Making homeschool decisions easy
Have you ever heard of Speekee? It is a Spanish program for young children ranging in age from two to 10. As a homeschool family, we were given the opportunity to review “Speekee TV” which is their online version. Exciting and perfect for us, it also comes with “Speekee FastTrack” which is an already prepared set of lesson plans! Speekee FastTrack is a 40 week
This year, my children and I began learning Spanish together. I had studied Spanish all through college. I was, however, at a real loss as to how to effectively begin to teach my children the language. My friend introduced us to Speedy Spanish. So far, I am very impressed with what the children have learned. Speedy Spanish is written by the Bechtel Family. The students
In grade 7, after years of low-key, informal French, our children start French is Fun 1. This inexpensive textbook from AMSCO works well for us, helping the children consolidate all their earlier knowledge and extending it dramatically. French is Fun, Book 1: Lively Lessons for Beginners, Third Edition by Gail Stein and Heywood Wald brings beginners to a reasonable level of proficiency. Students learn listening,
Having taken French in high school and college, I couldn’t help but want to work on French with my children once we started homeschooling. Urged by many people to focus on Spanish instead, we spent a gross amount of money, bought Rosetta Stone, and started working on Spanish. After six months, when my kids only seemed to be able to use about as much Spanish
While there are many ‘foreign’ languages a homeschool family can study, the one I recommend for those with young children is American Sign Language. Our journey to ASL began out of necessity with a child who was non-verbal. However, as our family has grown and our need disappeared we discovered that sign language was a wonderful tool in our parenting arsenal. ASL is uniquely hands-on,
We’ve implemented a new foreign language/vocabulary plan this year that’s working quite well! Every school day after Bible reading we have some sort of skill drill – math flashcards, quick math or logic games, and Greek & Latin roots. Twice a week, using English from the Roots Up by Joegil Lundquist, we are learning one new root word and reviewing all we have already learned.
When I first attempted to use this curriculum, I had only the Primer. Boy was I lost! In fact, I was ready to simply toss the book in the trash until I realized there are other parts that go along with the Primer – like an Answer Key, an Activity Book, a Latin Reader, and most importantly (to me anyway) the DVD Lessons and Chant CD’s.
Years ago when I was first introduced to the classical method of homeschooling, I was determined to have my boys attempt a Latin program as suggested in The Well-Trained Mind. We tried two different programs to learn Latin. We got a little farther with a DVD based program, but we still were not able to stay motivated. I know I had a bit of a
