Homeschooling Success!

[topdog98]

That's great news about your progress!

I have used Rosetta Stone for homeschool Spanish since I was your son's age. I think it is a good program for that age. What is lacking in Rosetta Stone is probably what makes it a good idea for children. I don't think grammar textbooks would have been the best way for me to learn Spanish at a young age.

Now that I am in high school, I do think that if I wanted to be very proficient in Spanish, I should add something else. But I don't want to get very proficient. I honestly just want to be done with Spanish.

So having used it, I agree with Sanantone's assessment that Rosetta Stone is deficient in some areas, but I still think it is a good start in a language for children.

I hope this helps, and I wish you great success with your future years of homeschooling.

[mrs.b]

The packaged versions may be different, but I had access to Rosetta's TOTALe Spanish (Latin America) through work last year, and it seemed fantastic. I only completed the first module before my schedule got away from me and I let the license go to someone else at the office, but I felt like I picked up quite a bit from the brief exposure, and to date, have retained a bit of it. Still...the pacing of the TOTALe seemed a little fast for my kiddo, and the need to make inferences from context clues may be something of a stumbling point for him. That's typically his weakness, but that is what the program is based around.

Do you know if the Rosetta boxed sets are more self-paced or are they driven by the module pacing as was the case in TOTALe?

I'm asking for another crack at the Rosetta TOTALe for myself through our Training office to give myself a leg up if I'm going to play the role of Spanish teacher, and I'm thinking of biting the bullet and buying the first section of Visual Link. Little bug does well with a multimedia approach; some computer time is his favorite so I definitely want to find something with a computer component, but reinforcement with text-based seems to drive it home for him. We use Time4Learning to supplement some of his lessons and it helps him quite a bit, but he takes notes in a notebook so he can have something on paper to reference when memory fails him if he does not already have it in a textbook. I like the idea of a program for him that has both computer and text for supplement/reference.

[topdog98]

Do you know if the Rosetta boxed sets are more self-paced or are they driven by the module pacing as was the case in TOTALe?

What I have used was self-paced, but I have an older version than is available today.

It sounds like you know what type of program will work best for him. Go with your gut, and it will most likely work out.

One thing that I have loved about homeschooling is that it is individualized and not one-size-fits-all.

[sanantone]

LOL oh come on. "A Guy" has interviewed every student who has completed all 4 levels of every language offered through Rosetta? Furthermore HE is fluent in every language too (how else can he judge their fluency?) I'm not saying Rosetta is a homerun, but that can't seriously be considered a credible counter-point?

He didn't claim that he interviewed every student; he just claim that he has never met anyone who could hold a conversation after completing Rosetta Stone. I think he was also only referring to one language...probably Spanish.

That's great news about your progress!

I have used Rosetta Stone for homeschool Spanish since I was your son's age. I think it is a good program for that age. What is lacking in Rosetta Stone is probably what makes it a good idea for children. I don't think grammar textbooks would have been the best way for me to learn Spanish at a young age.

Now that I am in high school, I do think that if I wanted to be very proficient in Spanish, I should add something else. But I don't want to get very proficient. I honestly just want to be done with Spanish.

So having used it, I agree with Sanantone's assessment that Rosetta Stone is deficient in some areas, but I still think it is a good start in a language for children.

I hope this helps, and I wish you great success with your future years of homeschooling.

That is another problem with Rosetta Stone, but it might be more of an issue for adults and some children who don't do well with those kinds of things. You have to infer what they mean by the pictures. I haven't used the newer versions, but the version I had didn't tell you the meaning of anything. What was worse was when I tried Farsi/Persian. They don't use the Latin alphabet, and Rosetta didn't present the words in the Latin alphabet. All I saw was a bunch of squiggly lines and couldn't find a feature to switch to the Latin alphabet. Again, this was an older version, but I don't see how they would expect someone to learn how to read Arabic script that way.

[sanantone]

The packaged versions may be different, but I had access to Rosetta's TOTALe Spanish (Latin America) through work last year, and it seemed fantastic. I only completed the first module before my schedule got away from me and I let the license go to someone else at the office, but I felt like I picked up quite a bit from the brief exposure, and to date, have retained a bit of it. Still...the pacing of the TOTALe seemed a little fast for my kiddo, and the need to make inferences from context clues may be something of a stumbling point for him. That's typically his weakness, but that is what the program is based around.

Do you know if the Rosetta boxed sets are more self-paced or are they driven by the module pacing as was the case in TOTALe?

I'm asking for another crack at the Rosetta TOTALe for myself through our Training office to give myself a leg up if I'm going to play the role of Spanish teacher, and I'm thinking of biting the bullet and buying the first section of Visual Link. Little bug does well with a multimedia approach; some computer time is his favorite so I definitely want to find something with a computer component, but reinforcement with text-based seems to drive it home for him. We use Time4Learning to supplement some of his lessons and it helps him quite a bit, but he takes notes in a notebook so he can have something on paper to reference when memory fails him if he does not already have it in a textbook. I like the idea of a program for him that has both computer and text for supplement/reference.

The version 3 of Rosetta Stone that I used was self-paced. I don't know personally if these are any better, but I've heard good things about Rocket Languages and Fluenz. I really like Pimsleur, but it's all audio. You won't get any writing and reading practice.

[cookderosa]

The packaged versions may be different, but I had access to Rosetta's TOTALe Spanish (Latin America) through work last year, and it seemed fantastic. I only completed the first module before my schedule got away from me and I let the license go to someone else at the office, but I felt like I picked up quite a bit from the brief exposure, and to date, have retained a bit of it. Still...the pacing of the TOTALe seemed a little fast for my kiddo, and the need to make inferences from context clues may be something of a stumbling point for him. That's typically his weakness, but that is what the program is based around.

Do you know if the Rosetta boxed sets are more self-paced or are they driven by the module pacing as was the case in TOTALe?

I'm asking for another crack at the Rosetta TOTALe for myself through our Training office to give myself a leg up if I'm going to play the role of Spanish teacher, and I'm thinking of biting the bullet and buying the first section of Visual Link. Little bug does well with a multimedia approach; some computer time is his favorite so I definitely want to find something with a computer component, but reinforcement with text-based seems to drive it home for him. We use Time4Learning to supplement some of his lessons and it helps him quite a bit, but he takes notes in a notebook so he can have something on paper to reference when memory fails him if he does not already have it in a textbook. I like the idea of a program for him that has both computer and text for supplement/reference.

The TOTALe selling point is access to the online tutors, however, your child has to be 13 (or is it 15?) to use that feature. I've owned mine for a long time, so I don't have that feature, however, I borrowed a newer version of French TOTALe for a few days from a friend to try it out, and it seemed exactly the same, there may be differences but I'm not really sure what they are.
The deal with Rosetta Stone, is that you learn by hearing words and seeing the pictures, the same way you taught your own child. When your child was a toddler, you'd say "would you like a drink?" and hand them a cup. You wouldn't say to your toddler, this word is made of 3 letters "c-u-p" and it is a noun! So, that's the deal, it works as if you're using the language, not learning the grammar.
I have no idea if it works long term, but *sometimes* we can get caught up into a long-term idea and miss the here and now. Does it work if you go through all 4 levels? Who the heck knows. Most parents don't stick with 1 curriculum that long anyway. I say get by with whatever you can for the least trouble and least cash. If in a semester you're still happy with it, keep going, if not, try something new. I promise you that for every 100 people who tell you it's the BEST program, you can also find 100 who say it's the WORST. What matters is what you think. And, consistency is the key to learning any new skill (not the brand).