Hooked on Phonics “Learn to Read” Buying Guide

BUYING AN OLDER USED PROGRAM

Editions 1988 - 1993

The Hooked on Phonics “Learn to Read” program was released by Gateway Educational Products, Ltd., in 1987. Extensive television and radio advertising, during the 90s, with the memorable 1-800-ABCDEFG phone number and the "Hooked on Phonics worked for me!" tagline made Hooked on Phonics a household name. Educate, Inc. acquired the company in 2005 and is now known as HOP LLC.

Phonics is the association between letter and letter combinations in our written alphabet and the sounds in our spoken language. For example, by combining the letter sounds of c, a, t, a child can read cat. When a child learns to recognize these letter sounds and combine them to read words, he is developing the skills he will need for learning to read. Hooked on Phonics programs use musical songs and repetition to teach a child the basic phonetic skills that he will need to learn to read.

A few things to consider:

Right off, I would not recommend the older programs now. They work perfectly well to teach your child to read using phonics, but the updated version of the program which came out in 1998 contains a lot more product for the money. See my buying guide for the 1998 edition to compare.

If you want to buy one of the older editions, don't pay more than $30 for it, including the shipping and handling fee. BE PATIENT. On any given day, there are over 300 ads for Hooked on Phonics items. Set your price and don't get so attached to a particular auction that you overpay. I saw two people bid a used program up to $122 plus shipping, when the very next auction to close went for $32. BE PATIENT. If you are in a hurry to get started, buy from a reputable seller that has a reasonable BUY IT NOW price.

The biggest problem with buying a used program on eBay is that many are not complete programs. Even if the ad says the program is complete, the casual seller often doesn't know the correct components to the different editions. ASK QUESTIONS. Most parents use the first or second level of the program, and when the child starts to read well they relax and let the school take it from there. Very few children complete the entire program through 2nd grade. So, what happens is the early parts of the programs are the most likely to be the parts that are broken, lost or used up. Look at the ads on eBay for Hooked on Phonics and you'll see countless programs that say the first part is used, but the later levels are untouched. Don't assume that the casual seller knows that the program is complete, even if the ad says so. Many sellers simply copy the components from the program box without looking in it to see if the parts are all there. ASK QUESTIONS. Ask if the yellow and white tapes are there. These are the hardest, and most expensive, parts to locate if your program is missing them. Use the component lists below to check out a program.

Hooked on Phonics "Learn to Read" editions 1988, 1991 and 1992

The copyright dates on these editions are 1988, 1991 and 1992. There seem to be no differences between any of the programs with these dates. The materials are interchangeable.

All three editions of the program contain:

5 Workbooks:
Book 1 - Yellow (136 pages)
Book 2 - Purple (89 pages)
Book 3 - Red/Brown (135 pages)
Book 4 - Blue/Green/Brown (142 pages)
Book 5 - Review Book (130 pages)

8 Audio-cassettes:
Yellow - Instructions and ABCs
White - Vowel Sounds
Purple
Orange
Red
Blue
Green
Brown

9 Flash Card Packs:
Yellow ABCs(26)
White ABCs(26)
White "Read out loud"(19)
Purple(24)
Brown(20)
Blue(22)
Green(20)
Orange(26)
Red(22)

Case:
All of these programs came in a molded plastic and vinyl, bi-fold case.

Hooked on Phonics "Learn to Read" 1993 edition

Hooked on Phonics, 6th edition, has a copyright date of 1993 and was sold in a variety of packages from 1993 to 1999. The most common case is the vinyl covered "tri-fold" case.

Changes from previous edition:

The only changes from the previous editions were to reorganize the books, cassettes and flash cards so that the material flowed better. No new material was added to the basic program, but the material is not interchangeable with previous editions. A printed instruction guide and sheets of reward stickers were added to the program for Book 1.

All 1993 edition programs contain:

7 Workbooks:
Book 1 - Yellow (136 pages)
Book 2 - Purple (89 pages)
Book 3 - Red (101 pages)
Book 4 - Brown (64 pages)
Book 5 - Green (58 pages)
Book 6 - Blue (60 pages)
Book 7 - Reading Review (130 pages)

9 Audio-cassettes:
Yellow - Instructions and ABCs
White (side 1-2)
White (side 3-4)
Purple (side 1-2)
Purple (side 3-4)
Red
Blue
Green
Brown

9 Flash Card Packs:
Yellow ABCs(26)
White ABCs(26)
White "Read out loud"(26)
Purple 1-3(24)
Purple 2-4(26)
Brown(20)
Blue(22)
Green(20)
Red(22)

Case:
The majority of the programs of this edition came in a molded plastic and vinyl, tri-fold case. Other cases were the bi-fold case, "The Classic" (cardboard bookshelf case) and the "Back to Basics" (cardboard suitcase style).

Last Word

I have two phrases for you that will work with any eBay auction or purchase; BE PATIENT and ASK QUESTIONS. But also with your child, BE PATIENT and ASK QUESTIONS. Hooked on Phonics doesn't teach by itself. You will need to work with the child about 20 minutes a day to get great results. Good luck and please read my other Hooked on Phonics guides and visit my store, PHONICS AND MORE. We try to carry a complete selection of replacement parts for the Hooked on Phonics family of programs.  

Thanks, George Withers (eBay ID - edandsophie)