Rosetta Stone Homeschool Level 1 {Review}

Rosetta Stone is a company well known for their language learning software. Did you know that they also have a special version of their language software geared specifically for homeschoolers?

Their homeschool language software is one the children {and adults!} can work on at their own pace and is fully interactive. The software provides up to five levels of instruction in some languages and begins with the foundation of listening comprehension, reading and writing. Rosetta Stone offers 31 different languages in their homeschool language software.

One of the features of the Homeschool software is that parents are able to see their children’s progress ~ which exercises have been completed, how much time they have spent learning and also test scores. Parents can also print off progress reports and lesson plans to save for documentation. Full features include:

• Lesson Planning ~ predefined lesson plans
• Full Year Curriculum~ the software is designed to guide students through in one level in a scholastic year.
• Testing ~ students are tested periodically throughout the year and reviews are based on their scores.

Another feature of the program are the audio CDs that help reinforce what students are learning. The Audio Companion CDs can be listened to while traveling in the car or loaded onto a student’s mp3 player for additional practice.

In the Box

Here is a look inside the box of our Spanish {Latin America} Level 1 for Homeschool:

• Application CD
• Language CD
• Audio Companion™ CDs
• User’s Guide - Discusses the basics of the Rosetta Stone program
• Parent’s Guide - Aids the parent in lesson planning, tracking student progress, and effectively using Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3 in a homeschool environment
• Headset with microphone
• Quick Start Activation Card
• Supplemental Education Materials CD includes printable files for:
  
  
  
  
  
  • Table of contents
  • Scripts for each lesson
  • An index to all words in the program
  • Student workbook including a quiz for each lesson
  • Unit tests
  • Answer key for workbooks and tests

Purchasing Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Homeschool ranges in price from $229 to $299 a level, but does offer ‘bundles’. Levels 1-3 may be purchased for $539 and Levels 1-5 may be purchased together for $699.

Product purchases include free shipping in the continental US and from now until February 15, 2010 they are offering a 10% discount on all personal and homeschool product purchases. Rosetta Stone also offers a 6 month money back guarantee on all of their products.

This Giveaway is now closed

Rosetta Stone is giving one of my readers a Level 1 Homeschool Program! There are several ways for you to enter this giveaway, but there is one mandatory first entry: Visit the Rosetta Stone site and leave a comment with the language you would choose to study.

If you would like to earn extra entries {you can earn 4 extra entries}, leave a comment for each of the following:

• If you are a subscriber to my blog, give yourself an extra entry! Thanks so much! If you don’t subscribe, hop on board and leave a comment.
• Visit the Rosetta Stone site and leave a comment telling me where they are taking a homeschool language trip this summer.
• Follow Rosetta Stone on Twitter and leave a comment with your username.
• Twitter about this contest and let me know your twitter name so I can follow you too.

This giveaway will be open until Tuesday, February 9th until 8pm and I will announce the winner by Thursday, February 11th. Please be sure there is a way for me to contact you ~ otherwise I will draw another winner. Note: US Residents only, please!  

 

Disclaimer: Thank you to Rosetta Stone for providing the giveaway product. This review is based on my own experiences and gives my honest opinion.

Memoria Press

The thought of teaching Latin to my kids is just a little bit intimidating. And by intimidating, I mean 'push-the-thought-into-the-far-recesses-of-my-mind-overwhelming'.

I am comfortable teaching the basics to my kids, and with proper help I might even venture into uncharted territory of other subjects that are unfamiliar. But Latin just seems overwhelming.

Memoria Press, a Classical Christian education company, sent me several of their products to review. After using and reviewing the materials I can honestly tell you that Memoria Press offers some wonderful resources for homeschooling families ~ and they will not disappoint! Their products are laid out in simple and easy-to-follow steps that help make Latin a less daunting subject to teach.

What is the big deal about Latin, you ask?

~ Over half of the English words come from Latin
~ Latin is an effective way to learn English grammar
~ Latin teaches you how to learn. It is a challenging subject that requires goals and review.
~ Latin words are abundant in specialized fields {doctors, lawyers and astronauts}

About Prima Latin

Prima Latin is an introductory Latin program designed for K-4th grade and includes 25 lessons to use over the course of the year. During that year, children learn over 125 words in Latin, 30 sayings, 4 complete prayers, while learning important English and Latin grammar concepts. The accompanying audio CD provides help with pronunciation for each lesson as well as several hymns. Some of the material covered in Prima includes:

The Prima Latin Set ($32.95) includes a teacher manual, student book, and a pronunciation CD. If you are unsure of how to teach Latin, you can also order the Prima Latin DVD set ($90.90) which includes the teacher manual, student text, pronunciation CD, three instructional DVDs, and flashcards.

I was very impressed with the audio CDs and the instructional DVDs. Cheryl Lowe, the teacher of Prima Latin, is very enjoyable to watch and makes the learning fun. The manual is very clearly laid out ~ and not overwhelming at all. The lessons can be taught in small, manageable increments. You can view the table of contents, a sample of the first lesson (which we worked on), and also a sample of the teacher manual on the Memoria Press site. Prima Latin was written to transition directly to Latina Christiana.

About Primary Manuscript Copybooks

Copybooks are learning activities where children copy Bible passages, poems, and more to practice handwriting, while also memorizing literature, learning grammar, and practicing spelling. The copybooks use passages from the KJV and also provide space for coloring and drawing to accompany the copywork. If you are not quite sure how to implement classical education in your school time, the copybooks are a great place to start.

CopyBook 1 ($14.95) is targeted to K-1st graders and models a traditional manuscript font. It begins with how to properly hold a pencil and also instruction on creating proper strokes. The book provides 30 lessons and each lesson can be taught over a 5 day period in 15 minute increments. The lessons include Bible verse copywork and poems that are copied one line at a time. You can view a sample of one lesson here.

CopyBook 2 ($14.95) moves on to slightly longer verses and entire passages from Psalms {one line at a time}. It also includes the Doxology, several poems, and a list of the apostles. Book 2 includes 30 weeks of lessons.

CopyBook 3 ($14.95) includes longer Bible passages, books of the Old Testament, and several longer poems as copywork. Book 3 also includes 30 weeks of lessons.

You can also order a set of the three copybooks for $39.95 or the cursive copy book ($14.95).

About Christian Studies

Christian Studies is a 3 year program that uses the The Golden Children's Bible as a basis to teach the importance of the Bible, Biblical history, and Scripture memory. Each book provides 30 lessons that include verse memorization, facts to know, vocabulary, and questions about the lesson studied. Throughout the book there are maps, timelines and other activities that apply to the various lessons.

Christian Studies goes through the Bible chronologically and each year works through one-third of the Bible.

Christian Studies I: Creation to Moses’ Last Words
Christian Studies II: Invasion of Canaan to Jonah; Vision of Days to Come
Christian Studies III: Zacharias; Angel Visits Mary; Birth of Jesus to Paul’s Final Years; Letters of Peter; Vision of John

The teacher's manuals shows completed student pages as well as information in the margins for teaching the lessons. The manual offers suggestions on what to teach as well as additional resources for the lessons.

Christian Studies can be purchased as a set that includes the three student books, teacher's manuals and the Golden Children's Bible for $119.95. You can also purchase the books separately: individual student books for $17.95 and teacher's manuals for $20.95.

If you'd like to learn more about classical education, Memoria Press has some great resources on their website including articles on classical education, a newsletter, and a catalog. Every course you order from Memoria Press also comes with a 60 day guarantee.

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about other products from Memoria Press.