Learnables.com: Homeschooling

Description of the Program

Since 1976 two generations of home schooling families have selected The Learnables® for foreign language education. They have found that with The Learnables® the foreign languages can be learned easily and without the need of a tutor. No teacher guides or manuals are required.

Special tests and answer keys are provided in order to enable the parents to grade the progress of their children. All lessons are audio recorded, enabling the student to hear the pronunciation of every word and sentence.

The beginning material is organized into year/levels. Each year/level is equivalent to one year of high school. However, children can complete a year's level as an elementary or junior high school student.

Students as young as seven years of age can begin the program. Progress is dependent upon the number of hours and days dedicated to the lessons. Our recommendation is to spend, at the minimum, three one-half hour sessions per week.

Parents may take the lessons with their children as a family activity, but it is not necessary. Students can take the lessons by themselves enabling the parents to spend their time with other siblings or in the preparation of material for other courses, as the audio presentations guide the students through the lessons.

The Learnables® was selected by Cathy Duffy, regarded as the major reviewer and evaluator in homeschooling, as one of the top 100 courses from among all of the many hundreds of courses in homeschooling in her book 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, published by Broadman and Homan Publishers, 2005. According to Cathy Duffy (p. 281), “The Learnables approach to foreign language works well for homeschooling families for at least four reasons: 1. Flexibility for different age learners, 2. Does not require the parent to know or teach the language, 3. Multisensory format works for many different learning styles, 4. …a more natural learning method than traditional approaches to foreign language acquisition.”

The Learnables® was voted an outstanding first place winner by readers of Practical Home Shooling from among the many foreign language courses.

Home Schooling Reviews

Home schooling experts have praised The Learnables® as the finest foreign language program.

“…The Learnables® has helped thousands of home schoolers learn a foreign language as effortlessly as they learned English.”

Kathy Fisher, Homeschooler's Resource Directory

“My heart still belongs to The Learnables®…. Unlike other programs, which stress grammar, and drill, International Linguistics teaches language through word-picture association…. The stories are clever.”

Mary Pride, The Big Book of Home Learning

“This approach is certainly more enjoyable than typical programs of either the textbook variety or the records that have us simply repeat the foreign language phrases after the speaker.”

Cathy Duffy, Christian Home Educators' Curriculum Manual, Elementary Grades

“Before their twelfth birthdays the…children had learned the equivalent of several years of academic French, which neither parent spoke, by using these materials.”

Jane Merrill, Bringing up Baby Bilingual

“Home schoolers will find The Learnables® the perfect course to use.”

Susan Moore, Editor's Choice

“Motivation is high because students are confident that they can understand the language. They remember what they learn and are positive about learning the foreign language.”

Barbara Eldridge, Garland Christian Academy, Garland, Texas

Research All Programs Before You Make a Choice

There are many foreign language programs on the market. We recommend that you examine carefully each program before purchasing it for your homeschooled child. Some programs promise that you will be able to speak within a few months. We regard this type of advertisement fraudulent, as it takes several years to learn a foreign language, as it did to learn your own language as a young child.

Some programs use unethical practices to promote their programs. For example, they may have a chat page in which they themselves send in letters saying the program is wonderful. They may quote a catalogue description that they themselves wrote for the catalogue. They may even have established several web sites under the names of home schooling parents who on the web site rave about their language programs in order to persuade you to buy the program.

Some companies claim that the child can do it by himself or herself. When you receive the program you will be surprised to find that there is a parent's manual that requires that you explain every step to your child, requiring extensive time on your part. Often these extra manuals are difficult to follow, especially for someone who does not know the foreign language.

We recommend that as a homeschooling parent you inquire about a language program from friends and other individuals in your community who homeschool before you purchase it. Whether you consider The Learnables® or any other program it is always good to get a second opinion rather than rely on advertisement on a web site or in a catalogue. Catalogues often contain very good educational material along with material that is poorly constructed and does not achieve the objectives stated by the company.

Practical Home Schooling Reader’s Choice

Readers of the Practical Home Schooling magazine in four surveys selected The Learnables® Foreign Language Courses as their top choice. The survey is conducted every few years by the editors of the magazine.

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