Hooked on Phonics

[natashaccat]

Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: Sam's club

Price: ??? about $30?

How long have you used this product/service? 6 wks

Performance: Didn't work well for us, too much repetition and drill, it wasn't fun for dd. The illustrations and stories really didn't hold dd's interest and were of poor artistic quality, IMO.

Quality: Materials were nicely organized and it comes in a slick package for what it's worth?!

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? no

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof.

Additional Comments:

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): 2

[lakesuperiormom]

Hooked on Phonics

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Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: Sam's club

Price: I bought the deluxe set that includes all the sets and it cost $180ish

How long have you used this product/service? 2 yrs inconsistently

Performance: my son hated it and would dread whenever I would pull the workbook out and the tapes were no better. My daughter loves it and cna't wait to use it. my son reads the readers in the yellow box as they are easy and boost his self esteem.

Quality: I think the program is well worth the money and figure one of my kid's will use it. For us, using pieces of it has worked out better.

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? yes.

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof.

Additional Comments: This program is great for the little ones that aren't ready to do worksheets and want something to teach them to read. It's very easy to use and zero preparation time for the parent. It is also nice if you want your kids to be able to say, "Hooked on Phonics worked for me!"

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): 4

[xanandali]

Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: Barnes & Noble

Price: $60

How long have you used this product/service? 1 month

Performance: Lots of repetition and the "workbooks" are just one page of each letter for them to color- no activities on them (Pre-K version) Comes with several charts which DS loves getting the stickers on them. DS LOVES the computer game and DVD that came with it. IMO the game is pretty lame, but he can play it for hours.

Quality: Good quality materials. Flashcards are fun for games.

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? yes

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof.

Additional Comments:

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): 4

[CallMeKelly]

Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: Amazon

Price: about forty dollars

How long have you used this product/service? 3 wks

Performance: Books are awful... totally agree that drawings are poor quality, I think the forced rhymes are awful and story lines terrible. CD-Rom/game is not the best but still gets some use. Starfall is better.

Quality: Overall, I'd say poor. No thought seems to have been put into the books which are the main point of learning to read... the charts are nice and well made but don't teach anything really.

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? no

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof. No

Additional Comments:

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): 2

[mommy68]

Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: online (bought it years ago!)

Price: ??? don't remember, purchased it in 2000

How long have you used this product/service? 1 year with our youngest child but we've used it for all 3 children off and on since 2000.

Performance: It was great with all 3 of our children who all have varying personalities and learning types.

Quality: It is very neatly arranged with seven boxes that have books and tapes and cards for each learning level. I love it!

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? no, but only because we've used the same set for over 8 years now. I'm sure the newer ones offer more though.

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof. No.

Additional Comments:

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): 10!!!! I love HOP. It worked for us three times over!

[Black Orchid]

Product/Service name: Hooked on Phonics

Brief description of product/service: phonics based reading program

Store/Site of purchase: Craigslist- slightly used, all materials included

Price: $50

How long have you used this product/service? over 12 months

Performance: DD wanted to learn to read and she has. We are moving into level three, but she really doesn't need it anymore. But she loves it and asks to do it at least 2-3 times a week. She doesn't love review, but loves the helper word games and getting stickers for reading the stories. True that the stories aren't of high literary quality, but I don't expect much- they're early readers! We laugh at their silliness together and it makes it fun.

Quality: Nicely organized. I didn't have to do anything but show patience and sit with her.

Customer Service/Communication: n/a

Would you purchase this product/service again? YES YES YES!

Have you made a complaint to the company about the product/service? If yes, please provide details of any resolution or lack thereof.

Additional Comments:

I give it (How many thumbs up out of five?): I agree with the PP who said 10! I NEVER would have imagined using or liking something as cheesy as this. But it really worked. My DD is easily reading on a second grade level. Reading everything in sight and more. Wowing her grandparents and friends who question homeschooling.

[pigpokey]

Name: HOP complete pack K-2nd (can't remember exact name) contains several sub-boxes

Purchased at: Big Lots

Cost: $99 I think.

How long used? 2-3 years

Performance: good

Quality: good

Customer Service: n/a

Would purchase again? Yes for clearance prices

Made any complaints? No

Additional comments: I have enjoyed using some of the materials piecemeal over the pre-K, K and 1 levels. I think I have gotten my money's worth. I did not like everything and would not pay full price. I have ordered other materials for them when they clearance them out (e.g., tape to CD transition prompted a lot of clearance and the advent of Windows 7 means they are getting rid of XP materials like crazy). I have been very happy with the value received because I've found SOME of the material to be very good for my kids.

I did not have any complaints about the BOB like first readers, but they didn't wow me either. However when we got into the higher level readers, the 1st and 2nd grade packs, they were very lovely books.

We enjoyed the CD-ROM game and they finished it. I don't know that it was integral but I would let them play it instead of 100 EZ lessons some days just to mix it up. Also the sight word cards got some use early on as a game "who can grab the right card first when I say the word". We mostly used the readers that come with the curriculum and ignored the curriculum. Resale has been easy.

Thumbs up out of five? 4.5, as long as you get it deeply discounted.