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In the awesome online class thread, I saw several on-line spanish class options. It looks fairly new, but I'm looking for feedback on the Spanish Clicks one. How was the online interface? What did you think of the teacher? Did your kid get plenty of conversation practice? How was the actual text used? What was the level of work in terms of hrs/week? 

 

Please include what level of Spanish was taken & how old your dc was. Thanks!

[Edited to update title to just "Online Spanish" as Spanish Clicks has pretty much shut down except for Spanish II. Also added a couple of tags.]

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Thanks for posting about La Clase Divertida, OhE. I did look into it, but mine won't be in high school yet next year so I wasn't sure if it would be 'too much' for her? And, it wasn't clear from the sign-up form if the class meets twice a week or once per week. How much homework does she have? Is it mostly in the text or online?

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Thanks for posting about La Clase Divertida, OhE. I did look into it, but mine won't be in high school yet next year so I wasn't sure if it would be 'too much' for her? And, it wasn't clear from the sign-up form if the class meets twice a week or once per week. How much homework does she have? Is it mostly in the text or online?

Well look at his website and see.  I can't remember if he offers 1/2 speed junior high classes or not.  It's not unheard of someone to do a high school language in 8th for credit, but I would only do that if she's avidly interested, kwim?  It's DEFINITELY a high school class.  He has them do a LOT of work.  Dd, I think you know from talking with me, has some struggles.  Her word recall is in the toilet, and vocab for languages has always been very, very hard for her.  Grammar she's awesome at, and she can meet deadlines, etc. etc.  Her grades are hilarious, because she'll be tip top for class participation, homework, etc. and struggle with the vocab, struggling to keep a B.  It's just a weakness for her.  I'm thinking I might try to go back this summer and give her some more ways to approach it.  (visualization, etc.)  

 

On paper it's 3 hours of class a week plus homework.  She jokes that they start on Gamache time, which means they start early and end late.  She loves the class and never balks, but it's a lot for her.  She usually disappears into the office around 6:00 and reappears around 7:30.  That's twice a week.  The homework probably (undoubtedly!) takes her longer than the average bear, and I'm guessing she has 3-4 hours into it a week minimum.  It's not uncommon for her to spend 1 1/2 hours a day working on it.  It's hard for her, remember.  The instructor is terrific, the software terrific, the textbook with the online exercises terrific.  The whole thing is bringing it in reach for her, where she would have struggled with a format with less dimensions, less modalities, less homework.  

 

She didn't really have a strong language preference and knew it was going to be hard no matter what she did, given her past experiences.  She's doing it because I told her we wanted to keep doors option for all majors and all colleges.  She's unable to do sign language in a traditional setting (she can't imitate, praxis), so she couldn't go that ASL route.  It had to be a spoken language, and this class came up.  It's affordable, and the instructor does an AMAZING job.  The ONLY thing that I think would bug some people is that the homework can be uneven.  We as homeschoolers tend to want everything all nice and even, planned out on a grid. Dr. Carol Reynolds of Discovering Music talked about this at the convention and said it HARMS our kids in the long-run and HAS to be undone by the time they graduate.  No college professor will care about being fair or even or balancing their loads.  Sr. Gamache is just being normal to the profession, and I figure it's her first taste in meeting outside deadlines and dealing with unfairness.  It has been good for her in that sense, and happily she has the kind of personality that can roll with it.

 

His price is very fair and so much lower than others' I didn't know what to make of it.  He's spending more time than almost anyone else I've seen online for these classes, giving a very interactive, engaging experience, and charging half the price.  Blows my mind his classes aren't filling up!  Sign up for him people, he's AWESOME!  As far as the text, it's a set of college texts with an online site code to access the online resources.  It's a terrific way to work and gets it beyond the typical paper shoving and flashcards.  You have videos, audio, online lessons they can listen to, online exercises, etc.  He spreads that text over 3 years, so you only have the hit the first year.  I got my stuff used on amazon and found a text that said it included the site code.  

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Thanks for taking the time to add so much detail.  :hurray:

 

I did look at the website & I'll admit crossing them off my list originally because there is a gap between the Level 1, 2, 3 materials (which are listed through 7th grade) and his high school level classes. I know my dd isn't ready for high school level classes yet. I know some people who would love the twice-per-week contact, especially at the same price (or half the price) of other classes that meet only once per week. DD really needs someone to speak Spanish with & hear others using it. She knows the vocab & some grammar (only present tense), but putting it together herself into conversation is difficult and pulling the meaning out of other's spoken words takes her awhile. Listening to me butcher the Spanish with a French accent isn't helping!

 

I wondered what level that text was as I know of other classes (including Spanish Clicks) that use other texts by the same publisher. The publisher's website doesn't tell you what 'level' they are, really, so it wasn't clear. That's great that he's able to use a college text and spread it over three years. 

 

I'll certainly keep his class in mind for a couple years from now. I hope he'll still be offering it!

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He's doing some conventions this, so you could talk with him in person or drop him an email.  I asked dd, and she has no clue if there are 8th graders in there or not.  Fall is a long time away.  She might do better than you think, especially given that she already has some background.

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