Opinions on Hooked on Phonics

[Janell]

I am a big believer in learning phonics as opposed to just learning sight words. I had phonics as a kid in school(Abeka) and I enjoyed it. My son is starting kindergarten in the fall and this year we did prek at home and he already has flown threw the bob jones curriculum that my MIL gave me. he knows all his letters and how to write them and what sounds they make.

 

We made the decision to do Abeka with him next year for kindergarten. But recently my mom found the whole complete set of Hooked on Phonics at a yardsale for $3 with all the books and cassettes and flashcards etc.. I was thinking of maybe going through some of it with my son this spring and summer so that he's even more ready for kindergarten in the fall.

 

but i'm not sure if we do the hooked on phonics if it will mess up the learning style that Abeka will be teaching him? I don't have the abeka curriculum yet so i can't compare it.

 

i'm just wondering what you seasoned Homeschooolers think of the idea. I don't want to complicate things or have him learn things only to have him relearn it a differnt way in Kindergarten.

 

that being said, this is my first child and this is the first year i've homeschooled so I don't know a whole lot yet. I don't want to mix and match cirriculums untill i've been teaching for a few years so i can get a good grasp on what i'm doing. So I don't want to do H.O.P. for reading and do everything else Abeka. KWIM?

 

what do you guys think of the HOP? and what do you think of me doing it for the spring/summer before K?

[Jen500]

Go ahead and use the HOP.

[cholderby]

I have no experience with Abeka and I am def. not a seasoned homeschoolers but...I bought HOP K and 1st grade on the clearance rack at Borders years ago. I started HOP K with my oldest when he was 5 and he finished 1st grade HOP before he turned 6. I think he is a pretty typical boy; not a terribly enthusiastic reader. He is reading at a 3rd grade level now and this is still his 1st grade year. I just started DD 4 on it.

 

Is there something better? Probably. But so many beginning phonics programs are so similar that I dont think it much matters (there are only so many ways the fat cat can fan the man). We have done Explode the Code online too.

 

 

After we finished the 1st grade HOP we started reading easy readers. The lesson-based phonics books were getting pretty boring so I didn't want to seek out the next level of HOP.

 

 

Since you already own it, I'd say try it. Or, if you are planning on doing Abeka anyhow, buy it and see. I always opt for starting things early so you can take breaks as needed and don't feel any pressure (like, say, from your MIL) on finishing at a certain time.

[creekmom]

I used HOP for my first 2 kids, and it worked well. My 3rd did not do well with it at all! HOP is not really a solid phonics program, IMO. Abeka focuses on each sound and why/when it makes that sound with lots of instruction and reinforcement with worksheets, readers, etc.; it is incredibly boring, but definitely does a thorough job with phonics. HOP is good for a kid who doesn't need a lot of phonics instruction and picks up on reading rather easily. It will "go over" sounds and show those sounds in words that are grouped together, but there is not a lot of instruction involved. Also, HOP uses a lot of sight words; Abeka doesn't use many at all. I think I would stick with one program or the other and not try to use both.

[abdesigns]

You can definitely use HOP on it's own, but I use it to reinforce what we learned in other phonics programs. Right now I'm using it while doing 100EZ, it's working well. My kids have always enjoyed HOP!

[give_me_a_latte]

HOP is not really a solid phonics program, IMO. Abeka focuses on each sound and why/when it makes that sound with lots of instruction and reinforcement with worksheets, readers, etc.; it is incredibly boring, but definitely does a thorough job with phonics. HOP is good for a kid who doesn't need a lot of phonics instruction and picks up on reading rather easily. It will "go over" sounds and show those sounds in words that are grouped together, but there is not a lot of instruction involved.

 

I haven't used Abeka, but I totally agree on what creekmom said about HOP. My son was a very early reader and flew through HOP. But it was SO BORING. Granted, we have the newer set and it sounds like your mom found the older set....I hear the older set is more engaging. HOP gets the job done, but if I had a child who really needed phonics instruction I wouldn't rely just on HOP. For your purposes I don't see where it would hurt at all though, to use it through Spring/Summer. The early levels are so basic I would imagine they'd be in line with most phonics curric anyway. And then when you're ready just switch over to Abeka if you still want to.

[pitterpatter]

HOP is a great way to jump-start your child reading, but it is not a complete phonics curriculum. We have finished HOP K. We are currently taking a break and using ETC 1. After we finish it, we will proceed with HOP 1 and then HOP 2 and supplement with ETC. After HOP 2, we will use a more complete phonic program. We started "early" with DD, so she should complete HOP 2 during the first part of what would traditionally be her K year.

 

Just know that your child will need to know all letters and sounds (with short vowels) before starting HOP K.

 

PS - DD has done very well with HOP and generally likes it. She particularly likes the stories and videos. She's not as fond of reading the word lists.

[ElizabethB]

If you do use HOP, here is how to teach all the sight words phonetically. It you teach everything phonetically, it should not interfere.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

[ssavings]

We were given the older sets, with the cassette tapes, readers, and workbooks. DD disliked it - its a bit dull - but I can't see that it'd be harmful in any way. Even though we never used the full program, DD did read all the leveled readers. A few of the early level readers I have do silly things like spell the word "hippo" as "hip-o", which drove me crazy, but other than those type of issues, the readers were cute.

[Crimson Wife]

I used HOP very successfully with my 2nd child. However, I had previously taken my 1st child through Spalding so I was pretty comfortable teaching phonics by that point. In terms of the "sight" words, I would sound them out phonetically when we came to them.

 

After my DS finished the K-2 kit, I started him on AAS 1.

[Lucy]

Hi! I've used Abeka phonics for all my kids, and I've used HOP. My kids loved Abeka phonics - found it to be very fun and I find it to be a complete curriculum for reading. DDs #1 and 2 learned to read quickly and fluently. The only time I used HOP was with dd #3 who was struggling with reading. She used Abeka alone in K. In 1st, we went through Abeka lesson, and then took some time to go through the corresponding HOP lesson. We only used the first box of HOP, just until she was fluent in short words. After that we just read TONS of books together. She did not begin to read fluently until mid second grade - just not her strength. HOP is boring, but it is consistently simple - great for a struggling reader. I don't think I would use HOP alone, Abeka goes into so much more detail! We especially love the Abeka big phonics flashcards to learn all the sounds/blends. Once a week we would do "M&M Phonics" and they would get a mini m&m for each card they could complete. Each kid is so different, I'm sure you'll find just what your child needs! :)

[mytwomonkeys]

i love HOP. i've used levels k, 1, 2, and master reader with my daughter. my son has also completed levels k, 1, 2 and is now working through master reader. both of my children read fabulous. my favorite thing about HOP is that there is no writing involved. my kids loved the level K cd rom games. i love that you can go as fast or slow through the program as you need too, and never feel "behind". i love that master reader is computer based. i love all of the readers that go along with each level.

 

having said that, i do not use HOP as an independent program. with my daughter i used it in conjunction with ETC books. with my son, i used CLE Learning to Read alongside HOP for grade 1. i also use a phonics based spelling program, which reinforces everything.

 

we love HOP though. it really has been such a blessing and success for my kids. hth.

[3boysmama]

I used HOP for my 2nd & 3rd, we ALL loved it! I thought they learned a bunch, and they songs were helpful for them. I did use other things with it, too. Such as, Explode the Code to help reinforce. Both of them are now great readers.

[Guest]

I only read some of the previous posts but I just wanted to chime in and say that I used HOP with Adrian and we both loved it. He took of with K at age 4 and finished it in a few months. I stopped and gave him a break but soon realized he was eager for more, so we started grade 1 (we had bought the entire K-2 kit new at the time) and he finished grade 2 shortly after his 5th birthday. When we started grade 2 HOP, we also started Horizons Phonics alongside it and we had been using the ETC books all along. So Adrian has had phonics from three sources, HOP, ETC, and Horizons Phonics.

 

HOP did teach some sight words but would later, when the child reached the level to be able to sound them out, have them sound them out too. I never once saw Adrian guessing while reading. I guess because I always showed him that we sound out when we read, while reading RA's, and before even starting him on a reading program.

 

This time around with Malcolm though, I want to use Spalding. We knows all his letters and sounds and I am working on showing him how to form the letters the Spalding way. I still want to use HOP with him too though and will be adding ETC too and probably the Horizons workbooks. We have more than two years before he is of age for K, so lots of time.

 

Anyway, all that to say that you can use HOP but I would also look at how your other program teacher phonics. I also own Phonics Pathways. I bought that when Adrian was born :lol:, when I was toying with the idea of teaching him to read at home while I was still a working mom. I originally started it with Adrian at the same time as HOP but soon realized that the programs worked phonics very differently and did not complement each other. I have never used Abeka so this is something you will need to check.

Edited March 16, 2012 by Guest