Customer Reviews

Learn to Read Kindergarten Edition

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

3 years ago a friend of mine with 3 boys who love to read and who are very successful in school, told me about Hooked on Phonics. So I started it with my then 3 year old. He's now 6 and loves to read and reads way above his grade level. We don't have a TV in the car, I just put a bag of books from the library next to him and he's happy (seriously! and he's a very energetic boy). Now I'm well into it with my 2nd son who is 4. He's picking it up fast. And I will keep it to use with my 13 month old daughter. The best thing about it is that it is so easy to use. We spend 5-7 min. a day and there is no complicated manual for the parent to read ahead of time. You just open the workbook and do a little bit and then put it away. With my 4 year old now I do it first thing every morning. I always make it sort of like a game and he gets little prizes for a certain number of reading sessions. Reading is the foundation of all learning and you never know if your kids will get the preparation they need in a classroom setting. But most importantly, my sons really enjoyed the one-on-one time I spent with them doing their reading workbook. I HIGHLY recommend this reading program!!

Hi, six months ago prior to this date, i was an anxious mother who desperately trying to teach her six year- old son to read.
I had bought 100 easy lessons and teach your son to read in 20 easy lessons ( book and cd) but due to my lack of understanding of phonic system , somehow it just not good enough!

With Hooked on Phonics, you do not need to be an expert on Phonics because they teach you every step of the way ! and when i say they teach you every step of the way, i really meant every step of the way! Baby steps literally ! how to correctly pronounce the sounds and decode the words!

I know if you looked at the price it kinda you know ! steep!
But compared to just buying any stuff that doesn't really hit the mark, tell you the truth i'd never regret buying this one.
My son finished Hooked on phonics (kindergarten) in just one and a half month ! Now we are on our way to finish the 1st grade set Hooked on Phonics. And i will definately buy the 2nd grade set HOP.

It is really possible to teach our kid to read in less than one year.
I am so happy!

We got this program after trying Teach Your Child To Read in 100 EZ Lessons and found that Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten was a much better program for our daughter. Hooked on Phonics K comes with a workbook, several audio CD's, MANY easy reader books, flashcards, and a computer CD. It also comes with a sticker chart where the child can track each new book that they read.

The program teaches phonics by introducing word families. The progression of the words is very logical and has the child reading simple books from very early into the program. The books are short, cute, and age appropriate. They are black and white, but my daughter enjoyed getting to color them when she had successfully read one. The audio CD guides the parent/child through the lesson and is helpful in the beggining as a guide, but I've found we are using it less the closer we get to the end. The workbook contains very few pencil/paper excercises and mainly contains words to read and little stories (in addition to the early reader). The workbook/program is not broken up into lessons per se, you just however much your child wants to do that day. I found this helpful over other programs because I gauged the length of our reading lesson on my daughters interest that day, not the desire to finish the pre determined lesson. The flash cards are used to teach helper words (sight words) and to play some spelling games. The whole program is very visually appealing to young kids and is progresses in a very developmentally appropriate way. The CD game is EXCELLENT and is a great supplement to the program.

Overall, it is an excellent program and I will buy the First Grade package when she completes this package. It is geared towards the audience well (kids and parents), lots of fun, and actually gets them reading very quickly.

I bought this system for my son who is struggling in kindergarten with reading. He listened to the CDs for awhile but was fairly anxious to play the video game. (I have Windows Vista and it worked just fine.) He started playing it and after a number of hours beat every level of the game! So he must have mastered his phonics and reading skills? Hardly! The game is mostly set up so that there are three or so possible answers. He simply clicked on each one until he finally got it right. While this did help him learn to recognize letters easier and do his homework better(which is similar to the game), it didn't teach him to read any better. I will continue having him listen to the CDs and work in the book, but the computer game was more entertaining than educational. Another viewer commented that the computer game helped them read the books. Actually, it reads the books for the child and all he or she has to do is memorize and repeat what was said on the computer game. I don't think that's real reading.

I am teaching my 3.5 yr old son how to read with this product. Noah is really getting it! And he loves the progress poster. I also like the pacing of the audio cd. It really does work.

I have a Kindergarten & 1st grader....my 1st grader has been having many learning problems. We ordered HOP a few weeks ago and have already started to notice a change. I decided to start with the Kindergarten program first, just to get her started on the right path and make sure she has the basics down pat. We plan to move on to the 1st grade program as soon as the Kindergarten program is completed. I really think this will make the difference between her being held back in school a year. Now, both of my girls can learn together! I would highly recommend the HOP program to anyone. I start with the CD lesson first and when they finish it, they get rewarded with time on the CD Rom on the computer to play the games it comes with. Now, they ask me to learn another lesson as soon as they get home from school! They can even start the lessons themselves. It's been amazing, even only after a few weeks! I love the HOP program and you will too!

As my son was trying to learn to read, my mom got this for him. Wow! What a difference!! My son learned to read by sounding out words... he has always read three grades above his own (he is in middle school now) and I attribute this in part to Hooked on Phonics. As an author of children's books, I treasure the magic that reading brings to children. This is about as important a tool as any that you will ever arm your children with. Hooked on Phonics is a solution that every parent and child can benefit from.

Brian Weiner
CEO
The Illusion Factory (Inform and Empower Yourself™)
Author
Toad Catchers' Creek

I bought this for my grandson and he loved it, could not pull him away from it, and he moved to the top of the class. I just order the next one, First grade as HE wants it! I personally did not believe it was going to work it but it certainly did. On an XP Professional system, his account did not have Adminstrative rights so I had to change folder permissions of the program file so he could save his progress. Maybe there was another way, but this worked fine for me.

My daughter was so excited to receive this program for Christmas. The reader books and flashcards seem useful, but we are all disappointed to learn the CD Rom portion of this program ONLY runs on Mac OS 9 or below, which has pretty much been obsolete for years. HoP's customer service department was less than helpful, and I'm sending the program back.

This product is something you can simply set in front of your child, and s/he will take off on their own. It's extremely easy, and your children will be so good at it and so proud of themselves. I'm teaching my son to read without assistance, and his kindergarten hasn't started teaching him yet, and he is still catching on very quickly. The lessons take longer than the outline suggests, but this product is great and worth every penny.