While it is true that the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program comes with instructions and such, there are still a few unwritten general guidelines you should aim to follow when using the Hooked on Phonics in order to educate your kids. I highly recommend that you take a few minutes reading this post as it may end up saving you some trouble later on.

Starting Things Off

Naturally, you will want to start your child on the first level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program, dedicated to learning letter sounds. Slowly go through the first steps of the program, and as your child becomes more and more skilled try combining letter sounds in order to already have your child practice reading parts of words.

You will know that your child has mastered this level of the system when he or she can fluently string together letter sounds as well as retain information related to them.

How to Go About the Second Hooked on Phonics Level

When it comes to level two, you will begin teaching word sounds and sound combinations to your child. You should start by practicing on very common items or extremely familiar words, such as names or everyday tools. A fun and effective learning technique is to walk around the room with your child, having them identify the first letter and syllable of everything they can.

As your child is learning, you can make have them try and find objects beginning with the same letters as the ones provided on the flash cards included in the package. Once your child has mastered individual syllables and word sounds, it is time to get him or her to read entire words based on the knowledge they acquired. Until your child can read independently, do not move onward to the third part.

Teaching the Third Level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program

The third level is dedicated to teaching your child ending sounds of words, as well as how sounds can be combined together. After having gone through the theoretical part of the process, ask your child to use their knowledge of the beginning of words and think about whether or not those sounds can come at the end. Have your child go through the reading material with their newly-acquired knowledge, and keep on working until your child can read simple stories fluently.

Going Through the Fourth Hooked on Phonics Level

Once your child can read fluently, it is time to move on to level four, dedicated to teaching about vowel sounds through flash cards, musical materials as well as hands-on activities. A very effective way of speeding up the process in this part is to have your child identify nearby household items that start or end with vowels.

While you are learning you can put into place a system where each time your child wants to use an item, he or she must name it and identify the vowels of the word out loud. Of course, don’t overdo this outside of your learning time as your child will grow very weary of it.

Mastering the Fifth Level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program

Finally, once your child is capable of reading the workbooks as well as reading books out loud, it is time to move on to the fifth level of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program. This level is dedicated to the learning of additional sounds and combinations that can be made with them, teaching your child to read more difficult words and more detailed stories.

In order to help your child practice at this stage it would be wise to have them read things such as cooking instructions, assembly directions or even whatever they print on cereal boxes these days. Ideally, at this point your child should have progressed tremendously from when you first started as he or she should have very little to no problems reading new words. When your child is able to read texts aloud to other people, such as the family for example, then you will know that the fifth level has been mastered.

All in all, keep in mind that there is no one concrete, foolproof approach to teaching the Hooked on Phonics system; every child is different and will require as somewhat different approach in order to succeed. If you would like to know what I thought of this program in general, then I recommend you take a look at our Hooked on Phonics review.
 

General Overview of the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program

While we did look around to see what early learning programs were available out there, Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read was the first program in which we decided to invest money in. At the time of purchase our son was just about to turn three years old, which is the recommended age according to the people behind Hooked on Phonics. According to them, their product is designed for children aged 3 to 8.

To make this long story short, the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program comes divided into 5 levels which aim to teach your infant letter sounds, short vowels, beginning and ending blends, long vowels and combinations. All in all, you will receive 8 DVDs that concentrate on learning through visual stimulation, 36 original storybooks, not to mention that you will receive 8 workbooks designed to reinforce what your kids just learned.

On a side note, be careful and make sure that you are indeed looking at the newest available version of the product. Seeing as how Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read has been around for a while there are still older versions out there with outdated materials.

The Benefits of Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Program We Found Useful

The first thing which we noticed with the Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read is that everything is completely and meticulously planned out, from A to Z. The difficulty and complexity of the program increase in very small increments and every single resource which comes as a part of the product, such as the DVD and workbooks, has its use.

The second aspect we found quite welcoming is the fact that you do not have to be a teacher in order to successfully guide your child through the system. The parent’s guide we spoke of earlier is actually quite practical and not only informs you of what to do as a parent but also walks you through the necessary steps to take as the teacher of your child.

Most of all the aspect which appealed to me the most is the amount of materials, techniques and resources which are offered with the package. With the intention of improving your child’s reading capabilities there is a plethora of workbooks, reading materials, flash cards, music, songs, games and helper cards for them to take advantage of.

Most of the techniques presented are innovative in the sense that they encourage a much more interactive teaching method, rather than having your child simply absorb information and repeat. Various tools are at your disposal to make the early learning process into a game as much as possible.

Finally, we believe that children have more incentive to learn if there is some type of reward waiting for them at the end. As you can probably guess already, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Hooked on Phonics had that area covered as rewards such as stickers are actually part of the program.

The Hooked on Phonics Cons

Even though most Hooked on Phonics reviews out there are showering the product with pros, there is one con which in our opinion cannot be ignored. What a lot of people omit from telling you is that the product will only be beneficent if your child already knows how to read or is close to it. This is because about 90 to 95% of the course is focused on improving reading skills, rather than teaching them.

Hooked on Phonics Review – Our Conclusion

It has actually been well documented that children learn to recognize words much better when taught to them separately in context and in isolation through interactive activities, such as workbooks, games and visual aides. As far as I know, these are all an essential part of the Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read.

I would like to say that if your child has already learned their alphabet then you can use Hooked on Phonics Learn To Read to improve their reading skills, at least until they are 8 years old. You should not integrate this program any earlier as it will prove to be too much of a challenge. If you want to gather some more information you can always read a few more Hooked on Phonics reviews; the product has been out since 2006, meaning many people have had the time to use it. Also, it may be useful to know that it was actually approved by the Children’s Reading Association.

As a matter of fact, it seems the makers of Hooked on Phonics are quite confident in their abilities since they claim to have a customer satisfaction rate of over 98%. In any case the product comes with a 30-day risk-free trial meaning that you can actually test the product for yourself without risking anything, other than losing a bit of time.