Product Review-Hooked On Phonics Reading Program

Midway through the 2007-2008 school year, I was called into a conference with my son's first grade teacher.

My son was not where he "should" be as far as academics were concerned and his principal and early intervention specialist had thought that maybe we should consider holding him back a year and having him re-do the first grade.

I left that meeting feeling defeated. I felt like I had dropped the ball as far as parenting my son was concerned. I also knew that I did not want to have my son retained in the first grade. My husband and I talked about this to great lengths. My son would be going to a new school for the next school year (thank goodness for that ) so no one but him would know that he was having to repeat the first grade. I still wasn't comfortable with the idea though.

I decided that I would give it one last go before comitting to retaining him or not. Since reading was his weakest area, I began looking for ways to bolster that skill.

I had previous experience with HOP as an early childhood educator a few years prior. I had seen first hand, the success that a child could have with this program. However, I was put off by the cost of the program itself.

I decided, anyways, to check out the website again and see what resources they would have available in addition to the popular programs.

I was surprised and delighted to see that with the HOP reading program (and others as well) they offered a simple payment plan. $20.00 down and then $21.00 a month for 4 months would allow me to have this program for my son. I was so pleased with this offer that I explored some of the workbooks on their site and ended up purchasing a 1st grade workbook that covered all subjects.

When I recieved my package (I purchased the Deluxe) I immediately opened the box and was impressed with how easy it was to understand the program and how developmentally appropiate the program was.

My son started it on that following Monday ( I recived it on a Saturday) and within one week of using the program, his teacher noticed that his reading comprehension and confidence had increased.

We have been using the program now for about 5 months (taking time off during the summer for the birth of his baby brother) and are now into the 3rd box, the second grade box.

The workbook was great too. He was able to do most of the activites with no assistance, and the ones he did need help with it was very minimal.

He is now reading at nearly a second grade level, which is great considering when we started this program he was only reading at maybe a kindergarten level.

Be sure to visit the Hooked On Phonics Website for all of your childs needs. They have kits for science, reading, math, writing, and for multiple languages too. They even have kits for toddlers to use.

Hooked on Phonics is a great resource for any parent, and I highly reccomend it