Summer Spanish

We are big fans of foreign language in our house.  Well, I am, and the kids try to adjust.

Just for the record, no, we are not fluent in foreign languages.  But we try to be familiar at least.  In our case, with Spanish, as our youngest child was born in Guatemala.  Not only do I feel strongly that he should at least be familiar with his native language, I feel even more strongly that we should ALL be well versed in another language.  It builds brain cells and it can build bonds with people in other places.  Not to mention that it is a required credit for most high school diplomas and college entrance.

Foreign language instruction is not for the faint at heart in my opinion.  Unless you are a fluent in a second language, it can be tricky and at the very least, intimidating to teach.  But it can be done.

By starting at an early age, you can ease into a new language together with your child.  Playing games, reading books, and listening to recordings in your chosen language is a great way to immerse yourself. There are many curriculums available that will provide flash cards or even stickers to help you label your surroundings.  You can pick up books on tape from the library in many different languages and often be able to follow along with a corresponding book.  Let's face it, the more you surround yourself with a new language, the more you and your child will pick up.

That is one reason I love concentrating on Spanish in the summer.  For us, it is a time that we ease off  of many of our other subjects and have more flexibility in our schedule.  Here are some things for you to try-

Have a themed meal.  Try to make food from the country of origin of the language you are teaching and then try to use only that language while you eat!

Label your home.  Many kids are visual and love seeing brightly colored labels on the things they use most often.

Learn a few new songs.  YouTube has lots of fun kids' songs in different languages you can learn.

Play a game.  Games like charades, pictionary, and even hide and seek can be more fun if played using only the language you are learning.

Visit a museum.  In our town we have a Hispanic museum.  It is a great place to learn about the Hispanic culture and even pick up a few new vocabulary words.

Make a friend.  If you can find someone from a different culture than you, you will find you have lots to offer each other.  Not only can you practice speaking with someone in their native tongue, you can learn about their family and culture as well.

Above all, make learning a family affair.  When you all work together and have a little fun, you will be well on your way to learning a new language!

Linking up-

Blessings,

The Fun Spanish- Schoolhouse Crew Review

Hola!

We love Spanish here.  And we have used a lot of Spanish programs to help us learn.  But The Fun Spanish by Brookdale House is now at the top of our list for fun ways to learn Spanish.  Seriously, fun!

The Fun Spanish  is a Spanish program for elementary ages that is, you guessed it,  fun and simple to use.  

Whether printed book or the e-book form we reviewed, this Charlotte Mason style Spanish program teaches the conjugation of 11 verbs in addition to numerous nouns, prepositions, and adjectives.  By combining those words, The Fun Spanish teaches kids how to create and speak simple Spanish sentences, one sentence at a time.

How? By being silly!  Isn't that what fun is all about?

At the beginning of each weeks lesson your child is introduced to a new verb and shown how to conjugate it. They are then given 6-10 new words each day to learn as well.  Next they practice using those words by writing a simple sentence given in Spanish.

Then the fun begins.  The next sentence given is in Spanish and your child has to read it and use his words for the day to decide what it says.  The fun part?  The sentences are silly.  Really silly!

Like-
I am a big, green cat with long legs.
He is an orange rat with 8 hairs.
This is a pink fish with 9 black wings.
We are yellow monkeys.  We eat pasta.

Finally your child has a space to draw a picture of the sentence. The following four days after, the child writes the same verb and its' conjugations, but adds a few new vocabulary words.  There is another sentence to write each day and another sentence to translate and illustrate, each one equally as silly.  On day five, there is a review page.  On that day you review each of the four silly sentences, translating them in your book. You also conjugate the verb with no help, and review the weeks' vocabulary,  By doing one lesson, which is comprised of 5 days, every two weeks, The Fun Spanish is year long program.  You can use the second week to review the words learned.

Verbs covered-
ser (to be)
estar (to be)
tener (to have)
vivir (to live)
comer (to eat)
jugar (to play)
saltar (to jump)
ver (to see)
oir (to hear)
dormir (to sleep)
querer (to want)

How we have used this program and what we think-

We have been using The Fun Spanish with my 8 year old for about 6 weeks now.  I originally  printed out the first three weeks and keep them loose leafed, but quickly realized they were getting so much use it was better to print it all out at once and bind it.  So yes, I printed out all 203 pages and put my binder to work.  Because Colby has a pretty solid foundation with Spanish vocabulary we have done one lesson a week with good success.  Each day he conjugates the verb, his least favorite part, translates the sentence, his favorite part, and draws the picture.  Sometimes he has me draw with him, but regardless we always end up giggling.

• One, it is fun and engaging.  There is little stress and it flows easily. 
• Secondly, I love that while it teaches vocabulary, the primary focus is on sentence structure.  Most programs we have used in the past teach a lot of vocabulary and nothing else.  While vocabulary is important, I know from experience that knowing all the vocabulary in the world is not helpful if you cannot speak a sentence.  Don't worry if you cannot do this on our own, the answers and translations are provided at the end of each lessons.
• Because Colby is so excited to see what the next silly sentence was going to be, he quickly reads the sentences in Spanish with no hesitation and little thought.  After just a few weeks in a row, he became more and more comfortable and I noticed his speech became more clear and smooth.  Let's face it, the more you practice, the better you become at something and the more comfortable you become.  Silly sentences are not threatening to a child, they are just fun!
• In addition, I noticed that his reading comprehension became better by about week three.  He had to look back at the vocabulary lists less and less which was so encouraging.  

Now The Fun Spanish is one of the first things he wants to do in the morning.  While it may not make him bilingual in a year (what program will?), I have no doubt that it will teach him a lot and make him more comfortable with the Spanish language.  All in all, a great goal for elementary age curriculum!

Language Arts- Homeschool High School Blog Hop

You might as well know right up front that Language Arts tends to be one of my least favorite subjects to teach in high school. (Aside from Biology, of course.  Oh, and maybe Chemistry!)  Which is a little weird, since I LOVE Language Arts.  All parts of it, really. The writing, the reading, and even the diagramming sentences.

BUT, and yes, that is a big BUT, it has been my experience that finding good, solid language arts programs for any age, but teens in particular, is just plain hard.

We have done many.  Just take my word for it.  Many!  But after 17 years of homeschooling (oh my word, that is a long time!) I think we have pretty much got it figured out.  For our current teens at least!

Let me start with a quick look at what I recommend, but then I want to talk to you about a few duel credit ideas.

Writing- IEW- If you are not familiar with the Institute for Excellence of Writing, now is the time to be.  Yes, I do use several other writing programs for younger ages, but by high school I believe every child should do an IEW writing course. At least one.  It is a great foundation for college writing.  I am going to admit to you that I am not a teacher who requires tons of papers and reports in my coursework, so I am thankful Mr. Pudewa is a great teacher that the kids actually enjoy learning from.  He is funny and funny just speaks to teens!

Sharon Watson's courses are also amazing and are great to add in after you have completed IEW coursework.  Look into Writing Fiction (In High School)

Literature- Lightning Literature- We have just begun this program in the past few years after having transitioned out of Sonlight.  I like that it spends more time on fewer books, I like the book selections better, and I like that you have more options in the areas of study you can choose.  It has been a huge blessing to us for 7th and 8th grade, and I look forward to the upper levels.
Most colleges want you to have American Literature, World Literature, and British Literature.  We also add in a year of Christian Literature.

Grammar- This is where it gets a little messy.  It is my belief that if your child does not have a strong foundation in Ggammar by now, you may have a bigger problem on your hands.  I also think that at some point it is time to stop diagramming sentences and put that knowledge to the test, which is where writing comes in.  So, no, we do not do formal grammar at this level anymore.

Vocabulary- This is where I DO think we should concentrate instead.  Because of that we use two different things.  We continue Wordly Wise because it is quick and to the point but very thorough.  We also spend two years using Vocabulary From Classical Roots.  Again, a simple format, but a great program!

And about those foreign languages!
There are lots of good ones out there, so the best advice I can give you is know the learning style of your child and find what fits them best!  Most colleges ask for two years of one language, but some prefer three so make sure you are aware of the requirements of colleges your child might be interested in.  Also note that sign language is a new one that some colleges are accepting, but that is still a new trend so be knowledgeable!

Some to look into are-

• Homeschool Spanish Academy
• Rosetta Stone
• Middlebury Languages

OK, so about Dual Credit.  It is my belief that you should not teach a subject that your child is just going to repeat at a college level.  Mostly.

Here is what I mean.

I have my kids dual-credit classes their junior and senior years to get a jump start on college and as a way to save some money.  If your child has the opportunity to take that American Literature class at a college level and can dual-credit it, then there is no reason for you to teach it and then them take it again.  Ask me how I know this!!  Lesson learned!  It looks ridiculous to have American Literature on your high school transcript twice.

Now consider the "mostly"- If your child is going to be an English major, there may be a need for them to take the course through you and then again at their college.  I certainly feel that way about Biology.  It can never hurt to be covered, just be careful not to create more work for yourself.  Plus, in many cases those college courses can be completed in less time and therefore allow your child to take even more classes.

That is how I have a high school senior that has no classes left to take with me, but is taking multiple classes online currently.  Yes, she is still a senior, but the classes she is taking online count for high school credits AND college credits.  Yes, she will graduate with more credit hours than she needs for highschool, but she will also have her first two years of college close to completed.

Please remember, there is more than one way to slay this dragon and every child is different. Hence the reason that all of my children's transcripts and course loads look different.  Above all, I suggest you know your child, ask for their input, and then help them to be successful!

Visit our Homeschool High School Bloggers this month-

Carol from Home Sweet life shares Homeschooling High School- Language Arts (&History!)

Leah from As We Walk Along the Road shares Teaching Language Arts in High School: Curriculum and Activity Choices

Tess from Circling Through This Life shares Teaching High School Language Arts: Resources

Wendy from Life at Rossmont shares Highschool Language Arts

Erica from Be the One shares Language Arts Resources

Kym from Homeschool Coffee Break shares History in the Form of Stories

Debbie from Debbie’s Homeschool Corner shares Teaching High School English

Gena from I Choose Joy shares Homeschool High School: Using Socratic Discussion for Literature Studies

Laura from Day by Day in Our World shares How to Teach High School Language Arts Without Tears

Join us next month for "How Am I Going To Teach High School?"


Linking up with friends!

Blessings,

All Things Lovely- Week 4 for VCF

So glad you came back for our last week of The Virtual Curriculum Fair!  It has been a hoping place with some great posts from my blogging friends.  A big THANK YOU shout out to Susan from Homeschooling Hearts and Minds for hosting this for the last few years.

If you missed any of my other posts and would like to take a peek back, here they are-
Week 1- The Power in a Word
Week 2- Math and Science, anyone?
 and week 3- The Whos, Wheres and Whys

This weeks theme- Seeking Beauty: the Arts and Everything that Brings Beauty to Our World

What a fun place to end- All Things Lovely!  Here we go!

Art- I am going to just be honest- this is a weakness for me.  I am NOT an artist and I am not very crafty.  Messy is not my thing.  Nice, huh?  But, we have found a few programs that I really do like and have managed to use on a fairly regular basis.
ARTistic Pursuits- No matter what level you need, they have a book for you!  Easy and affordable.

At a high school level I do have my children do a semester of art appreciation.  They study 13 artists and their works that I have chosen, using notebooking techniques and several books that we have found through the years.  They include-
*The Children's Book of Art, Rosie Dickens
*Drawing with Children, Mona Brookes
*Michelangelo and Leonardo daVinci, Diane Stanley


Music- We incorporate a semester of music appreciation as well when the kids are in high school, but, again,  it is a  program that I have put together myself.  I will share a few books with you that we have loved using-
* Lives of the Musicians, Kathleen Krull
*Stories of the Great Composers, Montgomery and Hinson
*The Story of the Orchestra, Robert Levine

Kinderbach is the program we have grown to love for younger kids. We spent 6 weeks reviewing the iPad app last year and were sold on it.  CJ loved playing on the keyboard and doing the activities. Currently, we are reviewing the computer based program and are excited to share that with you soon.  In the meantime I encourage you to visit their website and check out the free lessons.



Foreign Languages- This is where my heart is.  I have always loved listening to other languages and one of my greatest regrets is not paying more attention to my Spanish teacher in high school.  Now that I have a son born in Guatemala, I am passionate about making sure we honor his heritage and birthmom by encouraging him to be bilingual.

 So what we are using these days?

Homeschool Spanish Academy- Yep, you guessed it, another review program, but this is a winner!  My son actually Skypes with a teacher in Guatemala!  So out of my comfort zone at first and a little pricier than other programs, but worth every minute and every penny.  I cannot speak more highly of it and the teachers.

Classical Academy Press- Song School Spanish and Spanish for Children.  You can not go wrong with this company.  We used  the Spanish For Children Levels 1 and 2 and my daughter breezed through three levels of Rosetta Stone on no time.  She is hoping to CLEP out of Spanish soon.

Spanish for You!  is another great program.  If you are looking for a solid program with great lesson plans that you can use for multiple grades, you will want to check this program out.  Think more of a unit study type program, with not just vocabulary but the mechanics of the language as well.

And yes, I do use many of these programs simultaneously.  I am crazy, that way! ;)

A few additional programs to take a look at- Power Glide, Rosetta Stone and Speekee TV.

See, All Things Lovely!  

I am one of those moms that follows lesson plans for the most part.  I like columns and lists and checking off boxes.  Reading- check.  writing- check.  Arithmetic- check.
But I also know that all things lovely add such fun and excitement to our day, that they are things that we should not get too busy to miss.  I hope you too will enjoy some fun along your homeschooling path!

Blessings,



Enjoy so many other lovely posts this week with my fellow bloggers! (links will be live by noon 1/27)

44 Awesome Free Resources to Study Art and Music! by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
Finding Beauty with Classical Composers Monthly by Kristi K. @ The Potter’s Hand Academy
Art and Music Appreciation Resource Lists by Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses
Easy Guided Drawing: Benefits and Resources by Tauna @ Proverbial Homemaker
A Peek into our Homeschool: Seeking Beauty by Brittney @ Mom's Heart
All Things Lovely by Michele P @Family, Faith and Fridays
Virtual Curriculum Fair: the Arts by Jennifer @ a glimpse of our life
You Gotta Have Art! by Lisa@GoldenGrasses
Classical Crochet... Or Something Like That by Laura @ Four Little Penguins
The Art of the Matter by Chelli @ The Planted Trees
Art Curriculum For Homeschoolers by LynnP @ Ladybug Chronicles
The Arts: Creating and Appreciating Beauty by Leah@As We Walk Along the Road
Our Curriculum Choices 2014 ~ The Arts & PDHPE by Renata @ Sunnyside Farm Fun
{Virtual Curriculum Fair 2014} Seeking Beauty: The Arts in Our Classical Homeschool by Sharra @ The Homeschool Marm
Learning Crafts For Kids & Adults by Kim @ Homestead Acres
Finding Time for Beauty in Homeschooling Including Fine Arts by Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
Arts & the Extras ~ These Are Some of Our Favorite Things by HillaryM @ Our Homeschool

CREW Review- Speekee TV

You just have to know upfront that I have been excited about this review since the minute we got it.  And it is very personal for us.  And I am going to go on and on!  And then maybe on some more.

We love Speekee!

Hola, soy Speekee. Y tu?
Hola, soy Jim.
Hola, soy Dino.
Hola, soy Lupi.
Hola!

That's how the videos start.  I typed it by heart.  Wanna know why?  Because CJ is an obsessed Speekee groupie.  Think Elvis or Beetles, here!

Before I get too ahead of myself, let me fill in some details.  Speekee TV is an online video program that teaches younger children (recommended 2-10) Spanish by immersion.  Using the adorable purple puppet, Speekee, two sock puppet friends Dino and Lupe, and then a cast of children in Spain led by the teacher, Jim, your child learns vocabulary, phrases and catchy songs.  (That sometimes make my 14 year old leave the room, I do admit!)  Each of the 10 videos are centered around a theme (cafe, park, school, zoo etc.) and last about 20 minutes long.  There are also individual clips you can watch if you have time for only a few sections in one sitting.  Following the immersion concept, the videos are completely in Spanish, with subtitles available.  To increase your learning, the FastTrack program has been added, which schedules specific learning instructions for a 40 week period.  The added bonus is that these lessons can be emailed to you each week as a reminder.  Worksheets and flashcards are included along with activity suggestions.  While watching the videos your child gets to earn points to use in the mercado (store).  Points buy you colors, patterns or accessories to allow you to change your puppet on the side bar.  This is not an essential part of the program, just a little fun on the side to entertain younger children especially.

So why do we love Speekee?  At the risk of sounding like a infomercial, here goes.

As some of you may know, our family adopted our youngest, now five, from Guatemala at the age of almost two.  Yes, he came home only speaking Spanish and No, we are not bilingual.  At all!  But we tried.  We read bilingual books, listened to tapes,  stumbled over Spanish toddler phrases and did our best to keep his Spanish in tact.  Results- not so much.  We began to see a trend of CJ saying, No Espanol.  It seemed the more we tried, the more he dug his heals in about speaking Spanish.  Seriously!  And then Speekee came into our house and for some bizarre reason my child became obsessed.  He has spoken more Spanish in the past 6 weeks than in his three years home.  And we have watched those videos until we all know them by heart.  CJ's foster mom may still cringe at our pitiful attempt of an accent, but I pray she will be proud of his progress and our commitment to try to honor his heritage.  When we are able to return to Guatemala to visit one day, we may be singing our Spanish, but hey, at least we know a little more than we did a month ago!

A few things about how we used this program.  The FastTrack lesson plans take it nice and slow, which I recommend for slightly older children, but for CJ we put aside the lessons until next year, when he is in first grade.  We have been introducing two videos each week and then each day he chooses which one he would like to watch.  Now he has six to choose from so far and I do usually limit him to only two a day.  Otherwise he might drive us all crazy!  We accidentally got locked out of the program for almost two days (read I forgot the log in and password here) and I thought my child was going to have a meltdown.  We seriously almost Skyped with a fellow CREW member so he could watch along with her child. 

I sit with CJ while he watches the video, occasionally piping in with a translation or repeating something I am not sure he caught.  There are several times during the program that Speekee asks for your response, which CJ loves.  I also sit with him right now because for some reason every time the songs begin he wants to jump up and dance, playing his pretend guitar.  Now I have convinced him that is only needed during the opening and closing song.  An older child should need no guidance except for when you are teaching using the FastTrack lesson plans, but know that they will have to learn to use reasoning to figure out what is being said sometimes.  It takes time and patience for sure, but teaches them to look for visual cues, which Jim is wonderful at giving.  If CJ asks me what they said, I often will pause the video and get him to think about the clues and the context.  If my 5 year old can figure it out, your child can too!  Studies show immersion of a language works best for learning, something we saw firsthand while in Guatemala.

Why he loves it so much...

*Maybe because of the cute purple puppet.  Childish for older kids, probably, but not really for the targeted age.

*The catchy songs which I have to admit run through my head at some point every day!

*The clips that are real people.  Each of those clips are filmed in real places in Spain using real students who speak Spanish.  Maybe he identifies with them, maybe not.  But he LOVES those clips best!  Note- This Spanish is from Spain, not Latin American, so some words are going to be slightly different.

Why I love it so much...

*CJ is learning while having fun!

*CJ asks to do Speekee EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!  More than once, mind you!
*FastTrack is organized and emailed to me.  Printables are included.  You all know how I LOVE lesson plans!
*The cost is great!

My only regret- There are only 10 videos.  While it will take you at least 40 weeks to move through the curriculum and maybe longer to master all that the videos encompass, I KNOW we are going to not want to stop!  So here's a shout out to Jim...we are ready for more!  ;)

You can try two weeks of Speekee for free, which I encourage you to do.  After that it is $7.50 per month, or $60.00 for the year.  You can also buy a DVD boxed set, but since the company is out of the UK, make sure your DVD player is PAL compatible.

 To see what fellow CREW member shad to say about Speekee, click on the banner below.

  Disclaimer- We received a free six month subscription to Speekee TV in exchange for our honest review.  The opinions expressed are our own and were not influenced by the company in any way.