Customer Reviews

Hooked On Phonics: Learn to Read K-2nd Grade Deluxe Edition

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Our son started kindergarten able to (very slowly) sound out words like "cat". We tried the Bob books, but it just wasn't clicking for him. So we went ahead and bought this (HOP learn to read--not the deluxe edition)--sort of figured it couldn't hurt and might help a little.

Now, he is not what I would call an eager learner. Getting him to sit down to do the first lesson wasn't the easiest thing in the world. However, after that very first lesson, it "clicked"--and literally, within two weeks, he was reading just about every short vowel, three letter word you can imagine. More importantly, he LOVES this program and asked to do it almost every day. He zipped through the kindergarten level in about 3 months and *begged* to start the 1st grade level. We started that one in January, and he is now (three months later) about 1/3 of the way through the second grade level. We just had conferences with his teacher and she is *so* impressed with his reading skills. She actually said, "Wow!" and estimates he is at a late first-, early second grade level.

Now, all that being said, I did not rely 100% on this system to reinforce what he was learning. I bought the Nora Gaydos level 1's and 2's (he likes them SO much better than the Bob books--and so do I!) and I think that is necessary with *any* reading program. HOP gives you good books, don't get me wrong, but my son had them memorized in record time. So I would highly, highly recommend the Nora Gaydos books (or Bob books) in addition to any of the HOP reading sets because beginning readers need lots of practice. And, the Nora Gaydos books are awfully cute and often are quite funny, so he loved getting those out to practice (usually he reads one to us each night as part of the reading routine).

I cannot overstate how much my son loves this program--when he saw the "Hooked on Math" program (at a local store), he flipped out and asked to put it on his Christmas wish list. For his 6th birthday, he's asked for more HOP reading levels--again, this is from a child that was not an eager learner. This program is fantastic--his confidence is constantly reinforced (he loves putting stickers on the charts). There were a couple times when he got frustrated--some of the "review word" pages are a bit overwhelming. I just picked out a few words and had him read those, then we moved on.

Oh! And there's no marking in any of the HOP books (even math! they use a wipe off sheet), so you can pass them on to younger siblings--you can order replacement stickers and posters from the HOP website for under $10.

So there you have it--all the ups, downs, and in-betweens (from our experiences, anyway!). :)

HOP products have made a wonderful difference in my child's life. Every achievement has given her great joy. She started with the Get Ready to Read set where she thoroughly learned the alphabet and all the letter sounds. This made reading a natural next step. She moved on to the Kindergarten - First grade set. Reading her first book gave her such a good feeling about herself. The HOP program has really enhanced her self-esteem. When she finished all the materials in the Kindergarten level (at age 4), we celebrated with a special Pop Fox cake, created for the occasion by a local bakery. The materials are so well written with reinforcement and logical sequence, that her success was ensured. I would highly recommend these materials for any parent who enjoys helping their child succeed.

I am a busy single mother with an eager kindergartner who really wants to read. I had tried on my own using other activity books and "blending word books" to try and assist her with reading with minimal results. When we got the package we began using it right away. This product provided the structure we both needed in order for her to become a better reader. In just the few weeks that we've had it my child has already learned so many new words and has begun to read sentences. I am very pleased with this product.

It is designed to help children figure out written words. It is not sopossed to be overly entertaining-get a movie for that. I thought the way they laid everything out could not have been simpler. My son is finally getting it together and he could not be more proud of himself. They use one sound at a time, learn it, move on to another sound, learn it and so on. The the child is to read books that reinforce it. Other than a magic potion I don't see how anyone else can make learning to read easier.

We started using Hooked on Phonics when my son was four. Within a year he was reading beginner chapter books, like Magic Tree House. He is now seven and reading at a fourth grade level. We will start using Hooked on Phonics with our daughter next year.

My son didn't like the CD's voice so we didn't use those after he learned the letter sounds.

I highly recommend Hooked on Phonics because it certainly worked for us!

My son is now 6 and reads chapter books I love it but I mostly used the book and not the rest the books helped because they had the Same words over again in each book but with added words perfect yes it's worth it to start your kids young reading

I cannot say enough about this product it makes teaching your child how to read so easy and enjoyable for them as well. I wish this product was around when I was a child growing up. This helps your child by slowly introducing the alphabet and the sound each letter makes and it helps encourage them by going at the pace your child feels comfortable. My daughters is 5 and does not start school until this August for kindergarten and because she is already done the 2nd grade level and we already know the principal of the school since my 6 year old also was skipped because of her advance reading they are testing the 5yr old before school starts so she can go straight to 1st grade instead of kindergarten. So this program was worth every penny spent and I have two children who love to read and what parent could not be more excited. So for any parent thinking about getting a fun reading program to help their child please do not wait any longer. [...]

Started the kindergarten set with my 4 year old daughter, she went thru it in about 4 months and started on the 1st great. We didn't quite finish it because she was getting the concepts on her own. She was born in November, but will now be skipping kindergarten this year and entering first grade. I'm sure each child is different, but this program is great. My first and second graders didn't seem to take to the program as well, but they read great already and above grade level.

We bought the K, 1st, and 2nd grade programs. We have four year old twins that couldn't read yet, knew the alphabet and could only recognize a few words (their names, and maybe stop and cat.) We spend about 1/2 hour every other day on the program, working separately with each child. They really caught on to the program immediately. It slowly builds up words, starting with "at" words like cat and fat, then "an" words like can and ran, etc. Almost immediately the kids could read the simple stories in the lesson plan. It gave them a big surge of confidence and excitement. The poster with the stickers has been a huge incentive along with reading each new story to everyone in the family when they learn it. The workbook and books are great. We are using the CD less as we go along, because it's a bit repetitive and they respond as much to me reading the words as the voice on the CD. They are starting to recognize words in other books, signs, the newspaper, etc. In two weeks, they have read 6 of the stories in the lesson plan. Overall, it's been great for us and I would recommend it to anyone.

Four months ago my 4 year old son started the Kindergarten program learning very slowly to sound out words like C-A-T. After repeating the letters several times he was able to put it together and figure out that it was the word cat.

The sticker charts are amazing motivation for him to continue on as he wants to earn the next sticker which we often supplement with couple jelly beans or some chex mix or something like that. I've never had to push him to do it as he is almost always the one that brings up doing another lesson. Now he is just a couple of days away from finishing the 2nd grade program and will be starting the Master Reader Program shortly.

It has been great to be able to spend the time together with my son each night and seeing the excitement on his face as we learn new things together each night. It's amazing how fast he went from taking a minute to sound out his first words to knowing most words without sounding them out, out loud, and being able to figure out how to say most of the other words (except some of the really tricky words) with phonics.