Our family greatly enjoys Switched-On Schoolhouse Grade 7.This is our first year working with this product. I have been homeschooling my son for 6 years and this is the first year he looks forward to doing school. Each morning my son knows what he has to get done. The games and videos make learning fun. All subjects are on CD and I don’t have to worry about books or loose papers. This product has given me a stress free year.Our entire family highly recommends this product to all homeschooling families.
I am a native Spanish speaker and have been using this program with a 5 and 7 year old. It is very hands-off so I can just tell them to “do your Spanish lesson” and they are off on their own. It will keep repeating areas where they have difficulty which promotes mastery. I use the included workbooks with the 7 year old but ultimately they will not be sufficient to learn the grammar entirely and I will eventually need to supplement (which is easier for me since I am fluent). The children enjoy the program with the exception of pronunciation. The program is very particular (even for me at times) and will not let you past unless you pronounce words correctly. Again, great for mastery but infuriating for small children at times. Overall, I am pleased with the ease of use but I have no illusions that this will make them fluent speakers.
I was looking for something easy and painless to teach my son history and geography but it also had to be engaging, fun and interesting. I wasn’t sure about trying SOS (Switched on Schoolhouse History and Geography) but I am SO glad I did. It is wonderful. My 14 yo son is excited to do his history everyday and spent 2 hours yesterday exploring the links provided in the lesson with interest and enthusiasm. I wished I had used this earlier. We are also going to buy the science. I love it! Another bonus was this was even less expensive than buying it from Alpha Omega directly. So thank you Timberdoodle for offering this great product at a great price!
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!
My 4th grade son and 5th grade daughter have used Teaching Textbook 4 and Teaching Textbook 5 this year. We will be doing another curriculum next year. We’ve found the sound effects distracting and frustrating and the constant coaching belittling. My daughter actually asked to go back to Saxon Math (which I did not like teaching). We’ve found Teaching Textbooks to be below grade level compared to many other products. The main advantage that we’ve seen with this product is that the parent does not have to spend any time on math. If your child is younger and wants to make a video game out of math, or you are a parent that wants to spend no time teaching math, then this is for you.
Atlanta, GA
Another view of Teaching Textbooks
I get tears in my eyes as I remember the struggle Saxon’s Algebra 1 was for our oldest daughter. Even with the D.I.V.E. program she just could not get through some problems. We have completely switched from all other Math to Teaching Textbooks where we can. Our 3rd grader is still working on Miquon and Developmental Math and I am thinking that I will begin him on Math 5 after he finishes 3rd grade. Our 5th grader, who only did Miquon Red and Orange and DM3-12, is whizzing through the Math 5, loving it and doing really well. I just want to cry when I think of this wonderful program! We gladly spend on these courses knowing that all of the children coming behind will be able to use it in the future. Our 4 children all love it and the youngest is eagerly waiting until he can start! A note about the Math 5, our daughter does not even use the CDs. It is very usable with the textbook alone. I thank God for the Sabouri’s and Timberdoodle.
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!
My 11 year-old son thinks this program (Terrapin Logo) is too much fun to be considered schoolwork! He loves programming the turtle to draw and will ask me how to calculate lengths of sides for his houses, sidewalks, etc. This gives me a great opportunity to remind him of the Pythagorean theorem or teach him a bit of trigonometry. He also recently discovered that it can be used to write programs for his Lego NXT robot — a bonus! I was especially pleased with the printed manual and tutorial that came with the program. I appreciate these written materials as I find them much easier to use than the usual pdf manuals that often come with products nowadays.
I’m not sure I exactly knew what I was buying when I chose this (Creativity Express) for an 11 year old for Christmas. It sat unopened for a couple of months, and one dreary winter day I encouraged the youngest 4 children to pull it out. They were enthralled for hours, and I could barely pull them away! My 5, 6, 10, and 12 year old regularly “play” with this program, and I’m so impressed with their level of learning, interest, and comprehension. Fabulous!
Chelle from Cumberland, WI
Creativity Express is an extraordinary art curriculum that is a combination of technology and art resulting in a revolutionary approach to teaching art history, art appreciation, and digital art. Buy online at timberdoodle.com.
This (Uncle Josh’s Outline Maps) has been a fantastic resource for our whole family. We use it together with an atlas. I assign one area of the world (Europe, the Middle East, etc..) for about a month to my high schoolers. Their assignment is to fill all the countries on the map every day, with the help of the atlas as needed. By the end of the month, they are supposed to know those countries without looking. It is virtually painless and while I got a few complaints at first, now just knowing where all those countries are that are mentioned in the news or in a prayer letter makes them feel quite knowledgeable. They love it when I am wondering where a certain country is and they get to tell me. We have also used this in history and Bible as needed. It is great to be able to just print the appropriate map and be ready to fill it in with whatever it is we are studying. A fantastic resource!
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.
