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Frontline Phonics Review

Program Summary and Contents

Frontline Phonics is a reading program based on 17 years of preschool teaching experience. It is designed to teach young children letters, sounds, and blending... the essential building blocks for beginning readers. The program does this through games, songs, flash cards, worksheets, and "readers." The complete program comes equiped with: 43 Phonics Readers, Music CD with 34 Sing-a-Long Songs, 2 Reading Lesson Plan Manuals, instructional video, 3 Sets of Flashcards, Preschool Activity Workbook with Phonics Worksheets, and 31 Educational Game Pieces.

What To Expect...

The first phonics program I purchased a couple of years ago was Hooked On Phonics. It comes in a massive box with what looks like a lot of materials. So I have to admit that when I opened the package for Frontline Phonics, my first reaction was "Is this it?" Then I began to look at the teaching materials that came with the program and how the lessons went. I could see right away that this was a program that would truly keep my children's attention.

It's a fairly simple program, but I think that's why it works. All you really have to do is watch the instructional video, familiarize yourself with the materials, and follow the program step by step. Your child will actually be reading their first book in a very short time - Just nine lessons!

What I like...

The best part about Frontline Phonics, in my opinion, is the fact that your child can begin reading actual books in such a short period of time. With other phonics programs, children have to wait to learn every letter and all it's sounds before any books are introduced. With Frontline Phonics, it takes just nine lessons - nine letters before the first book is introduced. This gets them excited about reading and learning! Then they want to keep working through the other letters and pick up more and more books until they have mastered the program. By getting kids started reading as quickly as possible, it gives them reading success quickly and allows them to build on that success. My daughter was so proud of herself when I handed her that first book and told her she was going to read it today and she re-read that book over and over again until we got to the next one. It was a great day for both of us!

The other greatest thing about Frontline Phonics is that it actually kept my kid's attention through the whole lesson and became something that they actually looked forward to doing. Other programs that are aimed more at improving reading consist of having your child go through flash cards along to music for fifteen minutes three times a week until they learn their letters. Frontline Phonics incorporates a lot of different learning tools to keep a younger child's interest and help them learn in the way that is best for them. Some children learn best with flash cards or singing, others with stories, coloring, writing, cute characters, or games. This program uses all these tools within the span of just fifteen minutes a lesson to really help the child internalize each and every letter.

As a parent, I was pleased that I didn't have to constantly work at keeping the kid's attention. Because the other program I tried was aimed at children who were a little older, it turned out to be a lot of work getting the kids to participate in the lessons, let alone keeping them focused on each lesson. Frontline Phonics turned out to be fun for both the kids and myself. It was the perfect fit for their level of development.

I also really like the parent's instruction books that comes with Frontline Phonics. The lesson manuals gave me the big picture of how the program should progress, but they also layed out each lesson for me in a standard format that made it easy to follow with my children. From preparation for the lesson through the letter lesson itself, final check, and optional activity, I always knew exactly what was coming next and how to handle it. I didn't fully appreciate this until we got into blending and vowel rules. Although I consider myself pretty smart, I wouldn't have gotten through those sections of the program without the help of the lesson manuals.

Lastly, I really like the music CD. Other programs put their music on audio cassettes and you have to go back and forth looking for the right song. With a CD, the lesson plans tell you what track to put it on and there is no waiting, pauses, or distractions. In addition, the CD offers a different song for each letter instead of one song to encompass the whole alphabet. In fact, there are 34 different tracks on the CD. I found this to be a more effective way to use music as a tool for learning.

What I don't like...

As you can probably tell, I really like the Frontline Phonics program. I found it very difficult to find any bad points to the program. I really only came up with two.

The first thing I found wrong with the program is that it is a little deceiving when you receive the package in the mail. It looks small and almost makes you start looking for flaws in the program before you even start. This is especially true if you have seen what other programs are offering in the same price range. But here's the thing. There is no extra packaging with Frontline Phonics. It is streamlined with all the tools you need to successfully teach your child to read.

Other programs package each "level" of their program separately, they use audio tapes instead of CD's, and there seems to be a lot of extra packaging. In addition, Frontline Phonics is really a beginning reading program. You don't need a lot of "levels", extra workbooks, or complicated lesson plans. The simplicity of this program will allow you to teach your child the basics of reading. In my opinion, it is really the first step to reading, the program your child needs before they try a more complicated phonics program like Hooked On Phonics.

The other downside of this program is the price... This is a fairly expensive program. To me it was worth it. I bought it for my first and will be able to use it for all three of my kids, especially since I photocopied the workbook pages instead of letting the kids work directly out of the workbooks. I have to tell you the truth though, even if I only had one child, this program would still have been worth it to me. I feel very strongly about giving my kids a strong foundation on which to learn. Reading is the foundation for all the formal learning they will do the rest of their lives. I also had a lot of trouble learning to read when I was a child. In fact, I really didn't learn to read and comprehend what I was reading until fourth grade when my teacher discovered I was having difficulty.

Now reading is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. I can be anything I want to be, go anywhere I want to go, and learn anything I want to learn through books. I really want to give my children that gift.

Summary...

In conclusion, Frontline Phonics is the phonics program that I would recommend for a child who is just starting to become interested in letters and reading. This program is clearly aimed at younger children and has the ability to keep them interested and on task. It features many creative learning tools and several different activities to keep children interested in each lesson and in reading itself. Rather than going through the entire alphabet in order as other programs do, the child is taken through just a few of the letters, one lesson at a time. Then they learn to blend those letters into words. This simple teaching technique will start them reading their first book in only nine lessons.

In my own experience, Frontline Phonics is far superior for younger children and emergent/beginner readers. This program will teach your child how to recognize letters, what sounds they make, how to blend the sounds together to form words, and how to begin reading. It will keep them interested and engaged -- the biggest hurdle I've found in teaching my own children. This program is a great first step to learning before they embark on more complicated program designed to improve reading skills.

See what other parents have to say about Frontline Phonics - Don't just take my word on this program, do your own homework. Visit the site and see what other parents have to say.

Has your child already grasped the basics? - If your child already knows the basics of reading, it may be time to move to the more advanced phonics program offered with Hooked On Phonics.

Compare Frontline Phonics to Hooked On Phonics - Still not sure which program is right for you? You can start by reading my review of Hooked On Phonics and compare the two. Then visit the Hooked On Phonics site for yourself and see what other parents have to say about this program.