Hooked on Phonics?

[theretohere]

Has anyone here used the Learn to read program? Was it worth the money? Is there a system you used to teach your DC to read that worked better for you?

[Serendipity]

hi there,

i am not a fan of HOP after starting out with it. It's not awful or anything, but what i didn't like about it is that it teaches you A says a, as in am. When really A makes three sounds. I found that ds was getting really confused by that, so we switched to Spell to Read and Write by Wendy Sanseri. It's a great curriculum that teaches all the sounds each letter makes at one time. Good Luck, and feel free to ask any more questions!

[beeswing]

I found HOP very repetitive. I don't like that I just sit there and hold flash cards and listen to the tape....I am sure that it works for some, just not us. I would for sure borrow a set or see if your Public Library has it, before you lay down any cash.

My daughter and I really love the Explode the Code workbooks.

for what it is worth,
Kate

[khenn]

I used HOP to teach my son to read. He is 7 now and I'm using it again to teach my almost 5 year old to read. She is doing well and about 2/3rds through the first book. I don't use the tapes at all. I don't really use the flashcards -- only when there is an activity where she is to spell out words using the cards. She really likes that. I didn't use the cards or tapes with my son either. It is very repetitive and slow. I can't imagine too many kids enjoying sitting through that.

They liked the little books and stories and we play a game with the sight words that she enjoys so it's working for us. Basically because it worked with my son and now that we have the set, it's going to work for the other two! LOL

If you still want to get a set, I would check Ebay as you can get a good price on there. I recently sold my Hooked on Math set on there and was amazed at how many there were listed in the first place.

[Lillian J]

Most people I've heard make comments on HOP over the years didn't like it at all. Of course, regardless of how you go about helping a child learn to read, the most important part is their readiness and interest - without readiness and interest, it's best to wait...

There have been several threads here in MDC on teaching reading. Here's a link to a recent one:

How did YOU teach your dc how to read?

Another: Teach my 5 yr. old to read

A lot of people also mention success and fun with Starfall and Studydog - both FREE online. Lillian

[aishy]

We like hop, but i'm letting it be Kieran led, somedays he will say "lets do my reading box" and other days no interest whatsoever. He has read the AT words on his own since starting it though, when before that he wasn't getting blending the sounds at all.

We also have a set of Bob books from the library, he has read the first two with a bit of prompting here and there. If he can't get a word I don't let the frustration build up too high, he is a spirited child and I don't want an explosion/or him starting to hate reading. I figure no point in pushing - he'll get it.

aisling

[annab]

My mom is a remedial reading teacher, and I told her that MIL wanted to buy HOP for us. Mom's take is that it is very helpful for kids who are behind and could benefit from drills to help cement letter sounds for them. However, she said as a learning to read tool, she would not recommend it.

[ankh]

My 5 yr old ds says it's "tiring and boring" I'm going to use the books as books, but not follow much else.

Check ebay for sure. I wasted $90 on this I suppose...

[jenniferg72]

We loved it. We got the K set at Sam's Club for 30 dollars. I have also seen them around that price at Walmart. We had tried several different other programs and they didn't work for my dd, but HOP did.

[lauracd]

We really like it

My DS is doing well with HOP. I really like it. I think that it doesn't pile too much information on at once and that is important. There are humps and hurdles to get over as there will be with anything like that. Some weeks it is slow going and then some weeks he really gets it. Just this morning he read two stories for me right in a row. It was clicking with him today. As an English teacher I really like it and feel like it is giving my son a strong phonics base which is important to me.

[AllisonK]

My DD really likes it. But we also do it child led. Some days she will just read the workbooks, others she will actually listen to the DVD's, and she plays the CD-Rom whenever she wants and does not have to stay on the game that she is currently on the lesson.

But, it is really repetitive. The computer games are just 4 games with different sounds. So that gets repetitive for me to listen too but DD has not seemed to notice that.

Also I did not pay too much for it. At Costco it is $99 for the ENTIRE set (4 boxes) and every so often they have a $20 off coupon too.

[heldt123]

Ooh, I could sell my set on Ebay?? I bought a full set at a yard sale for $2, and I'll agree with a couple previous posters that it is boring...not at all what I expected. My son actually loves going through the cards, but I guess it's mama that gets bored. I thought that it would get creative with different music and stuff...but so far it is all the same, lame music--blah. I'll keep using it as long as my son is into it....or I could sneak it on Ebay...shhhh

It is interesting about the not having all the letter sounds...I was wondering about that.