for Levels 2 - 5. We even used the HOP speller workbook. The format of HOP is simple. A word family is introduced. Then there is a review page. Finally there is a story. After a few word families, the child reads an actual book. My son is working on Level 5 right now and will finish by the end of the week. We are looking into buying Hooked On Phonics Master Reader. As for the "bells and whistles", the reward of being able to go to the library with its shelves and shelves of books and pick out a book and read it. That is more valuable than the bells of whistles of a computer game. This is not a program that you can just hand to your child (as one would do with a computer game). It is a program that is designed to be used with a parent / teacher / tutor that is giving human feedback on if the child is reading correctly. My child's rewards were "high-fives", "your the best", and "Do you want to read the story to grandma?". The program does what it is designed to do, and it was worth every penny for our family.

I am the proud granny of a 5 year old granddaughter, Isabella and an 8 year old grandson, Cameron. I purchased the Hooked on Phonics for them a year ago or so before it was available on Amazon. I got it off the infomercials they used to run. I haven't seen them lately so I guess Amazon is now the place to get it. Anyways, they both loved it and my son, who is a teacher, tells me that it is educationally "sound" as he says. All I know is that when they come over all they want to do is read to me and show off their reading skills! I have to think that Hooked on Phonics is one of the reasons they're both such great readers. Cameron is finished with the whole program and Isabella is just now moving on to the first grade level. Cameron loves to play teacher which is great because they both get the extra practice. The only thing I regret about the version I bought off TV is that it has cassette tapes and the new version on Amazon has CDs. I am getting the new version for my great-niece who is almost 4 years old.

07/30/2006

A first grade teacher told my wife and I that our son Charlie would have to remain in kindergarden. Our son will be 6 years old very soon in August. We quickly hired a tutor and purchased Hooked on Phonics. He is now able to read more than 44 words after using hooked on phonics for only one month. His tutor never used the product before and she is thourouly impressed with the results. In her whole carreer she has never seen a child aquire reading skills so qickly and effortlessly. We greatly appreciate what Hooked on Phonics has done for our son.

Thanks Hooked on Phonics

Walter Seifert, M.D.
Sonia Ramirez-Seifert, M.D.

I've been using the Hooked on Phonics program in my classroom for years but the version on Amazon looks way different than the version I bought 5 or 6 years ago. This one has a CD-Rom and 20 books more than the one we have. I am going to see if the school will pay for this new version. It's well worth the money and can be used with multiple children year after year.

Great product! My 5 year old is able to do most of the material on his own even though we go over the lessons together. The material was appropriate for this age group. Everything was included as stated by the seller. I would definitely recommend.

My son leaned to read at a grade one level in two months . I would recommend this product to everyone who wants their child to read in a very short time.

I have ordered this deluxe version of the Hooked On Phonics reading system through Amazon. The supplier was Netstokr. I received the regular version which does not have the interactive CD. In my opinion, the CD is the most important component of this system and I bought it mainly for the CD. Supplier did not respond to my email informing that wrong item was delivered. The issue is yet to be resolved 2 months after placing the order. I do not recommend this seller and can not comment on the reading system itself.

I ordered the newly revised Deluxe version of HOP so that I could help my kindergartener learn to read. I'm so disappointed that it doesn't use creative teaching methods. Frankly, it's very, very dry and boring. I expected songs, no songs. I expected interactive CDs, there is one in the entire k-2nd grade kit! Provides nice "learn to read" books,a workbook, and a couple of very boring audio CDs. Unfortunately, to access the instructions for each workbook session, one must turn on the audio CD, find the place you last stopped, then listen to the monotone lesson. They are so dull, my daughter tunes right out but there's no other way to get the lesson instructions. The positive side, at least it gives ME a frame of reference to teach my daughter - but such a wasted opportunity for HOPs to teach! There are many inexpensive CD-ROMs on the market that are more effective.