Be sure your child is able to do phonics before buying a program or investing months of you and your child's time on a method that will not work for you. Quality phonics programs are expensive but a real help. For the very beginners, there is no need to buy a program if it is not legally required. Use household resources for beginning concepts. As much as we are fond of the phonics reading method, there is nothing sacred about phonics.
Sight reading can be just as effective if a child is struggling to learn to read in the first place.
Sometimes phonics rules elude our children and they spend so much mental energy trying to cope with the exceptions that they cannot remember the word. We have found this especially true in children with Down syndrome. Some have learned the letters and even the sounds of the letters, but many children cannot put the simple sounds together. Our goal is to learn to read, not conquer a popular reading method. There are people who do not learn to do math, yet function fine in a family and job.