This is an expensive, but in-depth conversational Spanish program that is very popular with homeschoolers. The text, test booklet and workbook come with nine audio tapes or CDs (depending on the option you choose when you purchase the program) and an optional CD ROM and audio CD set. These options should be looked at very carefully when ordering as the operators often don't know which set is which.

Several months ago we decided to invest in a Spanish program. The question was, which one? My children are quite young, but have been exposed to Spanish during our years in San Diego, from stories such as The Lady of Guadalupe and the Josefina Montoya books from the American Girls series, and the Catholic Parish in downtown Milwaukee which we attend most Sundays which has a vibrant Hispanic community. When my oldest daughter (at age 7 1/2) began showing an interest in learning Spanish, my husband and I thought it was important to take advantage of her interest now, especially since childhood is supposed to be an excellent time to introduce a foreign language.

First we looked at the The Learnables, which is another homeschool-friendly program, but which is completely book-bound: the book has only pictures and the audio portion is in Spanish only. It's a neat idea, but not what we were looking for.

We wanted something that could be listened to in the car (especially to and from daily Mass) or while the children were playing - even when they didn't have the book open.

We heard a little about the Power Glide program (mostly the Latin edition) from fellow homeschoolers and learned that although it covered enough material for a 2-year high school course, that it was enjoyable for young children as well. That was enough for us - we decided to try it.

I have to say that we're really, really happy with it. Although we've hardly cracked the books yet (that will come in time, I'm sure), we've listened to the CDs over and over and are beginning to pick up some of the language. The CDs are filled with classic folk tales and fairy tales in alternating Spanish and English, stories in English that contain some recognizable Spanish words (that can be understood from the context), short (and often funny) conversations in alternating languages and other creative way of introducing Spanish (including some exercises that are designed to be used with the book). Different voices provide a diversity of accents and dialects to broaden exposure to the language.

All the material is suitable for family listening and my own children enjoy the stories enough to request them over and over.

Although the price is rather high (around $150 for the CD set with the CD ROM), we felt that, as a reusable program for all of our children for all of their school years, it was a worthwhile investment.

The cardboard container that the CDs arrive in is rather inadequate - especially for care use. We picked up an inexpensive zip-up CD folder to protect the CDs.