Alicia64 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 I didn't expect to have such a hard time finding a good Spanish program for 7th graders. I've looked into Middlebury Interactive Spanish -- which looks fantastic -- but it has a time limit. If you don't finish in the required time, I guess it disappears. ?? We continue learning over the summer and I'd want to keep doing the program then. Duolingo sounds popular, but the whole "free" thing has me nervous about it. (Am I being dumb?) I've heard over and over not to do Rosetta Stone. Any ideas? I'd like something semi-fun w/ at least a few bells and whistles. For me to just dive into a text book sounds. . . dry. I had Spanish in school, but I need help as the teacher. Thanks! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 My seventh grader has been using Duolingo combined with Spanish for Children this year, and I'm very pleased with his progress. Duolingo is fabulous practice and review, but it doesn't teach a lick of grammar. Spanish for Children is grammar heavy, but needs more review. They compliment each other very nicely. DS/7th spends 20-30 minutes on Duolingo and does about a page of SFC daily. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 My seventh grader has been using Duolingo combined with Spanish for Children this year, and I'm very pleased with his progress. Duolingo is fabulous practice and review, but it doesn't teach a lick of grammar. Spanish for Children is grammar heavy, but needs more review. They compliment each other very nicely. DS/7th spends 20-30 minutes on Duolingo and does about a page of SFC daily.This is exactly what I'm doing with my 6th grader and it's working out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 Looks good! Any other suggestions? Has anyone tried/loved Flip Flop? Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasien7 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 My 4th grader does Middlebury Interactive and loves it. I can't comment on the middle grades, but for his level, he flew through the first semester in about 6-8 weeks. He only does about 10 min/day, 4 days a week, so it's not like he spends an excessive amount of time on it. This means the program ends up being really pricey because we will end up going through 4 semesters this year. $400 is a lot to spend on one year of a program that I can't even use with my other kids! But...he does love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasien7 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Oh, and my 5th, 7th, and 8th graders do Rosetta Stone Spanish. The 4th grader who does Middlebury studies French. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Don't be scared off by DuoLingo being free. It's one of the best programs out there for getting people able to listen and speak quickly. They don't explicitly teach grammar (neither does Rosetta Stone), and so it needs paired with someone that explicitly teaches grammar. DuoLingo paired with a Spanish grammar workbook from Practice Makes Perfect has me comfortable enough to travel in Spanish-speaking countries. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Don't be scared off by DuoLingo being free. It's one of the best programs out there for getting people able to listen and speak quickly. They don't explicitly teach grammar (neither does Rosetta Stone), and so it needs paired with someone that explicitly teaches grammar. DuoLingo paired with a Spanish grammar workbook from Practice Makes Perfect has me comfortable enough to travel in Spanish-speaking countries.Another nice thing with Duolingo is that you can "follow" people. My son is motivated by a friendly competition with me. seriously, I spend 10 minutes or so and he gets him motivated to keep going. He uses it along with Homeschool Spanish Academy. I love HSA, he just doesn't review on his own initiative, so this provides review in a way that he accepts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 We use Middlebury Interactive and love it! We bought it through the HSBC and you have a whole year to use a semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 If you want a good starter, try the inexpensive Getting Started with Spanish. Once you are done with that one, start Duolingo and jump into your next program. Spanish for Children didn't work for us - not enough review & it went too quickly - but several people have made it work for them, so your mileage may vary. (We did try it & got about halfway through before abandoning ship. What SfC covers is GREAT. GSWS + Duolingo + half of SfC set up my dd#1 to really excel in high school Spanish I last year since she already knew some of the vocab and quite a bit of the grammar concepts. Both she & I are on Duolingo, so there is that competition aspect here, too. She's ahead of me in her Spanish tree, but she also has a two-year login streak vs. my puny one-year one. :lol: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 I'm going to try Galore Park Spanish with my rising 5th grader this upcoming year. We currently use DuoLingo after finishing GSWS. She's ready for more and I haven't found many good options for middle grade kids. So we thought we would try that program this year and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I'm going to try Galore Park Spanish with my rising 5th grader this upcoming year. We currently use DuoLingo after finishing GSWS. She's ready for more and I haven't found many good options for middle grade kids. So we thought we would try that program this year and see how it goes.Lexi, I am curious how your Spanish journey with Galore Park goes. After several years of Latin, ds11 asks to do Spanish. Where did you buy GP Spanish textbook, answer key book, and CDs? I placed an ad on the Classified forum, but I am not sue it is a widely used program at WTM. Please share your experience with it if you can. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I just got our stuff in the mail. I ordered from Ray's Horrible Books. We are going to jump in and start in August. So I will try to update as I go. I'm hoping this program fits what we're been looking for. It was so frustrating to find so few options for middle school Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 (edited) I think there are actually a lot of options for middle school Spanish, but you have to be willing to fight through the hassle of ordering from a traditional school publishing company, be willing to pay more, and typically be a Spanish speaker too. We started using Español Santillana last year, and we both are finally very happy with a Spanish program. I've posted a lengthy review elsewhere in the forum, but it's much easier to order now than it was. However, it's quite expensive, which isn't great for homeschoolers. Considering how much money and time I wasted searching for programs for elementary, I am glad I just finally spent the money. You also definitely need to be a Spanish speaker to teach this program, and it's not one that students can do independently. I have a BA in Spanish, and we prefer to work together so it's a perfect solution for us. We'll finish 1B this year, and then start Spanish 1 in 8th. Their program goes all the way to AP Spanish which thrills me too. http://www.santillanausa.com/catalogs/secondary-catalog/spanish-as-a-world-language/espanol-santillana-6-12.html Edited July 27, 2016 by deerforest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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