Hooked On Phonics
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Hooked On Phonics was wildly successful in it's day. Hooked on Phonics was
also irresponsibly over-marketed which led to legal actions from the government and it's fall into bankruptcy. What was Hooked on Phonics and what happened to
them?Hooked on Phonics was a home-based learning program which provided a complete system for parents to teach their children to read. While it was heavily phonics oriented, it did succeed. What went wrong with Hooked on Phonics? Hooked on Phonics
was extremely expensive ($600 for the entire package), Hooked on Phonics was aggressively marketed (it seemed for a time in the early 80s that every late night program was there to get the Hooked on Phonics message out), and Hooked on Phonics was deceptively marketed. I have no particular details (although I do notice that the Hooked on Phonics "full refund policy" does not include the roughly $40 shipping and handling fee). The FTC in the first Bush administration brought a suit against
Hooked on Phonics taking them ultimately into bankruptcy. The suit seemed to have to do with Hooked on Phonics deceptive advertising: Hooked on Phonics claimed amazing results which turned out to be: "Too Good to be Believed". Hooked on Phonics did not die: they just went in and out of bankruptcy and thru a series of acquisitions. More recently, Hooked on Phonics created a set of learning centers which I think were bought by one company while the home-based system was bought by another. The other problem with Hooked on Phonics was it seems that children did not
really do it on their own. It was really a teaching aid for parents. What is today's best value for home based teaching of children
learning to read...It's Time4Learning. Learning to read is an exciting time for children and their families. While
thrilled by their children's emerging literacy skills, many parents are surprised to learn that reading is not automatic and that, regardless of family background, many children require support in learning to read. The
Reading Skills Pyramid illustrates the five key areas in becoming a proficient reader: Phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Phonemic awareness* is children's awareness
that words are made up of sounds that can be assembled in different ways to make different words. Children build this pre-reading skill by practicing nursery rhymes and playing rhyming word games. For good examples of exercises to build this skill, try Time4Learning's free sample lessons. Phonics is the understanding of how letters
combine to make sounds and words. Learning phonics starts with knowing the alphabet. Children then learn the sound of each letter by associating it with words that start with that sound. Phonics skills grow as students distinguish between vowels and consonants and understand letter combinations. Try Time4Learning's sample lessons. Tutoring, workbooks, games, or structured computer programs
can help teach or reinforce these skills. Parents help in this process by providing high-quality educational materials, establishing a pattern of daily reading, creating a rich language environment, discussing a child's progress with teachers, and following up on their recommendations. Time4Learning's online language arts
program builds the foundation for pre-reading and improves reading skills. Sign Up today. If you don't see progress, cancel within the first 14 days for a full refund.Note that unlike Hooked on Phonics which did not really refund and charged high fees, Time4Learning does provide a 100% refund and works hard to keep its prices to members low (At last check, the entire service for language arts and math including reports, printable worksheets, interactive lessons, assessments was $19.95 per month! With discounts for additional children!) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The history of teaching reading has many lessons for teaching reading
today, some of which can be found in the dissenting appendix of the "What Works for Teaching Reading" study. |
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Homeschool Parents Get a Synopsis of the NCLB
Theory of Reading Skills Acquisition... |
| The Reading Skills Pyramid illustrates a typical sequence for acquiring reading skills for use by parents for homeschools and enrichment. The reading skills are organized using the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) system. See the Reading Skills Pyramid |
| History of Teaching Reading Quoted with permission from:The History of Teaching Reading By LEARN. 1611 N Fort Harrison Ave. Clearwater, FL 33755 |
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To understand the History of Teaching Reading, a background on the social Almost daily, there are disturbing news reports about the |
| What Works for Teaching Reading |
| The mandate and method of the Authoritative "What Works" for Teaching Reading study was to end the "Reading Wars" by reviewing all the existing research on what works for teaching reading. The charge from Congress to the National Reading Panel (NRP) was to assess |
| Learning to Read - Step One, Phenomic Awareness |
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Research shows that how easily children learn to read can depend on how much |
The Reading
Skills Pyramid illustrates the NCLB Skill Areas with the Grade Level
Expectations.
