Don’t;forget;to;play;some;foreign;lan-guage;games;during;your;studies.;It;canbe;the;best;way;to;learn;a;language;andhave fun at the same time. Board games,matching games, and picture games canall be altered to create foreign languagegames. There is a time for drills andworksheets;for;sure;during;your;foreignlanguage learning, but don’t let that bethe;only;way;to;learn.
Resources abound for your foreignlanguage;study.;Today;you;can;go;to;ahomeschool conference or review anylarge homeschool curriculum catalogand;find;multiple;options;for;your;learn-ing.;Choose;the;resources;that;you;thinkwill;work;best;for;your;children.;Many;ofthe;programs;are;very;costly,;so;if;it;at;allpossible,;try;out;free;samples;that;mostof these companies offer before purchasing. Rosetta Stone;allows;you;to;do;thisonline.;If;another;homeschool;family;inyour;area;has;a;program;and;is;using;itsuccessfully, maybe you could spendsome time with them at their houselearning more about how the programworks;and;possibly;trying;it;with;yourfamily;first.;You;do;not;want;to;make;acostly;investment;if;the;foreign;languageprogram;will;not;work;for;you.
Rest;assured;that;you;as;the;teacherdo;not;have;to;know;the;language;first.My son began learning Latin through
Latina Christiana curriculum when he
was;8;years;old.;We;were;fortunate;to
have in our homeschool group a mom
who was willing to teach a group of our
children at her home once a week for
three;years.;All;of;the;participants;were
able;to;learn;and;benefit;from;this;one
mom’s knowledge after she took classes
herself through Memoria Press.
Co-op;classes;of;any;type;are;an;ex-cellent;way;for;your;children;to;learn;aforeign language. They allow learningin a group setting, which can be morechallenging and interactive to encour-age;learning.;Playing;games;together;as;agroup;is;always;a;lot;more;fun;too,;espe-cially;since;you;may;have;a;wide;age;spanin;your;home;and;students;cannot;alwayslearn a language at the same level.
If co-ops are not an option, or youknow;that;group;study;will;not;work;foryour;child,;consider;enrolling;the;stu-dent;in;an;online;class.;Many;reputableorganizations and institutions offer foreign language classes for junior high andhigh school students, such as The Potter’s School ( www.pottersschool.org).My;son;continued;his;Latin;study;intohigh school with the Potter’s School, andwe;were;very;pleased;with;the;quality;ofthe class and the excitement of havinglive interaction with students all overthe;world.;They;currently;offer;classes;inLatin, Greek, German, French, Arabic,and Spanish.
Another good choice is to purchase aprogram available on CD ROM, such asRosetta Stone ( www.rosettastone.com).Rosetta Stone has several language options available, including German,Spanish,;and;even;Arabic;and;Japanese.As I mentioned previously, this com-pany;allows;you;to;try;samples;onlinefor free. We have used the German Lan-guage;Program;successfully,;benefitingfrom the ease of using it at home on ourschedule. It can meet high school language requirements for most collegesand;can;be;used;as;a;self-study;curricu-lum;for;many;different;ages.
Don’t;let;the;study;of;foreign;language
intimidate you. With all these great
resources available, there is nothing to
fear.;Integrate;the;study;of;the;language
of;your;choice;into;your;planned;cur-
riculum;and;enjoy;it.
Julie Jeavons has been involved in musicand education for fifteen years, homeschooling her two children for ten years.Besides trying to keep a clean home, sheteaches piano and works as a farmer raising sheep, llamas, chickens, and ducks;growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables;and spinning fiber into yarns at Rose LaneFarm in southern Virginia.
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
Board games, matching
games, and picture
games can all be
altered to create foreign
language games.
