Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone age to begin? Tips for younger users

[Julie in MN]

Different families have enjoyed starting Rosetta early... or, waiting and using something simpler such as songs in the foreign language during the younger years. Here is a thread with lots of experiences on that:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=273

And here is the "official MFW answer," which I always value, since the Hazells have a lot of experience with their children learning Russian while they lived over there.

• When does My Father's World recommend students begin Rosetta Stone?
  
  My Father's World recommends beginning Rosetta Stone as early as 2rd grader using the Speaking and Listening Course in Rosetta Stone Homeschool. This course allows students to interact without needing to type or read. If students need to hear something again, they can click the audio link button and it will repeat. If the grammar lessons are difficult, these may be easily passed over by the parent.
  
  For 4th-6th graders we recommend using the Extended with Reading Intro Course. This course provides further reading instruction and the opportunity to practice differentiation of pre-typed words and segments. Students do not have to spell directly nor type. Students can do the writing activities or not based on their ability. Parents can simply bypass these or show the student how to do so. You will see a 0 score later for these activities, but it will not affect the performance of the program.
  
  For 7th-12th graders we have developed daily lesson plans that include activities for high school foreign language credit.

When we started homeschooling my youngest in 3rd grade, MFW was recommending a different program and we went ahead and started but were very casual, using different things over the years. I guess I was just looking for exposure. I think if you want a lot of retention, you have to be more consistent than we were

Either way, I think Level 1 lasts *most* kids through at least 6th grade, repeating with more of the components each time through. For high school, and some junior highers, Level 1 will only last 1 year.

Rainbow resource has rs a little cheaper at $123 I think but not the lesson plans that mfw has.

Rosetta Stone keeps tight control on their prices, no matter which vendor sells it. Prices do go up and down over the year, but that is wholly controlled by Rosetta. I think if you check different vendors on the same day, for the same item, they will all have the same prices. The only time prices will vary from vendor to vendor is when it is a different "Rosetta Stone item" (not counting the MFW lesson plans, which are sent along for free), or when a vendor hasn't gotten around to lowering their advertised price to match the newest Rosetta pricing (but MFW is very fast with that).

HTH,
Julie

[4monkeyz]

We are in Adventures this year - I have a 8 yo & 6 yo, as well as two little ones. After much talk, my hubby and I decided to go more the exposure route. I have borrowed through our library Little Pim dvds for my littles, very fun and super cute. I did purchase a Latin cd, it has that cute monkey and coloring pages. I have us listen to one song a week, they color and sing along. But at this point nothing formal or highly structured.

Looking ahead I have debated what language for us to learn. I know a lot of it is personal preference, but man there is a lot to choose from! In the family there is a mixture of languages being tossed around - Spanish (I took two years in college), French (an aunt, my sister), German (my side of the family is fluent and my dh speaks some) and some smatterings here and there picked up from various sources. My grandfather spoke several, when he was alive he suggested I start with Spanish and the rest will come easier. Don't know if that is necessarily true?? Maybe more the concept learn one and the next will be slightly easier and the third will be even easier. Hm. I have thought German simply bcs. my family speaks it and so there is that family connection thing. It would be nice for them to be hearing one language as they grow up and then learning the parts. But right now, informal and more formal as we go.

I was wondering the same thing with Rosetta! Thanks Julie for explaining! I have heard of Rosetta but was not clear on how that worked with the younger ones.

[blessedmomof3]

We started using a foreign language when my oldest was in 2nd grade. We chose Spanish because we live in Texas. We have used La Clase Divertida and have absolutely loved it. It's geared for the elementary ages and has fun activities, cooking, songs, etc. My kids have had so much fun using it. We will probably use Rosetta Stone when they're older.

Kelli

[gratitude]

Hi - my question is about Rosetta Stone for younger children. I have three children using RS, so they are all using the program differently. I am wondering for the younger kids - what do they actually do each day? Since there isn't a lesson plan, I am confused about how many lessons they do - or sequence, etc. For my oldest, she is following the lesson plan that MFW supplies. So there is some repetition in the lessons, etc... How do your younger kids use RS?

P.S. This is our first year with RS - and we all love it!

I have always had them do 15-20 minutes a day. Sometimes they will choose to go longer or a little shorter.

They just stop where they are & start in the place they left off the next day.

I am fairly casual about it at these ages, and have seen a lot of learning with RS.

We started it 3 years ago when my oldest had just turned 7.

[mothermayi]

We just follow the schedule provided by RS. For little ones, it will help to set the voice recognition to easy. We have them work for about 20-30 minutes when they were 8. Now I wish I would have done 15 minutes as a requirement and if they chose to go longer, just let them. 30 minutes can be a lot for really young kids.

[gentlestrengths]

Great! That is what we have been doing. 15-20 minutes really does seem like plenty for my 8 year old. Even my 10 year old works naturally for about 20 minutes and is done. Thanks!

[gratitude]

I am wondering if this would be a good investment for my almost 7-year-old. Would that be crazy to buy all those levels at once?

Level 1 box has 4 or 5 main levels on it. Within each of those main levels is another 20 - 30 boxes. Within each of those boxes is around 30 boxes to pass off. In other words, level 1 box has taken us awhile! My oldest started it at age 7. Of those four years we have had months of great daily consistency, and some months where other school dominated and he didn't get as much done with it. He isn't done yet with the entire level one box, but has finished some main levels on level one. I am thinking he might need level 2 Spanish next summer. My second and third borns aren't as far as he is, but also are using the level 1 box. All 3 of them really enjoy it. There is a lot of work though for each box, at least for young children.

Does that help?

I think with how fast soft ware changes, and that our version is now quite old, I am glad I decided when my oldest was 7 to buy one box at a time.

The other thing to consider is now all 3 of them are alternating between box 1 of French and box 1 of Spanish. So other language interest can come into play as well. So they are progressing in both, but it slows over all progress in one language.

Starting Rosetta Stone at age 7 has been one of MFWs gifts and blessings to our family. I highly encourage it.

[TriciaMR]

Good Morning! We are using Rosetta Stone with the high school credit this year and for the most part are enjoying it. There are a few issues though.

One son in particular is having a little trouble with the writing part of the program. He is not remembering how to spell the words. Any ideas/suggestions to help us figure this out? Thanks so much!!

In the settings look for something to specify that a child under 12 is using it. Sometime that helps.

My daughter, who is dyslexic, had to start keeping a notebook and write down words. Also, if you look on the CD, there are worksheets, and those may have some spellings. Some kind of vocabulary list sure would be nice. Not everyone remembers spelling.