Introductory Note: I purchased this on my own. I did not receive a free copy to review. Hence, these are my honest opinions and assessments on the curriculum.
I knew before we even started homeschooling I wanted to try Rosetta Stone for my family. I had heard so much about it and it always gets great reviews.
So I broke down and invested in all 5 years. It was a lot to cough up ($459 I paid but it appears the price has risen) but it offered a savings over the years and I looked at it as that.
Rosetta Stone is all immersion. They believe in teaching you like you learned as a baby: hearing it and mimicking the sounds. You listen and then choose based off of what you’ve heard. There is a written portion as you go along and it does appear on the screen.
I like this approach for my kids but I find myself explaining a lot of what they are doing. I explain the grammar side and I feel as an adult I would be curious to know what I was speaking.
For instance, they do not go over the endings. This annoys me because I would like my kids to know. But Rosetta Stone emphasizes learning to speak, not how the language is put together. I’m hoping this comes into play in the upper levels.
But my kids are young. I want them to hear the language correctly (since I have a horrible accent) and learn that way. There will be time in the later years when they are ready.
I bought the homeschool edition which comes with extra practice worksheets and a guide for parents. It also tracks your child’s progress so you can review their scores at the end of each lesson. You can set up different users that saves where you have stopped individually. This is great if you have kids working at different levels. You also don’t have to remember where you stopped!
The worksheets provided I have to do with my kids. They are too young to do them on their own. But great practice seeing Spanish written.
Each chapter reviews the previous chapter’s work.
Conclusions: I think this is a great investment for the younger years. This allows my kids to focus on English and Latin Grammar before we switch to Spanish Grammar. With Spanish being so prevalent I believe teaching this is essential and the younger years is the place to begin while they are still absorbing everything.
My husband wants to use this for his work and I see us using this program for years to come. A lot of money but worth it if you are seeking the spoken word. They also offer a Latin and Greek program but I am hesitant to invest as it’s emphasis is on speaking and the value in Latin and Greek is on grammar and vocabulary work.