MomTeacherFriend tagged me for this homeschooling meme. Since I’m feeling lazy exhausted from walking 1.6 miles AND cleaning out the festering pigsty computer corner in the classroom, I’m also calling this my WORKS FOR ME Wednesday.
1) One homeschooling book you have enjoyed.
The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook
2) One resource you wouldn’t be without.
The library!
3) One resource you wish you had never bought.
Tried some Lifepak Science that I didn’t really care for. (I much prefer Apologia Science). Actually I’ve bought a bunch of things I haven’t really used. That’s just part of learning what works. I think homeschoolers shouldn’t be afraid to experiment to see what works for them.
4) One resource you enjoyed last year.
Mad Libs
5) One resource you will be using next year.
Saxon Math, always!
6) One resource you would like to buy.
I wish that Rosetta Stone offered Amharic! We have Rosetta Stone Spanish and Rosetta Stone Korean, and I’d love my little girls to eventually be able to learn some Amharic on the computer.
7) One homeschooling catalog you enjoy reading.
Christian Book Distributors
8.) One homeschooling (educational) website you use regularly.
Hmmm….does Amazon.com count? I am always adding to our homeschool library. Just tonight I bought a bunch more classic books for high school literature. (Hint: if your big kids like mysteries, try Sherlock Holmes….I gobbled it up as a teen and just bought it for my big kids too)
9) Tag other home schoolers.
Jeana and Chris (only if ya feel like it, girls)– and any other homeschooler who feels like jumping in….
I love Amazon too! 🙂
and the library is well, well used around here!
Thanks for playing along.
We love Saxon Math as well. And the library…priceless!
My husband got the Rosetta Stone Spanish and I too was so disappointed that it didn’t offer more African languages. Great program though, very effective!
I did this meme yesterday. Considering that we just started our homeschooling though, I didn’t have much to offer in my answers. LOL!
However, one of the things that I mentioned in mine was that I’m looking for a Spanish program. So, I’m going to check out this Rosetta Stone program. Thanks!
Mary, since you’re experienced with Rosetta Stone, do you think a very bright and very motivated 7 year-old would be ok with it and be able to work pretty independently? He’s had some Spanish before and just eats it up. I’m assuming that you’ve used the Korean with your 8 year olds. How independently are they able to work?
Glad to hear good reviews of Rosetta Stone. We are considering it for Mandarin. At what age have you all started your programs with your children?
Hey another Homeschool Mom here..uneducated about blogging…a total newbie….can anyone tell me how to get someone to actually look at my blog? I mean…what’s the point if no one reads it? Thanks!
Thanks for the review of Rosetta Stone. I’ll be interested to see the responses to the comments by Marian and Chinamama4. We have moved to the southwest (Arizona) and Spanish is absolutely necessary in society here. The Boy, our homeschool student, is 6. Is this too young, do you think?
I have tried the Rosetta Stone for lots of ages. Theoretically, very young children could do it because it is listening-based and takes very simple mouse-clicks. ie: 4 pictures are show, words are spoken, and you click on the picture that matches the word(s). In my experience, most of my kids have needed to be at least 6-8 before they were able to get much out of it, because it takes a fair bit of concentration to figure out the variations.
For example, is the boy IN the airplane, ON the airplane, or UNDER the airplane? Those slight variations in the words are hard to pick up on. My eight year olds are working on Korean now, and I’ve found I need to be in the same room as them, kind of listening in, to make sure they actually LISTEN and don’t just start wildly guessing. They ARE getting it, but they do best when I am close by.
It helps that I have run thru the program and learned some Korean myself, and can give them hints on tricky bits. Definitely once kids reach 10 or so, they can work independently. But the early elementary kids will do best with some supervision and maybe a hint or two. It is a great program!
Mary
Not sure if I’m supposed to let you know, but I played along! 🙂
Mary,
Thanks for your insight. I think we will all try the Spanish program. Goodie! Something new to learn! I think I could have been a professional student but no one wanted to hire me.