Home School Product Reviews

Signing Time! Volume 12 Time to Eat

These (Signing Time) bright and cheerful videos where a smash hit with my all my kids (six and under).  They have watched other signing videos but no others have kept their attention so long.  The songs are very catchy and not annoying for parents ears.  It was great to have kids doing the signs, this helped my kids really related and join in.  The only thing that I would change would be to have a slower paced segment for the kids to practice, but this is where some kids may loose interest so it is hard to tell if that would be worth it.  Overall an excellent product.

Signs for His Glroy

When our pre-teen daughter expressed an interest in learning sign language we were thrilled to read the Timberdoodle description of Signs for His Glory.  Of special interest to us was its multi-level applications, and its Christian orientation – with the added bonus of a devotional-type accompanying workbook leading the child through a study on various character qualities related to the signing lessons.  We were not disappointed in the general sense.  Jennifer Lamp possessed just the right qualities of subject mastery, teaching skills, enthusiasm and gentleness to engage and affirm our sensitive and eager young learner.  We all – parents and younger sibling alike – found ourselves joining in with our student to learn the songs, and taught them to others in our community and church.   We highly recommend Signs for His Glory for beginning signers (and their families) ranging in age from “preschoolers” through early teens, but with the following qualification: If you desire a program that is technically smooth and professional, you might be put off by some of the camera work, various minor mishaps, and generally amateurish production.  In spite of our own high standards re. production quality, we nevertheless were so charmed by Miss Lamp’s manner and spirit that we were able to overlook (and found amusement in) such things.

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.

The Rosetta Stone German course “works” quoting my 14 year son; he saves this course for last each day because he enjoys it the most.  He also applies what he has been learning, too much sometimes , in everyday conversation!  This was a very wise purchase!

Find out what Angela’s son enjoyed learning with .

Song School Latin is fun for older kids, too! Our twin girls (age 13) have been working through Latina Christiana for the past couple of years and were delighted to take a fun break to go through Song School Latin at a quick pace covering 3-5 lessons a week! Even though this is a program for younger children, the less traditional diversion presented our gals with an enjoyable review set to catchy tunes and also included a few new facts for them to learn. They were happy to then sing Song School Latin songs to children while babysitting which further enforced their own retention! So delightful!

Listen to audio sample of Song School Latin.

I hesitated and thought over this purchase for several years. After viewing the demo and thinking about it some more, I finally took the plunge. I can now say that Rosetta Stone French is well worth the price. For user-friendliness it just can’t be beat. The teaching method is wonderful and very effective. Grading is easy as the program tracks progress automatically for teacher review. We are very pleased with Rosetta Stone French. Get the free demo and check it out. Although it could be used earlier, we use Rosetta Stone French to fulfill high school foreign language requirements.

Read Timberdoodle’s review of Rosetta Stone French.

My first grader loves The Easy Spanish – Junior.  It is easy and fun to do, and needs very little prep time (mostly just printing out the coloring pages in advance).  There are many suggestions for activities/lessons, and parents pick which ones suit their family best.  Many of the suggestions involve lapbooking.  If lapbooking is your thing, you will love this program.  My son is constantly trying to speak the language he’s learning.  It is also enjoyable enough that my four year old will happily participate in the lessons (though she’s not really old enough to fully benefit from the program).    I’m very happy that I tried The Easy Spanish Junior.  It is fun, easy to do, and reasonably priced.