Woodland Mist Academy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 It's time to start outsourcing. Trying to stay a step or two ahead in every subject isn't working anymore. Spanish will be the first to go. Does anyone know of online classes that start in the spring semester? I'm only finding ones that have the fall semester as a prerequisite. It looks like CTY might have one, but I cannot find what days it is offered. The only information I can find says the teacher will send out the days of the classes a few days before the class starts. What?!? :confused1: Am I reading that incorrectly? Do people really sign up and pay $$$ without knowing when the classes meet? Any input on CTY Spanish or other possibilities for a spring session of Spanish would be wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/502259-online-spanish/?hl=spanish&do=findComment&comment=5722270 and self-paced http://allinonehighschool.com/full-curriculum/spanish/spanish-1/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Is there anyone local that could tutor? Even another homeschooler? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Gamache of La Clase Divertide might be able to work it out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Duolingo is working for our 7th grader. Free online, self-paced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Thanks, everyone! My daughter has used Duolingo in the past, but at this point is ready for more interaction. Since it's mid-year, I think we may either just keep using Breaking the Barrier and Pimsleur for now and start a class in the fall or find a tutor for this semester. I'll also check into the other options mentioned. Thanks, again! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 If you aren't scared away by the pricetag, the high school board recommends Ray Levin for these sort of circumstances since he will skype with your daughter to determine placement and there are always private tutoring lessons available. One of the moms on the high school board had her son do Spanish 3 quickly during the summer & now he's in the Honors Spanish 4 class. See the thread where this was recommended. (My daughter takes through Sr. Gamache & is doing great. But I think it would be tough to start mid-year without some placement determination and possibly extra tutoring.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Alyssa* Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Homeschool Spanish Academy? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 If you aren't scared away by the pricetag, the high school board recommends Ray Levin for these sort of circumstances since he will skype with your daughter to determine placement and there are always private tutoring lessons available. One of the moms on the high school board had her son do Spanish 3 quickly during the summer & now he's in the Honors Spanish 4 class. See the thread where this was recommended. (My daughter takes through Sr. Gamache & is doing great. But I think it would be tough to start mid-year without some placement determination and possibly extra tutoring.) I'm seriously considering La Clase Divertida for next year. I'd love to hear anything you'd care to share about the class! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Homeschool Spanish Academy? Have you used this? If you have, I'd love to hear about your experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 It's time to start outsourcing. Trying to stay a step or two ahead in every subject isn't working anymore. Spanish will be the first to go. Does anyone know of online classes that start in the spring semester? I'm only finding ones that have the fall semester as a prerequisite. It looks like CTY might have one, but I cannot find what days it is offered. The only information I can find says the teacher will send out the days of the classes a few days before the class starts. What?!? :confused1: Am I reading that incorrectly? Do people really sign up and pay $$$ without knowing when the classes meet? Any input on CTY Spanish or other possibilities for a spring session of Spanish would be wonderful! Yes, I also thought CTY scheduling was weird but you should email them your availability because I think they do take it into consideration and in our experience they have very small classes. I emailed months before, knowing of DS's unmovable conflict (tennis) and paid and waited and waited... We did get the desired schedule. They may also give you a tentative schedule over email.I have to say, the price, and bizarre scheduling, is ALL worth it. DS loves this class, and I do think one gets value for the $. Class is twice a week, an extra 30 min Skype session with TA and an extra 15 min Skype session with instructor. I wish they had a French class; DS would take all his language classes through CTY if I could help it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I'm seriously considering La Clase Divertida for next year. I'd love to hear anything you'd care to share about the class! :) OhE's daughter is a year ahead of mine, so she has lots more experience w/Sr. Gamache. She was (and is) a wealth of information on La Clase. If you are the structured-rigid-schedule type, you'll likely get a bit frustrated with him. My daughter LOVES the class, interacts with her "classmates" through email for help & questions quite a bit, and has to work really hard. She's on the young end for the class, but so far is doing pretty well. We did a couple of years of work (Getting Started with Spanish & some of Spanish for Children A) as well as Duolingo, so she has some words already but the class is still stretching her, especially orally. I couldn't give her the speaking aspect and that's what she gets a lot of practice with. I didn't want to be tied down to twice-a-week classes, but it is helpful to have with a foreign language. The homework is kinda ebb-and-flow ish. You have to pace yourself a bit with some of it and can get really behind if you don't. (Ask me how I know this.) The homework assignments aren't always really clear. He's very engaging to the kids, but somewhat scattered in his implementation of grading/assignments. So, bottom line -- if you are looking for an excellent instructor in terms of teaching and don't mind him being unorganized and a bit crazy in terms of last-minute stuff that doesn't work quite right, he's a perfect fit. I'm really happy that she's learning to speak Spanish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I'm seriously considering La Clase Divertida for next year. I'd love to hear anything you'd care to share about the class! :) You still might give him a buzz and see if you can get in 2nd semester. He has said he can work with people to do that and it would put you in a better position for fall. He uses the same text (a college level text from Vistas) spread over three years, so there's no benefit to waiting. Yes, Gamache is a livewire. He's a lot of fun. He's a regular high school teacher in a ps in FL, and regular teachers don't lay out everything on grids and make everything perfect and fair the way homeschoolers do. I consider it preparation for what they'll really run into. My dd has NO problems keeping track of her assignments, and she has adhd, meaning if anyone could screw it up she would. Gamache spends 3 hours a week with the kids in live instruction and I notice that Ray Levin only spends 1. That means they're marketing to dramatically different kids. Gamache spends a lot of time with them building proficiency, which is why the due dates will flex a bit, because he's actually teaching them and working with them, not just shoving them through a syllabus and throwing assignments at them. My dd has struggled to do well with a language, and Gamache provides enough support and structure that she can get it to work. She works twice as much as any of her classmates, btw, so she spends horrible amounts of time on it. She has low word retrieval and processing speed, so it's just plain HARD for her. But, as a person who found languages easy and enjoyable (I've studied four, minored in russian, etc.) I'm EXTREMELY impressed with what they're covering and how he applies the material. This is not a measely memorization class at all. In year 2 he's got them reading books and writing compositions in spanish. It's AWESOME. I have NO doubt she'll do well on the CLEP after spanish 3. Side note. That Ray Levin is using a Vistas text with supersite code and that's what Gamache does as well. They're using different texts I think. (I don't have a copy in front of me to check.) I got my text on amazon and it included an unused supersite code. If you happen to find a text stating it has one, you might be able to get your text for a pittance right now. That means your only major cost would be the tuition for 2nd semester. That's why I'm saying if you want in, jump now. There's no real benefit to waiting. If you call or email him, I'm sure he can work with you on placement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Yes, I also thought CTY scheduling was weird but you should email them your availability because I think they do take it into consideration and in our experience they have very small classes. I emailed months before, knowing of DS's unmovable conflict (tennis) and paid and waited and waited... We did get the desired schedule. They may also give you a tentative schedule over email. I have to say, the price, and bizarre scheduling, is ALL worth it. DS loves this class, and I do think one gets value for the $. Class is twice a week, an extra 30 min Skype session with TA and an extra 15 min Skype session with instructor. I wish they had a French class; DS would take all his language classes through CTY if I could help it. How much homework is there for the class? About how long does he spend studying for the class? Do you feel it's a rigorous class and not just busy work? (I'm not looking for games...) From what I've read, the class looks almost ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 How much homework is there for the class? About how long does he spend studying for the class? Do you feel it's a rigorous class and not just busy work? (I'm not looking for games...) From what I've read, the class looks almost ideal.There is homework and a quiz due at the end of the week. Midterm and final. Frankly it is not much homework and I'd prefer it to be more, but he is enjoying the class and is retaining pretty well. Maybe because there's several "contact points" with the language each week? Last week he had to write that week's vocab words three times each and fill out another page worksheet where he had to assemble various words into sentences. It may be different with Spanish as they won't have to spend as much time with the alphabet... I will say the homework load for the CTY elementary level Arabic class is very different than the high school level French class he is also taking this semester (that meets once a week). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 There is homework and a quiz due at the end of the week. Midterm and final. Frankly it is not much homework and I'd prefer it to be more, but he is enjoying the class and is retaining pretty well. Maybe because there's several "contact points" with the language each week? Last week he had to write that week's vocab words three times each and fill out another page worksheet where he had to assemble various words into sentences. It may be different with Spanish as they won't have to spend as much time with the alphabet... I will say the homework load for the CTY elementary level Arabic class is very different than the high school level French class he is also taking this semester (that meets once a week). Hmm...that doesn't seem like much. We're using Breaking the Barrier and Pimsleur now... I wonder if we would be better off continuing with those... Which program were you using before? Is the online class producing better results? Where is he taking French? ETA: On second thought, maybe it's good the class isn't overwhelming with homework. This will be her first outsourced class, so there will be a period of adjustment. Maybe not having lots of homework is not a bad thing...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I did not attempt to teach Arabic on my own ;) so this is the very first introduction. I wanted him to like it well enough to continue and he does. I think a lot of the heavy lifting is done in class bc as I said they meet twice a week plus the Skype sessions. I suspect it will get harder...we are in it for the long haul. French is a different story; we had self studied on our own for some time and he placed into French 2 with AIM academy (I wanted a secular option). It has, for him, a 5th grader, a ton of homework and I don't think you learn a language on a once a week class. So for French, he also does a one hour tutoring Skype session with a native speaker each week (and that has has its own homework) for Arabic we obviously don't have to do this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Just for your trivia, students in Gamache's La Clase Divertide tend to work about an hour a day and they have 2 1/2 (formally, more like 3 in reality) hours in class a week. You use the supersite materials for the text, so there are online exercises, audiolabs, etc. etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Just for your trivia, students in Gamache's La Clase Divertide tend to work about an hour a day and they have 2 1/2 (formally, more like 3 in reality) hours in class a week. You use the supersite materials for the text, so there are online exercises, audiolabs, etc. etc. Good to know! Thanks! This one is still on my short list of possibilities for next year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Is La Clase Divertida a religious class? There is mention of missionary work on the website. Is the class geared toward missionary kids? We are secular homeschoolers, so this is one concern I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Is La Clase Divertida a religious class? There is mention of missionary work on the website. Is the class geared toward missionary kids? We are secular homeschoolers, so this is one concern I have. During the 'welcome' meeting with students (and parents if you want) to figure out the technology the week before class started, he prayed. I don't think he's done that for class ever. He did seem very pleased to finally get answers like "minister" or "youth pastor" when they were naming professions. Sometimes he refers to the kids as Christians or asks what your bible study/church does for whatever (something they are studying, for example). They were learning about the names for types of music recently. He named a rock band, a country band, and a christian artist and asked for thumbs up/down (via a little button on the video interaction thing he uses) on whether the kids had heard/liked of each one. It seemed like a lot more of the kids knew the christian artist. My daughter hadn't ever heard of 'em. So, not geared that way but there is an occasional mention/question/slant. Some kids wouldn't even notice, I'd bet. ETA: Obviously, mine did. But it hasn't bothered her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 There is homework and a quiz due at the end of the week. Midterm and final. Frankly it is not much homework and I'd prefer it to be more, but he is enjoying the class and is retaining pretty well. Maybe because there's several "contact points" with the language each week? Last week he had to write that week's vocab words three times each and fill out another page worksheet where he had to assemble various words into sentences. It may be different with Spanish as they won't have to spend as much time with the alphabet... I will say the homework load for the CTY elementary level Arabic class is very different than the high school level French class he is also taking this semester (that meets once a week). Is he taking the elementary level Spanish? I know he's doing a mix of levels, so I'm unsure which Spanish level he is doing. I've been wondering if the high school level CTY Spanish would have more homework. I'm hoping what you listed is just for elementary level or if it is high school, that it will ramp up eventually. Thanks for all you responses to my questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 My son is taking Arabic :) yes, elementary level. I actually asked the teacher about the work load, which I believe it needed to be more, and she advised that it goes up next class (Arabic 2, still elementary). She said, and I agree, that the first class is designed to teach the Arabic alphabet and warm the kids up to the language. If worked, for mine ;) I am certain even middle school level has more work, never mind high school. And Spanish doesn't have the added complication of having to teach a brand new alphabet. Read In the opposite direction. With various marks that totally change the meaning of the word. And letters that look differently alone than when joined together ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Thank you! Sorry about my confusion. I thought he was taking Spanish, Arabic, and French.... What you posted makes sense and is quite helpful! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Thank you! Sorry about my confusion. I thought he was taking Spanish, Arabic, and French.... What you posted makes sense and is quite helpful! Thanks again! He is also taking French, so your confusion is justified. Not through CTY though as they don't have a French class. If they did, we'd be all over that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Homeschooler Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 We use and love http://www.LiveLingua.com for a conversational Spanish class delivered thru Skype. I bought a bundle and pay about $12 per hour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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