Fabulous way to introduce languages

I have a five year old daughter and a two year old son who both love Little Pim! We used to get them from our library, but decided it was worth the investment to own these. The whole video is in French, and the set-up is similar to the Signing Time videos. The video introduces a few words, then has a ‘review’ and often the panda (“Little Pim“) will do something cute in between the segments. These videos introduce many vocabulary words as well as some key phrases, all with excellent accents. If you are looking for a gentle introduction to languages and new sounds for young children, this is it.

We used various media for languages, and had good results with all of them, but for Latin, we wanted to try a different approach.

The video format (in Visual Latin DVD) makes it easy for us to settle in and watch all the way through the lesson. No one has yet asked to be excused or leave the room for any reason because we are engaged by the teacher. His smooth presentation style, pacing, and bite-sized units work well. We are challenged, but do not feel overwhelmed with new material. The comical puns keep us smiling, but are not distracting from the material. Believe it or not, the lessons are fun.

The practice downloads reinforce the concepts without grinding you down – although printing and organizing three sets of worksheet was time consuming at the beginning. To keep everything straight, we have each set of worksheets in a three-ring binder with tabs for Grammar, Sentences, Reading, and Vocabulary Reference. After completing the exercises we read the answers aloud.

We have used this product for 4 years and it is still my NUMBER ONE curriculum recommendation for learning a language. My husband and I both speak fluent German but have failed to pass it on to our kids the easy way – in every day conversation. We have screened a lot of programs and curriculum, and have not seen a better, all-encompassing foreign language program. Version 3 is also a big improvement over version 2 because of the audio and speaking additions. I do caution people before investing so much, it may be best if you, or someone you know, are at least familiar with the language (not fluent), and can help out if/when needed. I like the way the program is set up that they may not go to the next lesson until they have adequately passed the current lesson. The set-up took longer than I expected (but I am terrible with computer things), but the Rosetta Stone help desk was quick, thorough, and helpful. I know I will continue to recommend this product for a long time!

Rosetta Stone Version 3 Homeschool Edition Spanish (Latin American)

Rosetta Stone is great to learn a new language! We are missionaries and this has been a great way to learn a new language. My husband and I and our children have all used it. It’s almost like playing a game to our children. You start out easy and then it kind of builds on what you already know. It is good in that it “forces” you to actually remember and retain what you have learned in previous lessons. Works well with both Mac and PC as we have figured out! Great investment!

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.