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Foreign Language Learning, Math Power, Summer Screen Time!

By Heather Idoni

Added Thursday, July 22, 2010
==========================================================
Vol. 11 No. 40, July 22, 2010, ISSN: 1536-2035
==========================================================
© 2010, Heather Idoni - www.FamilyClassroom.net
==========================================================

Welcome to The Homeschooler's Notebook!

If you like this newsletter, please recommend it to a friend!
And please visit our sponsors! They make it possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TELL ME MORE® Homeschool Edition

You can teach your student a foreign language with TELL ME MORE® Homeschool Edition, the most complete, sophisticated, and affordable language learning software available to home educators. Choose from Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English (ESL), French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Our programs are multiple levels in one purchase, and feature unparalleled, state-of-the-art speech-recognition.  The TELL ME MORE® method is an immersion study, employing dozens of activities in every lesson, and teaching the whole language:

  • Reading and Writing
  • Listening and Speaking
  • Grammar and Conjugation
  • Culture and Traditions

Home educators can track the progress and performance of their students, print out their work, and assign to them timed tests that are built into the program, and written tests from the program's Lesson Study Guides.  TELL ME MORE® Homeschool Edition is the best value in homeschool foreign language software.  Save 20% when you use promo code HMNB at http://www.tellmemorestore.com, ; or by calling 888-388-3535.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=================
IN THIS ISSUE:
=================

Notes from Heather
-- Upcoming High School Issue
Helpful Tip
-- Screen Time 'Tickets'
Winning Website
-- Math Power
Reader Question
-- Japanese Curriculum?
Additional Notes
-- Newsletter Archives
-- Sponsorship Information
-- Reprint Information
-- Subscriber Information

===================
Notes from Heather
===================

Calling All Parents of High Schoolers!

Just wanted to let you all know -- our next special high school edition is
scheduled for July 29th.  I'm working on gathering lots of great stuff for
this one as I've felt like the last few have been a bit on the skimpy side.
I'd really LOVE to get even more great input from our readers -- especially
those who have recently graduated a young adult or just have something
cool to share about their teen's high school experience!

Please send me your tips, tales and testimonies!  Any topic or length is
appreciated and a perfect "fit" for our Notebook!  :-)

-- Heather

---

Send your emails to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

July 22, 2010 -- Terri only has roomfor 1000 homeschooling parents in her
Homeschooling ABCs class.

As of this today, there are only 235 class memberships left!

Did you know you will receive $275 worth of FREE curriculum bonuses when you join?

I encourage you to join RISK FREE today!  :-)

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.familyclassroom.net/HomeschoolingABCs.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

==========
Helpful Tip
==========

'Movie Tickets' for Moderating Screen Time at Home

"Screen time has gotten out of hand this summer, and I’m weary of being the
Screen Police.  Though we school year-round, we have a lighter schedule (and
good review time) in the summer months.  Lately, the kids have clamored for
a movie or something fun to watch nearly every day.  Today, I had my two kids
(boy, age 9 and girl, age 7) make two 'movie tickets' each.  This will equal
4 movies per week that they can watch.  (These are DVDs borrowed from the
library, of course!)  Whoever has a ticket to use gets to choose the movie,
so they’ll need to plan and negotiate.  When they’re out of tickets, they’re
out until Sunday when the week starts again.  Then, they’ll get their two
tickets each again, plus their allowance.  (P.S.  Educational videos like
Bill Nye, etc. do not count.)"

-- Christine in VA

---

Thank you, Christine, for taking the time to share with everyone! :-)

Do you have a website, tip, idea or experience to share with our readers?

Send to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net

=================
Winning Website
=================

Math Power -- www.mathpower.com
 
Geared toward elementary to middle school students, this teacher-created site
emphasizes tips for teachers and plenty of tutorials for students.  There are
videos covering elementary algebra and tutorials covering a variety of basic
math and algebra concepts written "by students, for students".   The tips for
teaching math and study tips for students, along with practice assignments,
make this an easy-to-use tool to supplement your math curriculum.

Cindy Prechtel, www.HomeschoolingFromTheHeart.com

=============================
Last Issue's Reader Question
=============================

"My 13-year-old daughter is fascinated with anything having to do with Japan.  She
really wants to learn to speak and write in Japanese.  She is very self-motivated
in this and has used some tools online to learn different phrases.  Does anyone know
of a good curriculum that we can use or have any tips for learning the language?"
-- Mary in South Dakota

=========================
Our Readers' Responses
=========================

"When my son wanted to study Japanese, and my other son Korean, this is
what I did:

I found a college which taught these languages (many don't) and found its
website.  (I contacted the University of Pennsylvania, which teaches many,
many languages.)  I then looked up the faculty of each language department
and emailed a teacher in each department.  I explained my situation and asked
them what curriculum they use for their first-year courses.  Both teachers
emailed me back quickly and offered the information.  They were very polite
and very helpful.  I then found the books online and ordered them.  ( I found
the Japanese at a discount textbook site.)  Your 13 year old, if she has any
facility with language, will probably be able to handle the course because
it is designed for students just beginning the language study.  It would be
great if you could help her and learn along with her!  Asian languages are
very different from English!  Be patient with slow progress because you are
learning on your own.  As she progresses in the course, it will probably
become more difficult and you may want to find a tutor.  You may be able to
locate a Japanese tutor or a native speaker who would be willing to teach.
This is what we did after about 2 years.  His tutor was impressed with how
much he knew!" -- Madelyn L.

---

"Mary, our favorite foreign language programs are The Learnables and
Power-Glide.  I do not know whether they offer Japanese, but they are worth
checking into.  The Learnables is best suited for an auditory learner.
Power-Glide works for all learning styles.

Another resource might be to contact the Japanese embassy in Washington.
They are here to promote better understanding of their culture, and would
likely be very pleased to send your daughter materials about Japan.  We've
gotten recipes, lovely posters, music, games, stories, maps, clothing
information, and much more from various ambassadors." -- Mary Beth

---

"I just discovered last week that our library has several programs available to
patrons, including an online language program, Mango, that we can access from
home.  Perhaps your local library would have something like this." -- Sarah

---

"My daughter explored in this way also.  She practiced calligraphy and read
some novels set in Japan.

Mango Languages is offered through many of our public libraries.  There are
also sometimes local cultural clubs that meet to share culture and build
language sharing." -- Kristin R.

---

Editor's Note:

Mary -- Our sponsor for today's newsletter is Auralog and they offer the Tell Me
More
foreign language learning curricula.  One of the languages they have a
program for is Japanese!  I think it would be worth looking into if your daughter
is serious as some of our readers have written in the past that they have been
much more impressed with Tell Me More (over similar programs like Rosetta Stone).

Here is an excerpt from one review of the Japanese program specifically --

"I never dreamed my daughter would want to learn Japanese!  For about four years
she has a fascination with Japanese animation and has been learning the art form
and some of the culture.  She even found herself learning some of the words as she
viewed many of the programs she found to watch not translated into English.  She
REALLY wanted to learn this very difficult language, and I was a little worried
because I thought all along (because of our previous work in Spanish) that if
given the opportunity, she would want to further her knowledge there.  But no,
she wanted to learn Japanese." ...

You can read the rest of the review at this link:

http://homeschoolblogger.com/sistertipster/666727/

And here is the direct link to Tell Me More Japanese (Homeschool Edition):

http://www.tellmemore.com/homeschool_japanese

Also -- you can save 20% with promo code "HMNB".  And don't forget there's
a 90 DAY money-back guarantee, too! :-)

Hope you find the perfect fit for your daughter.

-- Heather

=========================
Answer our NEW Question
=========================

"I am new at homeschooling and wondering what families use to keep track of
planning and marking?  Is it a book, online program or downlaod program?  Do
you use free programs online or offline... or pay for one?" -- Sylvie in Ottawa

---

Would you like to share your tracking and/or planning resources with Sylvie?

Please send your email to: mailto:HN-answers@familyclassroom.net

=====================
Ask YOUR Question
=====================

Do you have a question you would like our readers to answer?

Send it to mailto:HN-questions@familyclassroom.net and we'll see
if we can help you out in a future issue!

=======================
Need Immediate Help?
=======================

Visit our Homeschool Encouragement Center! This is a live 24/7
'chat' area where you can talk with our homeschool counselors
by typing in a box. When you get there, just introduce yourself
and let them know that Heather sent you!

This ultra-safe chat is supervised by experienced moms who are
there to serve and share their wisdom... or just offer a listening
ear and encouragement.

http://www.HomeschoolChat.us

==============================
Subscription Information
==============================

Here is the page where you can subscribe to all of our newsletters!

http://familyclassroom.net/screensubs.html

And here is our searchable archive of recent newsletters:

http://www.familyclassroom.net/archives.html

===========================
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
===========================

There are opportunities for your business to be a sponsor of this
newsletter! Read more about our VERY AFFORDABLE advertising here:

http://www.homeschooladnetwork.com/homeschoolersnotebook.php

=====================
ADDITIONAL NOTES
=====================

All contributed articles are printed with the author's prior
consent. It is assumed that any questions, tips or replies to
questions may be reprinted. All letters become the property of
the "Homeschooler's Notebook". [Occasionally your contribution
may have to be edited for space.]

Again, I welcome you to the group! Feel free to send any
contributions to mailto:HN-articles@familyclassroom.net or
mailto:HN-ideas@familyclassroom.net.

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===========================
REPRINT INFORMATION
===========================

No part of this newsletter (except subscription information
below) may be copied and/or displayed in digital format online
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from the editor. Individuals may, however, forward the newsletter
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