Hooked on French Program from Hooked on Phonics

Having taken French in high school and college, I couldn’t help but want to work on French with my children once we started homeschooling.  Urged by many people to focus on Spanish instead, we spent a gross amount of money, bought Rosetta Stone, and started working on Spanish.

After six months, when my kids only seemed to be able to use about as much Spanish as they had learned on Dora (apparently the program just didn’t mesh well with us), I decided that we were going to start on French instead.  I was thrilled to find a great price on Hooked on Phonics’ French program called Hooked on French.

What We Like About Hooked on French:

• Cost – Hooked on French can currently (as of this writing) be purchased on the Hooked on Phonics website for under $15.
• Variety of Materials – The kit includes workbooks, flash cards, interactive CD-Roms (with games and lessons), story books, and a progress chart.
• Appeals to a Variety of Ages – Hooked on Phonics has this program listed as being for ages 4 – 6, but even my boys (ages 9 and 11) enjoy it and are learning from it.
• Works on the Basics – One thing that didn’t work for us with Rosetta Stone was that I wanted a program that worked on the basics – numbers, colors, object names, etc.  Hooked on French works on these, and my kids are having fun walking around counting objects in French.
• Not Just French – Okay, so our program is just French.  But I like that for just  bit more money, we could also get Hooked on Spanish.
• Independent Work – Kids can work through the interactive CD-Rom part independently.  I have taken to sitting with them and brushing up on my French.  However, when I got an important phone call while putting in the CD-Rom the other day, the kids were able to use it without me.

What I Would Change/Issues:

• Not for Older than Elementary Age – It would be great to have an inexpensive, interactive program for older children, but since Hooked on Phonics is a company that makes products for younger children, this makes sense.
• Story Books We’ve Used Are Not in French.  I was surprised when we got to a story book that we were supposed to read and it was in English only.  Apparently we were supposed to count items in French.  However, I do like the workbook, as it gives us a chance to not only hear the words on the CD-Rom, but actually see words written out in the workbook.

Would I Recommend It to a Friend?

I would definitely recommend it to a friend whose children were not older than mine.  (Mine range from kindergarten to 5th grade.)  It is definitely for younger kids, but it is a fabulous price and really works on the basics.  It is a fun introduction to a foreign language.

Angie can be found writing on her blog, Many Little Blessings, about faith, family, and household management.  She is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online.