Home School Product Reviews

Music Ace Deluxe

I highly recommend Music Ace Deluxe. I purchased it for my 7-yr-old son. He enjoyed it and always did more ‘lessons’ than I asked him to do. I am a piano teacher. The students who must sit and wait for siblings, do Music Ace. They look forward to the ‘wait’ now. The software keeps records of the progress of multiple students. It makes music theory fun. I like that it teaches pitch, rhythm, tempo and more while demonstrating with classic music.

Software can really enhance your homeschool curriculum. Timberdoodle offers many homeschool software programs.

The SpellQuizzer has been a great way to review, test and re-test as necessary. My 4th and 6th- graders really enjoy hearing Mom’s voice quiz their spelling list, even when I am momentarily unavailable to help them study. They are tickled with the “cheering crowd” they hear when they achieve a perfect score!  The only thing I would change is being able to see the grade on tests for which they do not score 100%. A help for busy parents.

Elizabeth

Heath, OH

I purchased this (The Quarter Mile Math) hoping it would be helpful for my 7 and 9 year old to learn their math facts, since they don’t enjoy flash card reviews.  They enjoy it somewhat, but they get so anxious about trying to be fast enough to win the races, that they make a lot of mistakes, then get frustrated with their results.  When they do use it, we turn the sound off.  ( the roar of the car engines or the galloping hoof beats are just too distracting)  I am sure that when they have a really good grasp of their math facts, and can rattle them off without much effort..the game will hold more interest for them.  For now, while they are still trying to learn them, it just isn’t quite what I had in mind.

R.
Gill, MA

Read additional The Quarter Mile Math reviews at www.timberdoodle.com.

Terrapin Logo

My son has been doing LOGO for several years now. He studied a bit of Scheme using another online program and is now using his knowledge to program fairly sophisticated “games” on LOGO. This is a particularly exciting product for those kids who think fast and “out of the box.” It develops logic and critical thinking skills as well as requires a student to study independently and learn on their own (at least that’s how it works at our house). Worth every penny.

Switched On Schoolhouse Science

Are you having science guilt??  Here is your answer!

I have two girls, ages 8 and 10, and we are into our second year of using this product.  In fact, my younger daughter asked me if she could start the program.

I am not a science minded person and worried about how I was going to adequately cover our science subject.  My girls will mention, Oh yah…I learned about that in my science.   I also love how it seems that each year builds on the year before, expanding on and covering new information.

I also like how each lesson is graded.  I can quickly ask them, “how did you do on your lesson?” and if they got a “C” or lower, I take the time to sit and redo the lesson with them.  A+++

Rosetta Stone Spanish

My kids had tried other language programs in an effort to learn Spanish, but couldn’t seem to get a grip on the basics. Then we tried Rosetta Stone Spanish Homeschool. Words, concepts, grammar, etc. are being thoroughly cemented by reading, listening, writing, and speaking exercises. With almost no English helps, they are forced to think through and decide what words mean and are immersed in the language. I would recommend Rosetta Stone for learning any language, not just Spanish.

Looking for Rosetta Stone Arabic, Rosetta Stone Portuguese, or another hard to find foreign language program? Timberdoodle carries the entire Rosetta Stone Homeschool line. Take a look here. If you can’t find the language you want, give us a call at 800-478-0672.

I have seen my high school aged son go from one who needed constant prodding to get his work done- to one that is up and ready to go with the Switched On Schoolhouse on program. The programs is so easy to set up and keeps all the records for you. The computer based program is just what he needed. He is motivated, working independently, and best of all learning so much. I am so impressed and thank God for this curriculum. The cost for the whole subject grade can’t be beat. Love it!!

Music Ace Deluxe

Our entire family – from 18 months old to 35 years uses Music Ace for our music theory.  The older children happily pull the toddler onto their laps so she can enjoy watching the dancing notes while they learn the basics of music.  Set up in an easy to use format it can be loaded onto multiple computers and runs without the disc installed.  Even our 10 year old iMac runs this program with no problems!  (Although we did need to upgrade our quicktime player to do it.)  By far the best investment in music we have made.