Homeschooling high school: FREE language courses by duoLingo

After years of trial and error I think I've found the last language program we'll ever need for our high-schooler.

And we have tried quite a few programs.
- We've tried the ol' textbook approach. (In which you order used textbooks from ebay and hope for the best) And they are impossible to teach from unless you're already a fluent speaker.  

- We've tried Muzzy. Which is a great program but definitely aimed at a much younger student.

-We've tried LiveMocha. An internet site that specializes in language. This was a good program while it was free, but about a year in, they started to charge for different parts of the site. It also requires community interaction which had some minor drawbacks as well. It just didn't suit us.

But now, I think, I've found a winner.
I present to you duoLingo !
Why do I love this program?
1. It offers multiple languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Which, you can learn simultaneously if you so wish.
2. It is so easy to use!
3. It is very interactive.
4. And not only is it 100% FREE , there are absolutely no ads. None.


Now, I downloaded Duolingo from the Apple iStore and the review I'm offering is based on our experience using it on an Apple iPad.

So, let's explore!

When you open the program you'll see this screen:
I chose to learn German, but if I wanted to change to Italian or Spanish, I'd click on the flag to the right of the duoLingo text. Next, click on the first lesson. "Basics 1"




When you click on that box, this screen pops up:
You can scroll left and right. This section has a total of 5 lessons.
Notice that tiny little icon in the upper right corner that says "Test Out". If you think you're skill set is beyond the basic lessons you can take a short quiz that will let you "test out" of that lesson. If like me, you are not that proficient: Click on lesson 1.

This screen will pop up:
In the top right corner you'll notice you have 4 hearts.
4 hearts = 4 lives. When you run out of lives, the lesson is over.
But do not fret! You can start over immediately!
The first question is pretty simple, translate the sentence from English to German. You do this by choosing the tiles at the bottom of the screen and placing them in the correct order. When you think you've got it right, click the green "check" by at the bottom of the screen. In this instance, I was correct and the green banner popped up. Click the green "Continue" button to move on.


This is a slightly different format.
In this question you're asked to translate from German to English.
You can click on each German word for a pronunciation and a definition. Then choose the proper tiles at the bottom of the screen and drag them to make the correct sentence.
I would choose the tiles "A", "boy", "is", "eating", "an", & "apple" to form the sentence: "A boy is eating an apple."


This next set of pictures shows a multiple choice question in action.


Here is another way a question can be formatted:


Now, this is my favorite part of duoLingo:
The audio questions.
First, read the instructions.
In this question you're asked to say: "Du bist eine Frau".
Click on the large round microphone button.
It is ready when the microphone turns blue.
Next, say the sentence clearly and slowly.
(I've noticed if I talk to fast it can't always identify each word)
When  you've stopped speaking the blue light will turn off and it will say "grading".
If you've got it right the green banner will fly, if not it will allow you to re-try a total of 3 times.



You won't always get the questions right.
In those instances the dreaded red banner will fly and will steal away 1 of your red hearts.



Most lessons have 10 questions.
When you reach the end, this little screen pops up:
Woohoo!


Followed by this one:



Remember the home screen? Let's look at it again:
I did well on "Basics 1", but I don't really want to move on to "Basics 2". Not yet anyway. If I want to refresh, I can click on the blue "Strengthen Skills" bar on the bottom left side of the screen. Now, I can review vocabulary and work on sentence structure before moving on to the next lesson.


And there you have it!

I am so excited that I stumbled across duoLingo, and I'm happy that I can pass this invaluable resource on to you and your home classroom! If you have any questions, feel free to comment in the comments section!

Homeschooling High School : Time4learning FINALLY adds a high school curriculum.

The day I've been waiting 5 years for is here!

Time4learning announced that they are FINALLY adding the high school curriculum we've all wanted!

Little is known at this point about it, but it should be available around the middle of August.

I'll add further updates as we know them, and I'll give an in-depth review after we've used it for a few months!


Check it out!
http://www.time4learning.com/curriculum/high-school.html

Hale Family Reunion: The Final Entry

And then there were 2.

Families that is.

The Fiore's and the Odom's.

I felt like we just did not get enough time together.

From the moment we pulled up at the hotel we hit the ground running.

But on Saturday night, the last night, we found the time.

After cleaning up from the beach, we met my Mom and Dad at Sonny's BBQ for our farewell dinner.

The dinner was great, but the company was better.

I miss dinners with my folks.

I miss that Diana can't climb up on her
Mimi's lap whenever she wants.

But I'm grateful ... oh, so grateful for any
opportunity that we have to break bread together.

After dinner, we did a little shopping
and then went back to the hotel to hang out.

The next morning my parents flew home and
we made our way back to Tennessee.

I miss everyone already.

Hale Family Reunion Day 3 part 3

Having said our farewells to the extended family, and despite the downpour, we decided we needed to try to get our whole family out to the beach again.
(Plus, I really needed to get some cutesy
pictures of Brooke on the beach.)
 

So, we headed back to the hotel, changed into our swim wear, loaded the kids and headed to Pensacola Beach.

And an amazing thing happened.

The skies acquiesced and parted just enough
for the sun to come blazing to life.

I got my cutesy pictures.

(Even if Brooke was being blinded the entire time)

The surf was very, very rough and the life guard wouldn't allow anyone in past their knees, but we made the very best of it!
We got battered around, covered in seaweed
and still walked away with big smiles and lasting memories.

Hale Family Reunion Day 3, Part 2

After the farwell brunch, we followed my dad to the cemetery to have our own little private memorial of sorts. The rain had not let up, and it was slow going making our way to the familial plots.

I wasn't able to attend either of my grandparent's funerals.
And seeing their markers in the grass came
with an overwhelming sense of guilt.
I miss them. So much.

Hale Family Reunion Day 3, Part 1

Saturday morning we were meant to meet at the cemetery to have a special service led by my Dad.

The weather, however, had different ideas.

Rain, rain go away!

So we skipped the cemetery and headed straight for the church for the farewell brunch.

My dad still gave his remarks.

My Aunt Glenda and her grand-daughters sang my Grandmother Odom's favorite hymn.

Brunch was served. (And it was delicious)

Prizes were awarded. And crafts were crafted.

And everyone, at some point or another, cried.

The good sort of tears.

The sort of tears that reaffirm that you are

part of an extraordinary family.

Hale Family Reunion Day 2, Part 4

After our little photo session, Dom and Di were
antsing to get the chance to play in the waves.

A quick wardrobe change in the back of the
Excursion and they were off!

Ed and I contented ourselves with watching
them from the comfort of shore.

Some children are timid.
Watching from the safety and comfort of the shore.

Judging just how rough the surf is before
even stepping foot in the water.

I do not have those sorts of children.

Mine just go!

Jumping, diving, crashing.

Dominick was in his own little sort of heaven.

He didn't need us. He just wanted to float away.
... And collect seashells.

He loved picking up the seashells he found.
He wasted no time in showing them off, however.

One minute he'd be in the water,
the next he was running up, throwing
the shells in the general vicinity of our towels to be retrieved later.

Diana had a hard time keeping up with the frenetic
pace of her older brother.

She had no interest in shells, but loved being
kicked around by the waves.

Until, that is, she swallowed a mouthful
of the Gulf of Mexico.

She came running up, a look of utter
disgust on her face announcing to anyone within earshot

"MOM, I puked! I puked up my guts on the beach!"

She learned the hard way to keep one's mouth shut when playing in the waves.

I loved watching them.

And we stayed, parked on the beach,
until the last rays of the sun had abandoned us.

Hale Family Reunion Day 2, Part 3

So, Ed and I had opted out of game night.

Yes, I love me some board games but I had ulterior motives.
I wanted pictures.
Beach pictures.
The kind of beach pictures that make even the naughtiest of
children look like cherubic angels.

I chose not to tell the kids about this before we left for the beach.
I figured that once they saw the ocean they'd do
just about anything for the chance to dip their
sweet little toes in that magnificent water.
And I was right!


They were soooo good and they let me take
oodles of pictures before I finally relented
and let them jump in the water!

This is a teeny tiny sampling of the pictures I took.
And they're all this awesome. (Awesome to me anyway!)
The only thing that could have improved these pictures
was having Brooke in them.
But she abandoned us to spend time with her
Grandparents and cousins. THE NERVE! ;)

Here we see how a cute picture between brother
and sister deteriorates rapidly:

And yet another example:

It's a very good thing they're cute!