Hooked on Phonics - Morse,LA

My sister -in-law gave me her set of Hooked on phoenix, K-4. I have only used it supplementaly, but it is a reading program in and of itself. Coincidentally, my mother's first grade teacher started the program . She had a fabulous reputation and my grandmother drove my mother 20 minutes away to have her for a first grade teacher instead of the school close to their house. But i digress. My SIL taught all her kids to read with this program. I am personally using Abecka to teach my homeschooler. I asked a friend , who is also a reading specialist, which her favorite program was and she didn't have a favorite. Rather her opinion was, they all get the same end result even if they have slightly varying tactics. So at the end of the day, its about putting in the extra time and effort. I think hooked on phoenix is really user friendly, while Abecka is geared more towards teachers. It may do you well to find what program his school is using and get the same materials, just spending more time on the material. I don't think you can loose with Hooked on Phoenix. But there are probably less expensive supplemental materials out there if $$ is an issue.

My guess is that if he gets As on everything else, then it is not a "reading" or phonics issue. I would suspect he has something else going on. At first read with what little you have said, I would lean towards dyslexia. It isn't just reading letters backwards like we think it is. It can be a whole other host of symptoms. I got a good list for you to check out. If you think he might fit into several categories, then maybe have him officially tested. I bet he is VERY frustrated and this is one of the most unrecognized and untreated issues in schools.

http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm
or this one is also very good and they have one for adults as well.
http://www.interdys.org/Schoolagescreener.htm

I bought it for my daughter and wasnt impressed. She did not want to work with me-even if she earned stickers.
I feel that she's responded better to websites like abcmouse, star fall, and raz readers.
I recently purchased some DVDs from Rock N Learn http://rocknlearn.com/html/age-first-grade.htm
I feel that they will be helpful because she is very musically inclined. She can learn songs very quickly and LOVES any type of music.
See if your local library has hooked on phonics. That way you can try before you buy.
We still read the books-but $80 bucks was rather steep for some age appropriate books.

I struggled with reading till the 2nd half of 2nd grade and then it really took off.
It was the same for our son.
It really comes down to practice.
For our son we explored many topics until we found subjects he was interested in and want to know more about no matter how hard it was to read.
Even though he was reading on his own we still read books together - chapter at a time at bedtime - for a very long time.
We read about dinosaurs, fire trucks, sharks, dragons, wizards.
Once he was interested there was no stopping him.
By 3rd grade he was reading Harry Potter on his own (the schools librarian couldn't believe it - she tested him by having him read the first few pages to her out loud to make sure he wasn't just checking out a book that was too over his head).
Since then his reading level has always been consistently well above his grade level.
This was tough for reading competitions (Accelerated Reader) since he was reading middle school level books in elementary school and they didn't have the tests for those books till he got into middle school.
In 8th grade they tested his reading level and he scored a lexile of 1700+ which was off the scale and college level.
His teacher said she'd never seen anyone do that before.

It depends why your son has problems with reading. Dyslexics (even very mild dyslexics) don't do well with phonics.
I second the try it out before you buy. If your library doesn't have it, ask around and see of any of the teachers have a copy you can borrow for a week.

If reading has been a serious issue but he does well otherwise and is interested in learning and school, I would have him tested. It makes a huge difference finding out what the roadblock is so that you can take the best course in fixing it. Many states have laws put into place (I know Texas does but not sure about Louisiana ) that require a school to test for learning issues if the parent requests it.

Hooked on Phonics worked for us. I taught my first DD with Hooked on Phonics at 4. My second DD is 6 and in Kindergarten and not so easy to teach. We started with BOB books, then went on to 100 Lessons to Teach your Child to Read, and are back to H on P 2nd packet. I had trouble teaching sight words and blend sounds. I like H on Ph Flash cards for Th, Pl, Sl, and sight words. It is teaching me to teach her to read. I also like Starfall.com for her to play on my phone and the computer-she thinks it as a game-while I know it is reading. Walmart sell Hooked on Phonics by age groups so you don't have to buy the entire set. You would not want to start with Cat sat -Rat sat books and waist your money.

I used Hooked on Phonics with my eldest and he learned to read early, but I think he would have learned just as well (and possibly with more fun) with me reading to him a lot and helping him sound out the words in picture books.

Our 7 year old is on the schools reading program and he's doing very well. It's free and required of them.

It can work, but it will only work as well as the effort you all put in. My son (8) has also struggled with reading. We have not tried the phonics program, we just started making sure to make the time each and every night for him to read to us. We make sure the books are challenging and let him take his time on words he struggles with before jumping in with the answer. It has been a slow process, but he is getting better by the day now.

As a reading teacher, I don't think Hooked on Phonics is a good program. I think it is hugely overpriced. I feel that it focuses too much on phonics and not enough on teaching other strategies. Yes, phonics is an important part of reading, but it is only part of the reading process. When I work with struggling readers I can tell who has been taught previously in a heavy phonics program and who was in a program that did not have direct phonics instruction. There has to be a balance between the three cueing systems--syntax, semantics, and graphonics. Meaning has to be the central focus.

Think of it in terms of a sport. If you want to be a good basketball player you have to practice more skills than just shooting free throws.

Honestly, I think the best thing to do it to talk to your child's teacher and if your school has a reading specialist or literacy coach talk to that individual as well. Has there been any formative assessment or diagnostic assessment done? What gaps does the teacher see? Is it even a phonics issue? I work with struggling readers who have great phonics skills, but they still struggle with reading because they lack semantic skills. I have worked with good readers who did not have good phonics skills. Ask his teacher what she thinks would be best for you to do at home.

Read to him A LOT at home. Find books that he can read easily and have him read 20-30 minutes every day. Play rhyming games. Play word games. Find free computer games online or inexpensive apps to buy. But first talk to his teacher and see what she thinks he needs. Don't spend the money on Hooked on Phonics or any other program unless you are sure that phonics is the problem.