Compass Classroom: Visual Latin {Review}

(Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. This simply means that should you choose to purchase through my links, there is no additional cost to you, and I make a small commission. Thank you!)

I have been homeschooling my fantastic kids long enough to have seen and heard all kinds of opinions on the importance, or not, of teaching Latin. Since I took Latin in high school, I have been on the "yes" side of the fence, even though I understand that some people see it as unnecessary. I have not followed a "classical" approach in our education, taking a more eclectic approach, however, I do see great value in learning Latin. Several of my children are learning Italian, French and/or Spanish, so Latin will help with those languages, as well as help immensely with our native language, English. Last fall I decided that I needed to finally add Latin to our list of courses.

I received the downloadable version of Visual Latin 1 and 2 from Compass Classroom for the purpose of review. Each lessons pairs three videos, featuring teacher Dwane Thomas, with worksheets for different learning styles to guide students from grammar concepts, to practice sentences, to reading in Latin! There are 60 lessons in total. Visual Latin is available in three formats: DVD, download or streaming. Included in the downloads are lesson worksheets, a teacher's guide, vocabulary lists and quizzes. This course is suggested for ages 10 and older. It also provides 2 high school credits, which is one reason why I am so excited about it!

This school year we have been working our way through Visual Latin 1, which is 30 lessons. We haven't used too many video-based programs in our school, so I wasn't sure how well it would work. It has worked perfectly! It is super easy to use. Just cue up the video and print out the worksheets for whatever lesson you're on. Mr. Thomas has a quirky and fun sense of humour and is very engaging in the video lessons. Even though I primarily wanted my grade 10 student to work through these lessons for high school language credit, I decided to make it a family affair and include everyone. So, in addition to my grade 10 student, I also included my students in grade 8, grade 5 and grade 4, as well. I am amazed by all they have learned this year. We have a had a great time learning together and already look forward to continuing with Latin 2 next year.

It was rather hilarious to start this program and find Latin everywhere we turned. Books, movies, other school curricula. All the children were noticing it and having a good time doing so. We also had a few laughs over the sentence structure in Latin and how the sentences remind us a bit of Yoda. For example, "They are bright in the sky the stars are." And "At night also stars there are." Another benefit in learning Latin is all the English grammar you learn in the process. It's been a great reminder and reinforcer of what my children have already learned plus even more! This has been a wonderful fit for our family, and we are learning so much. I cannot recommend Visual Latin highly enough.



Give it a try with 2 Free Lessons.

Also, check out the Additional Resources.

And right now, Visual Latin 1 and 2 are on sale! Get $30 off!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Blessings and love. xo

Educents - Huge Back-to-School Savings

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase through my links, there is no additional cost to you, and I make a small commission. Thank you!

Educents is having a huge Back-to-School Sale that I wanted to make you sure you don't miss. Have you shopped with Educents yet? Kate and Kaitlyn, the founders of Educents, are passionate about education. They are passionate about bringing YOU the educational products you love at an affordable price. Shouldn't everyone have access to education?

So, how does it work? Educents is an online marketplace for affordable educational products, providing daily deals to students, parents and educators by working with established educational suppliers. Whether it is a science kit, curriculum pack, books or art supplies, they make sure that Educents has the lowest price. Educators need a break, and they’re here to help.

Since the launch of Educents in April, 2013, Educents has saved educators over $15 million dollars and has helped more than 130,000 teachers, homeschoolers and parents gain access to affordable educational materials.

Check out just a few of the things on sale now (and even some FREEBIES)!

History/Geography Wall Play Sets

Life of Fred (all sets!)

Minion Math Centers

5 Kit Magic School Bus Variety Bundle

Magformers 30-Piece Magnetic Building Set

You can also enter some pretty great Giveaways during the month of August!

Happy planning, shopping and saving!

Blessings and love. xo

French Essentials {Review}

I was so happy to have the opportunity to review French Essentials with the TOS Review Crew team recently. I specifically wanted this program for Emma, who studied French in Canada for a number of years but has put it aside for the last two or three years. I received one full access online program, which is everything that French Essentials offers (a retail value of $149.95). There are four modules, so far, with Module 5 on the way. Additional modules will eventually be added, with 10 all together. Completing modules 1-10 would be the equivalent of 2 years of high school French.

From the website:

French Essentials is a complete, downloadable French curriculum with online features that include culture, fun exercises, lesson tests and more. 

Designed by experienced French teachers specifically for home learners, it is clear and easy to use and does not require previous knowledge of French. The well designed lessons teach French in an easy to follow, gradual, step-by-step method with video and audio instruction that allows students to interact with the language in a fun and engaging way. 

Our experience:

Emma has been studying the lessons and is including her 8 year old sister, who also wants to learn French. They have been going a little more slowly for Ava, since she is new to the language and Emma wants her to have a solid foundation. The PDF files are great because they have the sound files embedded right into them and this makes the lessons easy to use. There is a combination of downloadable files and online lessons. They start with reading through the lesson, which includes listening to the audio, then to video, where they are given the opportunity to watch, listen, speak/repeat. Then they are able to practice writing the words and phrases they are learning by utilizing the worksheet pages. The combination of the methods used in French Essentials target the four language acquisition skills and work well for all learning styles. 

Here is the first screen you see once you log in to the program:

Here is what it looks like when you need to choose your Module:

Here is an example of M. Legentil asking "Ça va?" (How are you?):

One area of the lessons contains a Savais-tu! section which means "French culture". This is such a neat bonus to the lessons!

Conclusion:

We had a little trouble with downloading part of the files at the beginning, but once we worked the kinks out, there have been no problems since. Emma is enjoying this program and is happy to be hearing and speaking French once again. Ava is learning, although Emma and I both agree that it is a little advanced for her. We are taking it slower with her and letting Emma move on ahead at a faster pace. Emma is not just learning French to check off a box on her high school requirements list. She truly appreciates the value of learning and knowing another language. She is aware that learning the French language will be a wonderful asset to have wherever God takes her in this world. I have been impressed that the girls can easily use this program and are learning together, while on different levels. I appreciate that it was written by French teachers and speakers who are also parents (and who happen to live in Quebec City - one of my favourite cities in North America!). We would highly recommend this program to anyone wishing to add the beautiful French language to their home education studies. 

Pricing:

Modules One through Five (6-10 will be added later), $69.95 each

Full 1-Year access, includes all modules, $149.95 (over 57% savings)

You can have your student take the online placement test to see exactly where they should begin.

Click HERE to view Sample Lessons.

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