Learn from my mistake. I might has well have wadded up ten $20 bills and placed them in the trash. I will admit, it was painful. So I’m sharing it here so that those of you who are newer to this can heed the advice of a ‘veteran’ (I’m not sure I have kids old enough such that I could be considered a ‘veteran’ yet. . .)
A few years ago when I was looking for something to help teach my daughter French, (clearly before I had a well thought out plan) I took the advice of one solitary friend to buy Rosetta Stone. She said it was the best investment in foreign language that she ever made. . .blah, blah, blah. . .her kids knew tons of Latin because of it. . .blah, blah, blah. . .the price was totally worth it. . .blah, blah, blah. So I did it–I bought the whole thing, two whole years of French for $200. Gulp.
What was I thinking? I don’t know. I was thinking that she needed a native and fluent speaker to listen to. I was thinking that I wanted her study of foreign languages to begin early and follow a pattern and structure. I was thinking I wanted her to be fluent by the time she was finished with high school. I was NOT thinking that I would hate it.
You’re likely guessing where I’m going with this. I did hate it. But this is not a blog about why I hate Rosetta Stone. In fact, it has worked very well in helping my friend teach her sons Latin. (Latin–the dead language.) It has worked very well for her and for others I have spoken to (like the sales guy at the home schooling book fair.) But alas, we found little use for it because (um. . .duh) I could just speak French to her and voila–she’s picking it up. (Um. . .again. . .duh!) So I tossed the Rosetta Stone. Truth be told the CD’s were scratched beyond recognition so it wasn’t usable or sellable or anything. Well, that’s not true. I used it to teach my children that the word for trash in Spanish is la basura and the word for trash in French is la poo-belle. But that’s it.
So how do you avoid buying fodder for your trash can? Research lots of options. Talk to lots of people. If they don’t like something find out why. Their reasons may not be an issue for you. If they do like something, find out why. The very reason they like it might turn you off completely or may be a wrong fit for your child. Remember that in the world of home schooling curriculum, someone else’s trash could be your treasure and vice versa. The truth is, many, many roads lead to Rome in the home schooling world.
I’m going to go lick my wounds now. Maybe I could teach my children the French and Spanish phrases for, “I just wasted a ton of money. . .”
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