Hooked On Phonics Review

Hooked On Phonics

• Used by 5 million families
• 275+ Interactive Games
• Try 30 days for $1

• Used by 5 million families
• 275+ Interactive Games
• Try 30 days for $1

Our Score

9.6

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See our full review process

Pros

• Structured phonics approach keeps kids progressing through a logical learning sequence
• Combining an app with physical kits creates a holistic learning experience
• Subscription plans are much more affordable than tutoring
• Engagement and support make Hooked on Phonics strong for early readers

Cons

• Curriculum may be insufficient for kids who need more intensive phonics or reading instruction
• Program is limited to kids younger than 8
• Physical kit requires extensive parental involvement

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Table Of Contents

• Reading Is A Tool For Children’s Growth
• Who Is Hooked On Phonics For?
• Hooked On Phonics Summary
• Pricing And Discounts
• Curriculum And Reading Levels
• Lesson Breakdown
• Do Kids Enjoy Using Hooked On Phonics?
• Learning Activities
• Progress Tracking And Parent Controls
• Pros And Cons
• Hooked On Phonics vs Other Free And Paid Apps
• Device Support, Safety, And privacy
• Final Verdict

As this is a pretty lengthy review that covers a number of topics, you’ll find a helpful jump-to table of contents above for your convenience.

Reading Is A Tool For Children’s Growth

When we give our kids the gift of reading, we’re doing more than preparing them for the future; we’re helping them thrive right now. Reading helps kids’ brains grow in amazing ways. It builds vocabulary, strengthens memory, boosts understanding, and encourages sharper thinking. Every time your child opens a book, they’re not just enjoying a story; they’re building skills that make them smarter and more confident.

That’s why starting early makes such a difference. Even in the preschool years, those little moments with books or stories can spark a love of learning that carries through childhood. And with tools that make reading fun and engaging, it’s easier than ever for parents to nurture that love from the very beginning.

Who Is Hooked On Phonics For?

Hooked on Phonics is great for parents of struggling readers or kids needing phonics support.

• Parents wanting to supplement the school curriculum or prepare young kids for school will also appreciate Hooked on Phonics.
• The structured curriculum combines a digital app with a physical learning kit. This makes it perfect for homeschool families and parents of kids ages 3 to 8 who want extra support for early readers.
• Used by teachers, librarians, and more than 5 million families, Hooked on Phonics is generally considered both affordable and trustworthy, in addition to being kidSAFE certified.
• Cons include limited resources for older kids, little emphasis on intensive phonics or reading instruction, and a high parental involvement requirement.

Hooked On Phonics Summary

Hooked on Phonics is a research-backed structured reading program with a 35-year history of teaching phonics, sight words, and early comprehension. While a lot of older programs can feel outdated, Hooked on Phonics has clearly kept pace with modern apps and teaching tools. It’s targeted to kids ages 3 to 8 and works both as a phonics program for struggling readers and a homeschool reading curriculum. 

I used Hooked on Phonics with my two kids years ago as a supplemental reading program, and they were really into it. Hooked on Phonics turned out to be a lifesaver. When I decided to write this review, I created a fresh account and spent the past few months going through the program myself to see how it has evolved. Hooked on Phonics covers a wide range of reading levels, so I tested it at three different stages: preschool (still learning letters), kindergarten (working on simple letter combos), and second grade (advancing through phonics).

While setting up my account, I simply had to select children’s ages and current reading ability. The program then places kids in the corresponding Hooked on Phonics reading level. There are 12 levels for “Pre-Reader” (still learning the alphabet) and 30 levels for “Learn to Read” (kids working on phonics) – a lot more detail on this further in this review. From there, I was taken straight to the first lesson, starting with an engaging instructional video. 

The curriculum combines a fun, cartoon-based mobile app with physical kits including storybooks, writing exercises, and celebration stickers. The entire program is also available in several languages, including Hooked on Phonics Spanish.

As a bonus, all subscriptions include access to Hooked on Spelling, which teaches word families and spelling patterns, and Hooked on Math. Beyond the fast-paced addition drills, I liked their quirky counting exercises, such as dragging the correct number of jellyfish out of a jar.

Pricing

The Hooked on Phonics cost depends on which subscription option you choose. You can start with the Hooked on Phonics trial offer, which lets you test out the mobile app and learning kit for $1. If you’re not satisfied, you have 30 days to cancel. Otherwise, you’ll be automatically charged about $13 per month for the Hooked on Phonics app, plus a $3 monthly shipping fee for the physical kit. For the lowest Hooked on Phonics price, you can pay about $50 or $80 upfront for a 6-month or 12-month subscription, plus a $3 shipping fee every month. 

When you sign up for any subscription, you’ll receive:

• The Hooked on Phonics app including video lessons, songs, and games
• One full-color, 32-page physical workbook with hands-on writing practice to reinforce the lessons your child is currently working through each month
• 2-3 skill-specific storybooks per month to give kids independent reading practice
• Monthly stickers and certificates to recognize major learning milestones

All plans renew automatically. You can cancel anytime through your account dashboard to avoid future charges, although you’ll only receive a full refund if you cancel within three days after purchasing. You can also purchase extra physical resources, like flashcard sets, letter tracing sheets, and additional storybooks.

While the website doesn’t list an official Hooked on Phonics success rate, they guarantee that regular users will improve by one level within 30 days, or you’ll get your money back. 

Hooked on Phonics is a little pricier than ABCmouse or Reading Eggs, but you can often find a Hooked on Phonics discount. We try to stay updated with the best coupons, so check for deals before purchasing. 

Lesson Breakdown

The well-designed mobile lessons take 20 minutes or less to complete. I found it easy to swipe through each day’s assortment of videos, games, and read-along eBooks. I then used the physical workbook, storybooks, and Hooked on Phonics worksheets to reinforce each concept. To me, this makes Hooked on Phonics good for homeschooling: the app gives kids a break from traditional learning, while the physical kit provides parents with resources for ensuring mastery. Some kids thrive on worksheets; others don’t. My daughter never cared for traditional flashcards, but she actually used the Hooked on Phonics ones without complaint, which felt like a small win.

Do Kids Enjoy Using Hooked On Phonics?

Hooked on Phonics keeps lessons enjoyable with catchy songs, digital storybooks, puzzles, flashcards, animal-themed animations, and over 275 interactive games. The program understands kids’ sense of humor: little ones will giggle at the silly sound effects and physical comedy of digital giraffes falling down. Instead of frustrating kids with nonsense sentences like those in many phonics programs, storybooks about a boy pretending to be a dog keep them entertained.

As your child works through the lessons, they can earn stars, progress badges, and kid-themed rewards, like a yellow hard hat for a dog avatar to wear. Hearing a cheerful, “You did it!” after every correct response gives an extra boost to keep going. I remember the first time my daughter earned a certificate: she taped it to her bedroom wall and proudly read a story to her grandparents over FaceTime. That moment sold me on the program.

Learning Activities

The Hooked on Phonics curriculum has kids constantly doing something different, like dragging letter pairs onto a seesaw to build words or listening and selecting the correct word for a satisfying balloon pop.

The digital storybooks use a highlighter feature so kids can follow along with the narrator, who slowly and clearly enunciates each sound within a word. Whenever they don’t catch part of the story, they could replay a page before moving on. 

Even the physical workbooks feature surprisingly varied activities, such as a cut-out spinner game, connecting and coloring letters, tongue twisters, writing prompts, and drawing activities. The workbooks also include supplemental comic strip stories, so kids are getting extra reading practice beyond the digital and physical storybooks. I like having a structured plan to follow, so I appreciated that the workbooks told me exactly when to read a storybook and which digital lesson accompanies each activity. 

Here’s what actually using the kit looks like: the workbooks and storybooks aren’t just extras – they’re core to the program. You’ll need to sit with your child for the physical activities on top of app time. And yes, those stickers and certificates might seem small, but they were huge motivators for my daughter.

Progress Tracking And Parental Controls

The parent dashboard shows which lessons your kids have completed and whether they’ve progressed to a new reading level. You can also add more kids’ profiles so the whole family can share one plan. Granted, the parent controls are a little limited. There’s no option for setting a daily screen time limit or previewing lessons. Still, it’s nice to have a user-friendly parent portal for seeing your child’s growth.

Pros And Cons

Here are the main things I liked about using Hooked on Phonics:

• The structured phonics approach keeps kids progressing through a logical learning sequence. The well-planned curriculum with lessons that build on themselves helps kids make steady progress.
• Combining an app with physical kits creates a holistic learning experience. I limit my kids’ screen time, so I appreciated the balance of pairing digital engagement with traditional storybooks.
• The subscription plans are much more affordable than tutoring. Though pricier than other digital apps, the extensive Hooked on Phonics resources provide a lot of value and may prevent you from hiring a private reading tutor.
• The engagement and support make Hooked on Phonics strong for early readers. The colorful and intuitive interface makes Hooked on Phonics a great learn-to-read app for preschool and kindergarten, as well as a good starter resource for parents getting their young child ready for school.

I also had a few criticisms:

• The curriculum may be insufficient for kids who need more intensive phonics or reading instruction. While the storybooks come with helpful discussion questions for comprehension, there could be more emphasis on reading skills like vocabulary and summarizing. The program incorporates lots of sight words and doesn’t fully explain the ‘why’ behind phonics rules. Furthermore, passive games that rely on clicking or recognition mean kids aren’t spending as much time actively practicing reading aloud.
• The curriculum is limited to kids 8 and younger. Older kids who need phonics help will find the lessons a bit too easy.
• The physical kit requires extensive parental involvement. I remember sitting with my daughter for almost every lesson at first, which was time-consuming, but it gave me a clear picture of where she struggled. You will likely need to directly coach your kids through each step of the workbook activities.

Hooked On Phonics vs Other Free And Paid Apps

Free phonics apps tend to only emphasize 1-2 specific skills and use repetitive games. This is fine if you only need limited help, but a program like Hooked on Phonics provides much more structure for those wanting a comprehensive reading course.

Looking at Hooked on Phonics vs ABCmouse, both apps provide extensive phonics practice, but Hooked on Phonics does a better job cementing one phonics skill at a time. ABCmouse covers multiple subjects, not just reading, so it mixes phonics lessons in with math, art, and other topics. This might be less effective for struggling readers who really need focused, daily phonics practice.

Then comparing Hooked on Phonics vs Reading Eggs, Hooked on Phonics focuses exclusively on sounding out words, whereas Reading Eggs provides more help with vocabulary and comprehension. While the Reading Eggs curriculum is broader, you have to spend an extra $65 to get the physical kit, which comes included with a Hooked on Phonics subscription.

Hooked on Phonics vs competitors

👉 Want to learn more about ABCmouse? Check out our in depth review

Device support, safety, and privacy

Don’t worry about finding the best tablet for Hooked on Phonics – the app works on pretty much everything: iOS, Android, Kindle, or any web browser. Hooked on Phonics is COPAA and kidSAFE compliant, which means your information stays private. The extensive offline materials reduce kids’ reliance on screens, which made me prefer Hooked on Phonics over exclusively digital reading programs.

Final verdict

Time for the verdict: is Hooked on Phonics still one of the best phonics apps for children? For me, it’s a definite yes. Of course there are some things they could improve. I wish they focused more on developing well-rounded readers, not just phonics skills. Also, if you need to reinforce vocabulary and comprehension, you might want to supplement with other options out there. 

For targeted phonics instruction, however, Hooked on Phonics is hard to beat. The structured lesson progression takes kids from learning letters to reading entire books out loud. I also love how the mix of digital and physical materials brings together the best of traditional learning with modern tech. For me, the biggest win was seeing my kids go from sounding out single words to reading their first beginner chapter book. That confidence boost alone made the program worth it.

All in all, I’d say Hooked on Phonics lives up to its reputation, and if your kids stick with the program, they’ll master reading. In our opinion that makes Hooked on Phonics a solid choice for both homeschool families and parents of early readers wanting that extra support.

👉 Click here to learn more about another leading kids education app, ABCmouse