Alpha Omega's Spanish Lifepacs.....opinions?

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Has anyone here used Alpha Omega's Spanish I Lifepacs? I'm looking for any comments, pros/cons, comparisons with other Spanish programs. How does this compare to Visual Link Spanish which seems to be a favorite on this board?

 

Dd will be in 9th grade next year. She has used 2 of 3 years of Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish.... didn't work well for her. This year, she is using Getting Started with Spanish.

 

Foreign languages are not a high interest subject here and dd won't be majoring in them, so I'm simply trying to find something that will earn Spanish credits.

[mom31257]

:lurk5: Dd is using VL Spanish 1 this year, but I realized about a month into it that I didn't know what I would do about grades. Right now I'm making up tests over each of the sections. They are just matching, true/false, write some phrases or sentences type questions. It's been fairly easy to just use the small handbook to make those up. I don't know if it will be that easy for next year. I wondered if I should add something like AO Lifepacs to it for the purpose of more grades.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Jen the RD]

:bigear:

 

Giving this a bump because I want to know about AOP Spanish I as well. I am looking for input on Switched On rather than LifePacs, but I understand that it is the same material. Right ???

 

[i am NOT looking at the Elementary/Intermediate Spanish SOS courses, which I understand are something completely different (Power Glide, i think)]

 

Surely someone has used AOP for high school :confused:

 

Shari & Sweet home alabama,

I don't know the answers to your questions, but I was going to suggest doing a search on this board for SOS and Jean in Wisconsin. If memory serves me correctly, she highly praised that curriculum (also from Alpha Omega). Her dc have graduated, so I'm not sure she frequents the board anymore.

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[hsbeth]

We are currently using Spanish 1 Lifepacs this year with our dd in 10th grade. She studied Latin in grades 6-9 and opted not to continue with it. She was really insistent on Spanish. I got her samples of several things to look at and then we went to a local shop so she could see some materials in person. She chose the LP's. So far she seems to be doing well. She does 3-4 sections each week and has taken the test at the end of the first three units. The teacher's manual is very helpful and I've had no problem correcting her work.

 

I honestly have no background or interest in Spanish. I've studied French and Latin only. It seems to be adequate to me, based on comparing the pacing, vocab., and grammar content to other foreign language programs. There is an audio cd that she drills with each week as well.

 

Also, dd is a math/science oriented kid and isn't super interested in FL studies. I wasn't looking for something super rigorous.

 

If you're looking for something basic and that's relatively student directed this may work well for you.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

We are currently using Spanish 1 Lifepacs this year with our dd in 10th grade. She studied Latin in grades 6-9 and opted not to continue with it. She was really insistent on Spanish. I got her samples of several things to look at and then we went to a local shop so she could see some materials in person. She chose the LP's. So far she seems to be doing well. She does 3-4 sections each week and has taken the test at the end of the first three units. The teacher's manual is very helpful and I've had no problem correcting her work.

 

I honestly have no background or interest in Spanish. I've studied French and Latin only. It seems to be adequate to me, based on comparing the pacing, vocab., and grammar content to other foreign language programs. There is an audio cd that she drills with each week as well.

 

Also, dd is a math/science oriented kid and isn't super interested in FL studies. I wasn't looking for something super rigorous.

 

If you're looking for something basic and that's relatively student directed this may work well for you.

 

HSBeth,

Thank you. This is helpful. There is a homeschool group that offers high school classes in my area, and they use AP LifePacs. This would be an easy way for us to do Spanish.

 

Thanks very much for responding!

[HollyDay]

I used LifePacs yeas ago (when the language component was still on cassette!) to help me when we moved to Miami. It was beneficial to me, so we chose it for dd (new with cds) who is now in 10th grade.

 

It is not what I would call an easy program. It jumps right in with vocabulary and spelling in the first unit. The cd will dictate a word and the student is expected to be able to spell it correctly and understand the differences in the spanish alphabet. I can see why this program is counted as a 1 credit course.

 

Dd is actually enjoying it!! We have a cdrom interactive program, Fluenz, which my youngest liked, but my oldest did not. It is okay, and does include some writing. But, my oldest is much more of a workbook learner. We plan to stick with the LifePAc for both Spanish 1 and 2. Many of the colleges dd has considered want 3 credits of the same language. I'm not sure what we will use for the 3rd credit.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I used LifePacs yeas ago (when the language component was still on cassette!) to help me when we moved to Miami. It was beneficial to me, so we chose it for dd (new with cds) who is now in 10th grade.

 

It is not what I would call an easy program. It jumps right in with vocabulary and spelling in the first unit. The cd will dictate a word and the student is expected to be able to spell it correctly and understand the differences in the spanish alphabet. I can see why this program is counted as a 1 credit course.

 

Dd is actually enjoying it!! We have a cdrom interactive program, Fluenz, which my youngest liked, but my oldest did not. It is okay, and does include some writing. But, my oldest is much more of a workbook learner. We plan to stick with the LifePAc for both Spanish 1 and 2. Many of the colleges dd has considered want 3 credits of the same language. I'm not sure what we will use for the 3rd credit.

 

 

Thanks, Holly! Dd has completed 2 of 3 years of Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish and is working through Getting Started with Spanish this year. (RS just wasn't a good fit.... expensive mistake). Maybe, though, with that foundation, the LifePacs won't be a complete shock. She's been exposed to a lot of vocabulary. Grammar..... not so much.