Some of the homeschooling software I bought last year is coming up for renewal so I wanted to share the ones that we most loved and will be renewing again/buying in the future. These four really stood out as both teaching valuable skills AND being engaging for the kids.
The third and fourth would be valuable for home or public schooled kids who want to keep their math and reading skills honed through the Summer. We do school year round so we're going to renew and keep chugging along.
I've included a link to where each can be purchased at a discount price through a buyers coop anyone can sign up for. This potentially benefits me in that I earn "smart points" if you go to their site via my link. However, I am only including the four that we got the most use of and plan to continue to use in the future :) This is the entirety of our software use at this point, and it is so nice to have time freed up to work with other kiddos or give attention to toddler monster Echo.
Rosetta Stone (click here)
I bought this software for my two older boys to do Spanish. I have them do three units at a time and for the most part they do it without complaint, though occasionally voice that they wish it stated what the words meant in English. The magic of the Rosetta method is that English is never written or spoken. Instead the Spanish is learned through contextual clues given through photos on the screen, and the program builds vocabulary on itself slowly over time. A microphone is employed to have the children practice their pronunciation. My 10yo sometimes gets frustrated with this sometimes because they do expect you to pronounce the words perfectly. Revision and periodic tests is built in throughout the program. I did a demo version of the German program before I bought ours in Spanish and I found it fun and addictive :)
Mark Kistler's Art Lessons (click here)
This man is just a genius. What are you are getting here is 3D drawing lessons in video format that your kids can pause and play as they draw along. Mark Kistler is adorable, funny and is truly gifted in both inspiring and entertaining kids :) There are videos for younger kids called "Mini Marshmallows" that my 6 and 8 year olds use, and more complex drawings for older kids and adults. The characters include zany things my kids love like aliens and animals doing improbable things :) This is a great art curriculum or Summer boredom buster.
Reading Eggs (click here)
We had originally tried another popular software phonics program (Explode the Code Online) and my younger boys found it very dull. This one on the other hand is bright and fun with silly characters and songs that teach in a way that is exciting for the kids but not obnoxious for moms listening in nearby. This is completely hands off, invaluable phonics learning with beautiful graphics. No painful workbooks or phonics flash cards needed - Reading Eggs teaches it all. We combine this program with reading Hooked on Phonics and BOB books and boom we're done. Even on days I don't plan to do any phonics, the little boys will ask to be allowed to do it - "O.K...I guess so...If you insist" :D
We were recently able to demo their new program Math Seeds as well which the kids also loved. There's a discount coming up in a couple of weeks we're waiting for before we sign up :) I'll post a link when I get it.
Timez Attack (click here)
This software teaches all four types of math facts in a fun video game format. It keeps track of which math facts your child has mastered and has yet to master. There are different 3D environments your child's character goes through, and math fact answers are used to open doors and defeat foes. At times numbers are represented as groups of circles that your child's character must run around and collect, forcing them to focus on each grouping and how they combine. During battles, math fact answering is timed. My older kiddos are always excited to go "play" Timez Attack and have gotten much faster at doing their multiplication (what I've been using the software for).
Hope these help your family as much as they've helped mine :)
