Hooked on Phonics

Since, I am sharing tips on helping your child to improve his or her reading skills I will share our family's testimonial on using Hooked on Phonics.

The program is superb. As some might inadvertently think the program is NOT just for children who are having difficulties reading instead it is a tool that can be used with children as young as 18 months to develop reading readiness skills.

Both of my children have used it for varying reasons. Jade our youngest is currently using it to learn her phonetic sounds and to re-enforce letter recognition. Vanessa is using it to improve the fluidity and speed in which she reads.

Vanessa's school uses the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) method of teaching and administers the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) exam three times per year to its students. Unfortunately, this spring Vanessa did not score as well as we had expected in the oral reading section of the exam. Upon receiving her test results Vanessa became less confident in her ability and became withdrawn about reading aloud. I was crushed to see my daughter lose her confidence and passion for one of her favorite activities. Being a reading advocate I immediately pulled out the literature I share with other parents about helping their child improve their reading skills and searched for tips to help my OWN child. One of the tips that I read repeatedly was to make reading enjoyable for the child. Since our family consistently reads daily I wanted to add a different element to help Vanessa which is where the Hooked on Phonics program came into play.

We started with the first grade program and reviewed simple words and books. Since Vanessa knew this material almost completely her confidence automatic began to increase. With this momentum going we tackled more progressive materials. Initially, it was not easy however Hooked on Phonics uses a rewards chart which encourages the child to want to read to earn the coveted star and move one step further on the story board.

Once again Vanessa is reading with the same vigour and excitement as before...soon we will be on to chapter books. I will keep you all posted on her results later this year on how she scores on the DIBELS exam.

If you are searching for a fun program to help your child learn to read or improve his skills I would recommend you consider Hooked on Phonics. It worked for our family so I know it can work for yours.