Mom, are we doing Greek today? That is the question I have heard almost everyday since we began our review of "Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek" some months ago. Now, I must tell you, that enthusiasm was not always there. In fact, before we ever heard of this curriculum, my eldest daughter in particular, was certain that she DID NOT want to learn a foreign language. She never could give me a reason, but she sure was adamant. I kept a positive attitude anyway, and we delved into our studies.
We were given the first book in the series to use, level one, along with the pronunciation CD, and the answer only key. Open up the book and you'll find 28 lessons, with the first 24 focusing on one of the Greek letters of the alphabet. Each letter/lesson has 4 pages of activities to learn the proper way to write and pronounce each letter. There are flashcards at the back of the book for practicing as you move through the lessons, and you may choose to use the CD as often as you need to. So, a typical lesson begins by learning the name of the letter(obviously), how it sounds, and how to write it. For the first two pages you get to practice printing, and then the last two pages are made up of fun exercises, matching games, and coloring activities.
We began by listening to the CD. This simply instructs you on the letters and sounds, all done by children. Basically, you have the material in front of you, and then just get to it. There were some lessons that we stretched out over the week, especially letters that took a little longer to get the hang of printing- I'm thinking of "zeta" in particular. Other times we breezed through and learned a couple per week. Each lesson builds on the previous one, and you'll find it rich in repetition. There are pages for every letter that will require searching for specific letters within various Greek words, as well as writing the letters of the Greek alphabet in order. So, all the while, as they continue to see these words over and over, it really aids in retaining the information they are taking in.
The last few lessons of level one teach some Greek words, so that by the last lesson, your student will write their own sentence in Greek.
Those are the basics, now for our family's opinion regarding "Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek!"
Would you indulge my juvenile side while I say, this was so cool! I really love learning new languages, and to begin to learn Greek was a kick for me. I was very pleasantly surprised to see my kids not only warm up to it, but come to enjoy the lessons so much that they request it every day. What really astounded me though, was the speed at which my daughter's grasped the material. After all, we're talking about Greek, which of course, has completely different letters than our alphabet. To watch my girls easily(for the most part) print out these new letters in order was so fun for me to observe. I know it has stretched my own thinking.
I am happy to say that we will be continuing on with our Greek education as we move up to level 2 in the series. The girls cannot wait for more!
A few final thoughts...
This program is a good fit for those that do not need to have a step by step lesson plan. You choose the frequency of the lessons, and all of those little details that go with it. An aspect that I especially like about Greek 'n' Stuff is the flexibility in purchasing the separate levels. Purchase any resource individually-workbooks alone are $14.95. Should you prefer to buy the entire program at one time, there are several sets you may choose from, including starter sets beginning at $86.85, or a full set which has levels 1-8 beginning at $350.00. What are you waiting for? Get started with Greek!
*I received a free copy of "Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek!" level one workbook and CD in exchange for my honest review of the product, with no additional compensation.
Greek 'n' Stuff
Ages: elementary and up
Price: workbooks $14.95- check website for full set prices
While you're at it, why don't you go check out TOS Homeschool Crew homepage and see what other people have to say about this and other great products.
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