I have written before about teaching foreign languages in the homeschool. I think it is one of the more difficult areas to teach as a homeschooler because it is one of the few areas where a background knowledge is somewhat essential if you’re going to think of starting in the younger grades.
What has always bugged me about any pre-packaged foreign language curriculum is that they often lead a parent to believe that they will be purchasing a program that will yield fluent speakers without the parent having to know the language. While I wouldn’t say that you must speak a foreign language in order to attempt it with your child, I will say that you’re not going to get a child who speaks a language fluently, without exposing the child to native or fluent speakers. Frankly, the computer just doesn’t cut it.
With that said, if you’re willing to learn the language along with your young child as needed and you’re not expecting miracles, then exposing your child to foreign languages is never a bad thing to do. Some young children will actually pick up quite a bit that will enable them to do quite well in the high school years.
What I Like About Power Glide
Power Glide is a computer based foreign language program. You can purchase hard copies of course materials (usually through a catalog like Rainbow Resource) but they also offer courses online.
What I really like about the way that they’ve set it up is that it incorporates a variety of learning activities. Through games, stories, and fun activities, they present the target language systematically. The approach blends a variety of research based methods to learning a foreign language. I often find that computer based programs neglect aspects of foreign language learning such as grammar or speaking–but I don’t find this to be the case with Power Glide.
The Details
The reason I chose to review this curriculum is that from now until March 15th, they are offering a special price ($54.99 per semester or $109.99 per year). They are offering a guarantee that if you don’t like it, you can call and cancel your order within 30 days. That to me, says they believe in their product. And of course, that’s always a good sign.
I should also mention to that if you have high school students, they offer a means of obtaining high school credit as well as teacher support. If you’re interested in checking it out go to the Power Glide website.