A very large number of reading software for kids were developed, starting from the mid 90’s to the present. The purpose of these educational software packages for children is to provide a solid reading foundation along with being entertaining and fun for the child.

Because of the influence computer gaming has on our youth, integrating education with video gaming concepts has proven to keep a child’s interest level high, therefore absorbing the material more effectively with the added benefit of introducing toddler aged kids to computers. I feel that this is important as computers and the world wide web has become mainstream and the earlier children are introduced to computing, the better off they are.

Of course, like all my recommendations with child reading programs, children will benefit greatly by having adult supervision during the child’s interaction with the reading software. Many parents believe that because most kids reading software are self grading and interactive, there is no need to supervise. I disagree. Anytime a parent bonds with their children is of enormous benefit.

I will be reviewing numerous reading software for kids in this article so make sure to visit this page often.

Now you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to teach your child how to read. I have received a lot of emails and comments from concerned parents who have a strong desire to teach their children to read but cannot afford a Hooked On Phonics system.

While I believe “Hooked On Phonics” to be an excellent program, I can understand the reservations parents can have about spending that much money. There’s the rent, food, clothes, and all the other necessities of life that must come first before one can depart with their hard earned money. Even if it’s for a great cause like education.

Taking this matter to heart, I decided to do some research and find the best alternative to Hooked On Phonics without the costly pricetag. I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t.

There are plenty of reading programs out there, that’s for sure, but I could not find one that was both affordable and fun for the child. I found some that was just as expensive as Hooked On Phonics, I found some that were lower cost but they were just workbooks and a cassette without the fun activities it takes to keep children’s interest level up. Yes, it was hard to find an appropriate program.

Then I came across a company called Click-N-Kids that produces an online, interactive phonics based reading program called Click-N-Read Phonics.

		Now we all realize that learning to read is a milestone in every child’s education. Most children begin to read at six or seven years of age, but for some children who have trouble grasping the alphabet, phonetics, and the letter and word decoding required for reading success, this new internet based reading program can help.
		ClickN’ KIDS, Inc, an Agoura Hills, CA based firm that develops online educational software, has introduced ClickN’ READ Phonics. ClickN’ READ Phonics contains 100 precisely sequenced, research based lessons designed by nationally recognized research professor Dr. J. Ron Nelson. The result is a beginning reading program that is beyond compare and has redefined computer based instruction. It is the first of it’s kind to simulate live instruction. Each lesson is taught by ClickN’ KID, a goofy and lovable “Dog of the future.” ClickN’ KID helps children gently through a learning journey of systematic lessons set in colorful, futuristic classrooms. Each lesson contains four engaging learning environments that progressively teach alphabetic understanding, phonemic awareness, decoding, and word recognition.
		The program is designed for children as young as 4 years old and teaches the complete K-3rd grade phonics curriculum taught at USA public schools. The lead-model- test system allows children to use the lessons on their own with little or no parent or teacher guidance. Children who are learning to read English for the first time, those who are struggling with reading and children with learning disabilities should use the program. Adults who are learning English as a second language are even using the program.
		Everything needed is built into the program. It is the only product needed to learn to read English. Lessons run 15 to 30 minutes. Each lesson systematically builds on the previous one and prepares the child for the next lesson. The program’s uncomplicated interface makes it easy to use for nearly any age. Control panel screens allow easy set up and access to progress reports and many other features . The graphics and short animated segments are vibrant, but without unnecessary bells and whistles keeping children focused on the lessons. The program is used online just like viewing standard web pages. It can be used at home, at Grandma’s, at the office or while on vacation. There are no out-of-date CD ROM’s, broken videos, lost flash cards or other cost and time-intensive obstructions to interfere with quality and consistent instruction. There is no setup, training or program software to install and no waiting for shipping. You can begin using ClickN’ READ Phonics immediately after ordering.
		ClickN’ READ Phonics represents the best in curriculum, the best in computer technology and the best in program design for ease of use. And best of all, kids love it! I would recommend this program for all parents who are on a budget. For homes, the cost is only $59.85 for a LIFETIME subscription for one child and just $19.95 for each additional child. All subscriptions come with a 60-day money back guarantee. Now you have a choice Hooked on Phonics is perhaps the #1 program in it’s field. But according to parents I spoke with, the problem has always been with the price of the system. It’s a bit steep and that’s why I researched and recommend the Click-N-Read Online Phonics Based Reading Program. It teaches children phonics, early reading skills, vowels, blending, word recoginition, vocabulary and more. So if you want a comprehensive reading program for your children but have second thoughts because of the price, then Click-N-Read is perfect for you and your child. Click Here To Learn More About The Click-N-Read Online Phonics Reading Program To Save 5% Use Code: CNS

Disclaimer – The product links on this web page are Click-N-Read affiliate links.

The Wilson Reading Program is a research-based reading and writing program created during the 1980’s by Barbara Wilson. She developed her system using her expericences with the Orton-Gillingham reading program while teaching adults with dyslexia and by working with students in an after school program setup by her husband, Ed Wilson.

The Wilson Reading System is designed for students between the grades of 2-12 who have difficulty with reading and spelling. The main goal of the system is to teach students language and word structure through a carefully planned 12 step curriculum beginning with phoneme segmentation and is based on continual evaluation based on the student’s needs.

The first 6 steips provide students with reading and spelling basics to help build a foundation before they progress. Steps seven through 12 focuses on advanced word analysis, comprehension and vocabulary.

The Wilson Reading System is best used in small groups, classroom enviornments as well one on one tutoring sessions. There are two different vocabulary levels: The first one is the “Level A” which is appropriate for elementary, English-as-a-Second-Language and older students with inadequate vocabularies; and the second one is the “Level B” is appropriate for students who are beyond elementary grades with more complex vocabularies.

The scope and sequence emphasizes six common types of syllables in which sounds are taught as they relate to these fundamental syllable types. The first two steps emphasize skills in phonemic segmentation and blending by working with the phonemes of monosyllabic words. By using sound cards, the student learns a “sound-tapping” procedure where he learns to segment sounds within words.

For example, in teaching the word “bat”, three letter-cards representing the three sounds in the word are placed in front of the student. Because a student is taught to say each sound while tapping a different finger to his or her thumb, a student would begin by tapping his index finger to his thumb as he says /b/, followed by tapping the middle finger to his thumb as he says /a/, and then tapping his ring finger to his thumb as he says /t/. Finally, the student says the word as he drags his thumb across the three fingers.

Phonics instruction in the Wilson Reading Program is developmentally appropriate, and the presentation of sounds and syllables is controlled beginning with initial phonemes, short vowels, and double consonants. After students succeed at reading and spelling words with three sounds, they then move on to words with four sounds, then five, and so on.

Polysyllabic words are introduced in the third step when students are taught to segment words into syllables. From the beginning, students learn sight words from lists that correspond with each lesson and write these sight words in their “rules notebook” for review later. Additionally, students read and spell words in this notebook using the tapping or scooping technique to increase accuracy.

In order to build fluency, students are provided opportunities to read and reread the wordlists, sentences and decodable stories. Additionally, there are timed fluency drills for each step of the Wilson Reading System (provided on Wilson Academy online). Students use a penciling technique to develop phrasing and expression. They achieve fluency when they are able to read and spell the words easily and quickly without the use of tapping or guidance from the teacher.
Vocabulary words are introduced in isolation before concentrating on written text. A review of each previous lesson’s vocabulary words is included in all lessons. All text is controlled in order for students to master decoding and encoding.

Comprehension is taught from the beginning through visualization techniques that students use during reading from controlled text. By breaking the story into smaller units, teachers show students how to link words with a picture in their minds using the think aloud procedure. Students then are asked to replay the story in their heads while one student retells the story in detail.

To help develop comprehension skills at a higher level than the students’ decoding work, the teacher also reads aloud other material provided by the students or teacher such as newspapers, magazines, and short stories encouraging the same process of visualization and retelling techniques. Wilson Academy online provides a current event news story each week that is written at both an enriched level (to read to students) and a decodable level (for students to read independently). These stories are other sources of text to use while implementing these comprehension techniques.

The Wilson Reading Program comes in standard, deluxe and starter kits for both students and teachers. The student resources include workbooks, readers, group and class sets while the teacher’s materials include manuals, dictation books, rules, and cards for sounds, words, syllables, groups and videoss.

for more information, you can visit: www.wilsonlanguage.com

For parents who need answers to their child reading questions immediately , the following list of Child Educational Professionals can be a great help. These experts have agreed to help any parents using email or chat. They do charge a very small fee for the use of their time but I find their advice to be invaluable for the amount they charge.

Get Child Reading Advice Online

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Phonics is the study of the way in which spellings represent the sounds that make up words. (Phonics is not the study of speech sounds in general — that is phonetics — but only of the ways in which they are represented by conventional spellings.) In reading education, children are taught the sounds of letters and how those letters combine to form words.

The European languages share the Roman alphabet, while many of the Slavic languages use the Cyrillic alphabet. Some European languages have many irregularly pronounced words, which children must memorize. English has hundreds of “spelling words” for children to learn.

When teaching phonics, the schoolchildren are taught the following rules in English pronunciation:

• Each letter is like an animal, which has a name and the sound(s) that it makes. e.g. A cat says “meow”, a G has a name of “Gee” but it says “Gaa” (with the Aa sound suppressed.)

• Each vowel has two sounds: one long and one short. The long sound is the same as its name. The long sounds are in Ape, Eat, Eye, Oh, and You. Their short equivalents are A (a as in at), E (e as in elm), I (i as in it), O (o as in hop), and U (u as in up). (A criticism of this statement would be that in fact every vowel has a third sound — the schwa — the sound of a vowel that is unstressed in an unstressed syllable. The schwa is the most frequent vowel sound in English.

• Each syllable is made by blending the sounds of each component. e.g. reading the word by adding one sound at a time, as in -e, -ed, bed.

• When a single vowel letter is in the middle of a word (or syllable), it usually says its short sound. e.g. “Got”, “Bed”. But there are many exceptions to this rule. See irregular vowels below.

• When a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name.) e.g. “Go”, “Be”.

• When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel usually says its own name (long sound) and the second vowel stays silent. e.g. “Bake” (Ay sound + silent E), “Goal” (Oh sound + silent A), etc. But there are many exceptions to this rule. See irregular vowels below.
  
  

  Irregular vowels

  Irregular vowels: Many combinations of letters do not following the single or two vowel rules mentioned above. These special combinations and sounds must be memorized. Common examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• IGH as in “High” and “Sight”

• -NG as in “Sing”, “Song”, “Sung”.

• OST as in “Most” (but not “Lost” or “Cost”!) uses the long sound instead of the usual short sound.

• OW has two different sounds as in “Low” and “Cow”

• ED has three different sounds as in “Lifted”, “Walked”, “Played”.
• OI does not follow the two vowels rule, e.g. “Moist”, “Boil”.

• Double O has two different sounds as in “Book” and “Loose”.

• OUS as in “Nervous”.

• AU as in “Fault”, “Haul”, etc.

• -SION and -TION and -CIAN are pronounced as “shun”.
• OUGH has up to 6 different sounds, such as “Cough”, “tough”, “Thought”, “Through”, “Trough”, “Bough” etc.

Many words do not follow these rules; they are called “sight words”. Sight words must be memorized since the regular rules do not apply. e.g., “The”, “Are”, “You”.

This was the belief before the discovery of the forgotten phonics rules from the 1800s. (See external links below). There are phonics rules for these, and all but a very few words in the English language.

Synthetic phonics is a reading program employed to teach phonics to children when learning to read. This method involves looking at every part of the phonic without necessarily taking into account the blends or meaning (e.g. “s-t-r-e-e-t”).

Analytic phonics involves looking at the phonic blends (e.g. “str-ee-t”).

Some educators who support the phonic method believe that when children master the pronunciation rules, they can read on their own. The children will be able to tie the written words with the spoken English they hear on TV and around the house. (Kids living in non-English-speaking households could have a hard time learning to read this way.)

Educators who oppose teaching phonics believe knowing the sound without knowing the meaning of the word does not work. Some educators do not teach the pronunciation rules; words in books are read aloud in class. The children are supposed to remember how each word sounds one by one as they encounter them in the context of a story or other reading materials. Some “smarter” kids recognize certain pronunciation patterns on their own and can then extrapolate how to read new words; the less fortunate can become illiterate if they fail to do enough reading exercises.

Some school systems, such as California’s, flip-flopped between the two controversial extremes over the years. Nowadays, some schools would do both Phonic and the whole language approach because most educators now recognize that the two systems complement each other and each alone has its drawbacks.

When parents help their children learn to read, they open the door
to a big, exciting world. As a parent, you can begin an endless learning chain
like this: You read to your children, they develop a love of stories and poems,
they want to read on their own, they practice reading, and finally, they read
for their own information or pleasure. When children become readers, their
world is forever wider and richer.

Here are some reading comprehension activities you can do with your child:

• Read aloud to your child: books, newspaper and magazine
  articles, the back of the cereal box, labels on cans, or directions.
  
  
  


• Read poems aloud together to learn about rhythm and repeated
  sounds in language.
  
  
• Point to the words on the page when you read. Move your finger
  from left to right.
  
  


• Listen to your child read homework or favorite stories to you
  every day.
  
  


• Go to the library together and check out books. Be sure to ask
  the librarian for good books or to help you find what you need.
  
  


• Have books, magazines, and papers around the house, and let
  your child see that you like to read, too.
  
  
• Encourage older children to read to younger children.
  
  
  


• Help experienced readers talk and write about what they
  read.

Reading
Activities

Over and Over Again

for young children

1. Pick a story or poem that repeats phrases. “Assign” your child
a phrase to repeat each time you read a new part of the story.

2. Read a short portion of the story or poem, then stop and let
your child repeat the phrase.

3. Encourage your child to act out the story.

For example,
with the story of the “Three Little Pigs:”

Wolf (parent): Little pig, little pig, Let me come in.
Little Pig (child): Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!

Wolf (parent): Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in!

Make Sense of Sounds

for beginning readers

1. Look for poems or tongue twisters that repeat sounds and
letters.

2. Point out these sounds and letters, and explain that they often
make the same sound whenever you see them with other letters on the page.

For example:

There once was a fat cat named Matt.
And a black cat who had a
big bat.
The rat put a tack
When the cat turned his back
On the mat
where the black cat sat.

A big blue barrel of big blue blueberries.
Does this shop sell
socks with spots?

Read Together
COLOR="#330099">for more advanced readers

1. Ask your child to read to you.

2. Take turns. You read a paragraph and your child can read the
next one, or take turns reading full pages one after the other. Keep in mind
that your child may be concentrating on how to read, and your reading helps to
keep the story alive.

3. If your child has trouble reading words, you can help in
several ways:

• have your child skip over the word, read the rest of the
  sentence, and ask what word would make sense in the story;


• have your child use what is known about letters and the sounds
  they make to “sound out” the word; or
• supply the word and keep reading: enjoyment is the main
  goal.

Try some of these reading comprehension activities and let me know what your kids think of them. I’m going to be adding some more real soon

There are many phonics reading programs that make huge promises concerning how quickly your child can learn how to read. Watch & read our phonics reading program reviews and decide for yourself which system you should use to teach your child how to read.

While you are searching for the perfect reading program for your child, here are a few terms that you should be familiar with.

• Phonemic Awareness: is knowing the sounds in words. Before children learn that all the letters represent sounds, they must first hear those sounds. Playing songs along with reading out stories that contain rhyme is a very important exercise that helps the child hear the different letter and word sounds. For example, if you read Humpty Dumpty your child will notice that not only does Humpty and Dumpty sound alike but men and again and also wall and fall do to. He or she will then start to realize that words are not randomly constructed but are made of units of sound.
• Phonics: By now, your child has had a lot of fun with nursery rhymes so now it’s time to introduce to them the concept that those sounds can be represented by using squiggly lines on paper and that these lines are called letters. You are using phonics when you show your child that single letters and combination of letters represents sounds. You may begin introducing the concept of phonics by showing your child the first letter and sound of his or her name and then introduce other words which start with the same letter such as Mary, mop, mat, moon etc…
• Sight words: If you were to count the number of words in your average, everyday piece of text, you would find that the same words like “they” and “were”, crop up many, many times. Those words appear so many times that a group of 220 of them make up about 70% of all your average written text. Because of this frequency, your child should know them by sight, hence the term “sight words”.
• Decoding: Breaking up words and reading one bit at a time is called decoding. For example, if your child were reading the word paper, he or she would read it in two parts -PA and PER.
• Encoding:Now, breaking up words and writing one bit at a time is called encoding. When encoding the word “paper“, your child would say the 2 parts (PA and PER) to herself and then proceed to write them down.
• Grammar & Syntax: These terms actually can mean the same thing; knowing how sentences are constructed in a grammatically correct fashion. For example, knowing when to use is and are; understanding the correct usage and order of words; and getting the proper tenses correct.

As soon as your child starts to read, he or she will need to understand how to sound out, recognize the sight words and read around and between the lines in a controlled pattern. Knowing this, you can now search for a phonics reading program that will help your child with:

• Sounding Out
• Getting To Recognize Sight Words Quickly
• Doing Guided Reading (meaning you guide her as she reads)

Hooked On Phonics Reading Program Video Review

Hooked On Phonics Review

One of the most rewarding tasks as a parent is when it’s time to start teaching reading skills to your children. When children become good readers in the early grades, they are more likely to become better learners throughout their school years and beyond.

Learning to read is hard work for children. Fortunately, research is now available that suggests how to give each child a good start in reading.

Becoming a reader involves the development of important skills, including learning to:

• use language in conversation
• listen and respond to stories read aloud
• recognize and name the letters of the alphabet
• listen to the sounds of spoken language
• connect sounds to letters to figure out the “code” of reading
• read often so that recognizing words becomes easy and automatic
• learn and use new words
• understand what is read

Preschool and kindergarten teachers set the stage for your child to learn to read with some
critical early skills. First, second, and third grade teachers then take up the task of building the skills that children will use every day for the rest of their lives. As a parent, you can help by understanding what teachers are teaching and by asking questions about your child’s progress and the classroom reading program.

You can also help your children become readers. Teaching reading skills takes practice, more practice than children get during the school day. This brochure describes what a quality reading program should look like at school and how you can support that program through activities with your children.

If your child is just beginning to learn to read

At school you should see teachers…

• Teaching the sounds of language. The teacher provides opportunities for children to practice with the sounds that make up words. Children learn to put sounds together to make words and to break words into their separate sounds.
• Teaching the letters of the alphabet. Teachers help children learn to recognize letter names and shapes.
• Helping children learn and use new words.
• Reading to children every day. Teachers read with expression and talk with children about what they are reading.

At home you can help by…

• Practicing the sounds of language. Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, short poems, and songs. Play simple word games: How many words can you make up that sound like the word “bat”?
• Helping your child take spoken words apart and put them together. Help your child separate the sounds in words, listen for beginning and ending sounds, and put separate sounds together.
• Practicing the alphabet by pointing out letters wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books.

If your child is just beginning to read

At school you should see teachers…

• Systematically teaching phonics–how sounds and letters are related.
• Giving children the opportunity to practice the letter-sound relationships they are learning. Children have the chance to practice sounds and letters by reading easy books that use words with the letter-sound relationships they are learning.
• Helping children write the letter-sound relationships they know by using them in words, sentences, messages, and their own stories.
• Showing children ways to think about and understand what they are reading. The teacher asks children questions to show them how to think about the meaning of what they read.

At home you can help by…

• Pointing out the letter-sound relationships your child is learning on labels, boxes, newspapers, magazines and signs.
• Listening to your child read words and books from school. Be patient and listen as your child practices. Let your child know you are proud of his reading.

If your child is reading

At school you should see teachers…

• Continuing to teach letter-sound relationships for children who need more practice. On average, children need about two years of instruction in letter-sound relationships to become good spellers as well as readers.
• Teaching the meaning of words, especially words that are important to understanding a book.
• Teaching ways to learn the meaning of new words. Teachers cannot possibly teach students the meaning of every new word they see or read. Children should be taught how to use dictionaries to learn word meanings, how to use known words and word parts to figure out other words, and how to get clues about a word from the rest of the sentence.
• Helping children understand what they are reading. Good readers think as they read and they know whether what they are reading is making sense. Teachers help children to check their understanding. When children are having difficulty, teachers show them ways to figure out the meaning of what they are reading.

At home you can help your child by…

• Rereading familiar books. Children need practice in reading comfortably and with expression using books they know.
• Building reading accuracy. As your child is reading aloud, point out words he missed and help him read words correctly. If you stop to focus on a word, have your child reread the whole sentence to be sure he understands the meaning.
• Building reading comprehension. Talk with your child about what she is reading. Ask about new words. Talk about what happened in a story. Ask about the characters, places, and events that took place. Ask what new information she has learned from the book. Encourage her to read on her own.

Make reading a part of every day

• Share conversations with your child over meal times and other times you are together. Children learn words more easily when they hear them spoken often. Introduce new and interesting words at every opportunity.
• Read together every day. Spend time talking about stories, pictures, and words.
• Be your child’s best advocate. Keep informed about your child’s progress in reading and ask the teacher about ways you can help.
• Be a reader and a writer. Children learn habits from the people around them.
• Visit the library often. Story times, computers, homework help, and other exciting activities await the entire family.

The following is a review. Click Here If You Want To Visit The Hooked On Phonics Website

Now, before you read this Hooked On Phonics Review, let me explain to you my criteria for choosing a well balanced reading program. As an independent educational reviewer for numerous websites and newsletters, I have tried many reading programs that promised to teach my daughter how to read. The majority of them I determined to be too “dry” which means they do nothing to capture a child’s imagination and interest level.

You see, children need to be interested and a good reading program can do this by adding a “Fun Factor”. These “fun factors” could be engaging characters, the use of flashy colors, games that engages the child’s imagination, and the use of multimedia to teach and reinforce important principles.

In my quest for the best child reading programs, I tried using the following criteria:

• Is the reading program fun for the child?
• Is the program phonics based?
• And does it contain interactive elements?

Using the above guidelines, and because Hooked On Phonics seems to be the most asked about reading program, I have written this summary of what you can expect with this popular system.

Click Here To Learn More About Hooked On Phonics

Hooked On Phonics Review Summary

As a parent, you will love the organization of Hooked On Phonics. Basically, with Hooked On Phonics, you will be using a 4 step approach when teaching your child how to read.

Step 1: Learn
Your child will learn to recognized and read new words by watching the DVD and reading the workbook.

Step 4: Celebrate
You will celebrate your child’s success after each lesson and track his or her progress.

When you open the box, depending on which level system you buy, you will find a number of storybooks, workbooks, 2 DVDs and access to a unique online learning center where you and your child will have access to educational online games, downloadable material, printable activity sheets, and customized book recommendations that will reinforce each individual lesson that your child has just completed .

There are reading road posters that are meant to hang on the wall. Along the “road” are the titles of the readers and the workbook stories. Every time a child reads a story or book, they can receive a sticker to place on the road to celebrate their success.

What Can You Expect With Hooked On Phonics

The DVDs that you receive will guide children through the alphabet using music video and will introduce each individual lesson plan in a fun manner that will keep children focused.

The workbooks are well done as well. They are colorful, and employ a variety of different activities to keep kids interested.

The Readers That Come With The Program Are Great

The books really are the highlight of the reading program. After all, it is important to have good early reading material so that kids receive the message that reading is fun and rewarding.

Too many educational reading courses and books are created in a dry, boring matter that forces children’s imagination to be anywhere else instead of reading

Children nowadays are so turned off by reading that it is important that parents introduce books that are not intimidating and will keep the child’s mind from wandering. The books contained in the system are a great introduction to reading and they will nurture a love of learning that will follow your child throughout their school years.

Hooked On Phonics Pros

• Finally combines phonics with reading comprehension
• Is very well organized
• The company now provides customized reading programs available for all ages and skill levels
• The books contained in the system are a great introduction to reading and they will nurture a love of learning that will follow your child throughout their school years

Hooked On Phonics Cons

• Some parents may find it pricey but it’s well worth it if you want to improve your child’s reading skills because it reinforces the point that reading can be fun for your child

But let me tell you this..

Hooked On Phonics, along with any reading program you buy for your child requires some commitment on the part of both parent and child. Never expect that you can leave your child alone with any system and they will suddenly “get it”. You will need to go over the exercises with them and praise them when they reach certain goals and milestones.

There Are Different Hooked On Phonics Programs Available Per Your Child’s Age and Needs The makers of Hooked On Phonics have listened to both parents and educators and have created different Hooked On Phonics Reading Programs depending on the both the age and the skills of your child. For example:
	Hooked On Phonics Get Ready To Read Pre- Kindergarten System for ages 3 to 4 A great introduction to reading for children between the ages of 3-4. Children are introduced to letter names, letter sounds, and are taught phonemic awareness using letter and picture cards, workbooks, and CD-ROMs filled with games and alphabet songs. Plus, the program includes two original Video Jukebox DVDs and a huge game mat. Click Here To Learn More About The Pre-Kindergarten System For Ages 3-4
	Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read K-2 System for ages 4 to 8 If you feel that your child needs to practice sounding out words or stumbles over words when he reads out loud, then the “Learn To Read System” is the program you will need to help him or her develop a stronger reading foundation. This system is created for children ages 4 to 8. Because kids learn in different ways, “Learn To Read K-2″ includes a variety of multisensory tools that appeal to visual, auditory, and experience-based learners. Click Here To Learn About The Learn To Read About The Kindergarten to 2nd Grade System
	Hooked on Phonics Master Reader System for ages 7 and up The “Master Reader System” is created for children ages 7 and up. “Master Reader” uses advanced phonics skills designed to help children read with speed and accuracy. Your child will learn to break down large words into parts so they can read more fluently and lessen the time and effort it takes to sound out each word. Contents include four levels of interactive computer games, 64 attention-grabbing stories, and an exciting Strange Museum chapter book series. Hooked on Phonics Master Reader will give your child the confidence to read anything put in front of him. Click Here To Learn More About The Master Reader System For Ages 7 and Up

There are basically two different common methods of teaching reading strategies. One usually refers to whole language approach (“look say”), the other usually refers to phonetics approach. The tension between these two approaches is often referred to as “the great debate”.

The “look say” method also known as the wholeword, sight method, or configurational reading is a ’spatial-holistic’ method to learn a language. It is the same method used to acquire literacy in languages such as Chinese, based on ideograms. Its application to learning a primarily phonetic language like English has questionable value and has been associated with artificially inducing dyslexia.

Students when learning english using this method memorize the appearance of words, or learn to recognize words by looking at the first and last letter from rigidly selected vocabularies in progressive texts (such as The Cat in the Hat). Often this method is taught by slides or cards with a picture next to a word, teaching children to associate the whole word with its meaning. Often preliminary results show children taught with this method have higher reading level then children learning a phonetic method, because they learn to automatically reconise a small selection of words.

However later tests demonstrate that literacy development becomes stunted when hit with longer and more complex words later in school life. It is known that “look say” students do not naturally learn to spell or write unless explicitly taught because they have not learnt to pronounce words phonetically, instead are encouraged to guess them. However, they can learn the 5,000 most common words in roughly three years which is sufficient for basic literacy. The classic implementation of this approach was the McGill reading curriculum used to teach most baby boomers to read in the U.S.

The method was invented by Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet, the director of the American Asylum at Hartford in the 1830’s. It was designed for the education of the Deaf and Dumb by juxtaposing a word, with a picture. In 1830, Gallaudet provided a descitpion of his method to the American Annals of Education which included teaching children to recognize a total of 50 sight words written on cards and by 1837 the method was adopted by the Boston Primary School Committee.

Horace Mann the then Secretary of the Board of Education of Massachusetts, USA favored the method and it soon became the dominant method state wide. By 1844 the defects of the new method became apparent to Boston schoolmasters, that they issued an attack against it urging a return to an intensive, systematic phonics.

Again Dr. Samuel T. Orton, a neuropathologist in Iowa in 1929 seeked the cause of children’s reading problems and concluded that their problems were being caused by the new sight method of teaching reading. (His results were published in the February 1929 issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology, “The Sight Reading Method of Teaching Reading as a Source of Reading Disability.”)

It is worth noting that the ‘look say’ method has been thoroughly debunked in the last twenty years. Simply put phonemic awareness is the awareness of the discrete sounds of letters. For example: when someone says “cat” the three sounds the letters make are not heard in speech because of coarticulation (all the sounds leave your mouth so close together it sounds like one syllable) however in reading one must know that “cat” is actually c/a/t with three different sounds.

Phonemic awareness is an artifact of learning to read. It’s not necessary for speech, but it is so important, scholars can identify which students most at risk for reading failure based on phonemic awareness. See “Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print” by Marilyn Jager Adams for a fuller explanation.
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A “phonetic” reading program teaches sounds to be associated with letters and combinations of letters. Students memorize these associations. They learn to sound out and then blend sound combinations to produce words. This method requires direct teaching of “sounding out” methods, and memorization of pronunciation rules.

The most perfect phonics reading program is Orton phonography, originally developed to teach brain-damaged adults to read. Orton described 73 “phonograms”, or letter combinations, and 23 rules for spelling and pronunciation. By following these rules one can correctly pronounce and spell all but 123 of the 13,000 most common English words.

Advocates of “look say” teaching argue that it is the method used by literate adults to read all familiar words. Also the method is said to be easy to teach, and pleasant for students. Critics charge that a “look say” student can only speak and spell words that they have been taught, therefore, the critic says, they are permanently crippled when compared to phonetically-taught students.

Also, it is established that this method requires an expensive set of textbooks for each student. It is therefore very popular with textbook companies. Critics have charged that for this reason, book companies may have found methods to bias experts and institutions to favor this method.

Advocates of phonetics cite the large reading and spelling vocabulary that phonetic students can theoretically obtain. However, critics of phonetic methods talk of students that fail at each one of the method’s many mandatory skills. Almost all students learn letter-sounds. Many students find it difficult to “blend” the letter sounds to produce sensible speech. Some students also fail to apply rules to select letter sounds. Also, critics charge that in phonetic reading programs, students can learn to pronounce a sentence without ever learning to understand it. The same, of course, holds true for “look say”.

In practice, the most successful is learning the alphabet phonetically first then reinforced with “look-see” methods coupled with reading programs that combine both elements. For example, the extremely popular book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, by Siegfried Engelman, et al. (ISBN 0-671-63198-5), teaches pronunciation and simple phonetics, then supplements it with progressive texts and practice in directed reading.

The end result of a mixed method is a casually phonetic student, a much better first-time pronouncer and speller, who still also has look-say acquisition, quick fluency and comprehension. Using an eclectic method, students can select their preferred learning style. This lets all students make progress, yet permits a motivated student to use and recognize the best traits of each method.

One of the most important responsibilities we have as parents is to help develop a solid reading foundation for our children.

Studies show that a failure to do so can greatly hurt the child’s chances for future success and can lead to a life of difficulties and hardship.

That’s why phonics reading programs have been gaining in popularity over the last couple of years and why many parents have been turning to them. The only problem is, with so many options available, it becomes difficult to decide which program should you use to teach your child to read?

I’m sure you’ve seen many commercials and advertisements for reading programs claiming they are the “best”, but can you really trust what they say?

Not all reading programs are suitable for all children.

When you teach your child to read, you should choose a reading program that is appropriate for your child’s age and skill level set.

As a watchdog for educational products, we are constantly reviewing dozens of the child reading programs and have spoken to hundreds of parents who have used them. Based on my research, I have prepared a review for what is perhaps the best known and most popular reading program available for your child today.

What can happen If you don’t start a reading program for your child at an early age

These statistics are gathered from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development:

• 74% of the children who are diagnosed with reading problems in the 3rd grade, continue with problems into the 9th grade. This shows the importance of building a love for reading at an early age when children are most impressionable.
• children who fall behind at an early age (even in Kindergarten and 1st grade) fall further and further behind over time. Without remedial help, child reading problems do not diminish over time, but persist through the school years and into adulthood.
• Among those children, 10-15 percent drop out of high school and only 2 percent complete a four-year college degree.
• Surveys of adolescents and young adults with criminal records show that about half have reading difficulties.
• Of youth with a history of substance abuse, half have reading problems.

What does your child need in order to read well?

You need to provide 4 things to your child, preferably at an early age, to build a proper reading foundation:

1. Phonics information and the ability to manipulate the sounds that make up spoken language.
2. Phonics skills and the understanding that there are relationships between letters and sounds.
3. The ability to read fluently with accuracy, speed, and expression.
4. To apply reading comprehension strategies to enhance understanding and enjoyment of what they read.