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Talk to me about Landry Academy writing, Spanish, and art classes


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We jsut bought 8 credits with the group buy. Now I wonder what classes we should choose. Ds13 will do Latin 2 with me at home this school year. I can foresee that he might need to transit to Spanish in 9th grade. I wonder how Landry Spanish compares with other online Spanish. If you have expereince with it, please share.

Dc are doing WHA and TPS writing this year. I will see how they go. How is Landry writing?

I may have dc take art, geography, world hisotry or some other electives. Thoughts? Please share your experience.

What are your favorite Landry classes?

Thanks!

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Trinqueta is currently doing Spanish IV at Landry. It's a big step up from Spanish 3 with a lot more writing required. For us, this is a positive but I can imagine some kids being overwhelmed. We did Spanish 1 at home and T did Landry's Spanish 2 and 3 with Sra. Lamolinara. I thought the classes were well done and kept a good pace. But, and it might be a very big but, I speak Spanish so I can always explain the grammar and idiomatic expressions on the fly. If you don't have access to a Spanish speaker, you will probably need to attend office hours if you have any questions. I like the Avancemos series and there are lots of support materials available for free on their website.

 

T is currently taking Art History: Renaissance through 19th Century. She really likes this class and it does a nice job of incorporating art projects into a high school level art history course. They use Gombrich's Story of Art.

 

All of the history classes use BJU (or similar) textbooks. We've never enrolled because of that but it might be a positive for others.

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My dd took intermediate writing last year. Instructor (Wallace) was great, but that class was pretty grammar heavy. I liked the instructor so much DS it taking with her now.

 

DS took watercolor pencil, and I wouldn't recommend it. I think it's too hard to teach art online. If you have an artist and they need accountability to do regular projects, then I think it's a good system.

Edited by FriedClams
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Trinqueta is currently doing Spanish IV at Landry. It's a big step up from Spanish 3 with a lot more writing required. For us, this is a positive but I can imagine some kids being overwhelmed. We did Spanish 1 at home and T did Landry's Spanish 2 and 3 with Sra. Lamolinara. I thought the classes were well done and kept a good pace. But, and it might be a very big but, I speak Spanish so I can always explain the grammar and idiomatic expressions on the fly. If you don't have access to a Spanish speaker, you will probably need to attend office hours if you have any questions. I like the Avancemos series and there are lots of support materials available for free on their website.

 

T is currently taking Art History: Renaissance through 19th Century. She really likes this class and it does a nice job of incorporating art projects into a high school level art history course. They use Gombrich's Story of Art.

 

All of the history classes use BJU (or similar) textbooks. We've never enrolled because of that but it might be a positive for others.

 

Can you give me an idea of how much homework they assign for the Spanish classes, and how much of it comes from which sources?  (Text, wkbk, online exercises).  I'm trying to wrap my brain around how once a week Spanish classes could be successful.

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Can you give me an idea of how much homework they assign for the Spanish classes, and how much of it comes from which sources?  (Text, wkbk, online exercises).  I'm trying to wrap my brain around how once a week Spanish classes could be successful.

In Spanish 2 and 3, the teacher transcribed the work that had to be turned in into an online "test" with no time limit so students didn't have to fool around with scanning or uploading. The exercises come from the workbook and textbook. In addition, there are always extra videos posted on the weekly page. IMHO, there is not enough oral practice unless you use the office hour, use all the available recordings on the Avancemos webpage whether they're assigned or not, or have someone who can practice with you in person.

 

In Spanish 4, the teacher posts quite a bit of work that she doesn't expect to be turned in, a weekly assignment similar to the Spanish 2 and 3 tests and additional reading and composition assignments. It's a lot more work than Spanish 3. If you do it and do it well you'll finish the year with a decent grasp of Spanish grammar and vocabulary. You won't be fluent until you spend a couple of months in a Spanish speaking country where you have no choice but to use it, whether or not you're embarrassed.

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DD is in French 3 and Spanish 3. For both classes there is not enough speaking opportunities, but we have a French tutor and a Hispanic family friend. I'm thinking it's worth the price paid ($45 per credit) but not worth full price. For full price tuition I would go with Ray Leven which I may have to next year. I like Spanish 3 because all the work is on one page as an open book quiz that can be saved and worked on during the week.

I'm undecided on French mainly because I find it cumbersome to have DD use Word and fill in a workbook and then scan and upload. The textbook is online, but I bought the hard copy as well. I didn't want to DD to go back and forth from Word to the textbook. French has a lot of homework, but DD has only spoken 3 times total during the last 2 classes. It's just hard to get more speaking time when the teacher has to cover grammar and pronounce words.

So far, it's been a review of everything she has been working on with her French tutor and after Sr. Gamache's Spanish 1. We mainly used italki.com for Spanish conversation.

The reason why I would go with Ray Leven for upper Spanish is that he has an AP class, so taking a year of Spanish with him before the AP class seems like a better way to prepare for the AP.

 

ETA: I think I was being too picky. There are speaking opportunities in Spanish 3. In fact, most of the grammar is done outside of class in videos. I just find the patterns of Spanish questions a bit too predictable in a classroom setting, but I'm not sure how off-the-cuff a teacher can be with 17 kids. But I do really like Spanish 3 at Landry.

Edited by crazyforlatin
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DD is in French 3 and Spanish 3. For both classes there is not enough speaking opportunities, but we have a French tutor and a Hispanic family friend. I'm thinking it's worth the price paid ($45 per credit) but not worth full price. For full price tuition I would go with Ray Leven which I may have to next year. I like Spanish 3 because all the work is on one page as an open book quiz that can be saved and worked on during the week.

 

I'm undecided on French mainly because I find it cumbersome to have DD use Word and fill in a workbook and then scan and upload. The textbook is online, but I bought the hard copy as well. I didn't want to DD to go back and forth from Word to the textbook. French has a lot of homework, but DD has only spoken 3 times total during the last 2 classes. It's just hard to get more speaking time when the teacher has to cover grammar and pronounce words.

 

So far, it's been a review of everything she has been working on with her French tutor and after Sr. Gamache's Spanish 1. We mainly used italki.com for Spanish conversation.

 

The reason why I would go with Ray Leven for upper Spanish is that he has an AP class, so taking a year of Spanish with him before the AP class seems like a better way to prepare for the AP.

Why did dd not continue with Gamache Spanish 2? It sounds like Landry Spanish 3 is only equivalent to or half a level above Gamache 1?
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We could have continued and maybe we should have, but I focused on her conversational skills for year 2. Landry Spanish 3 is level 3 based on the book and the quiz 1, which looked hard to me. It's definitely not level 2. I was just trying to say that Dd made enough progress on her own last year that I think she is farther along than a beginner Spanish 3 student, so for her it's sort of a review. I have to say that I really like the way the teacher sets up homework and videos. At this level where Dd is taking a number of classes, I hope things can be streamlined. I'm just used to classes done efficiently like at Lukeion.

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The first unit in Avancemos 3 is review. It's even called Unidad Preliminar. It starts covering new grammar in Unidad 1 and covers everything through the imperfect subjunctive. Avancemos 4 is all grammar review, a lot of new vocabulary and an emphasis on writing complete responses instead of filling in the blank.

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My boys are currently taking Spanish 1 and so far I am very pleased. They have daily homework but it's not overwhelming. I imagine it will begin to increase in difficulty soon.

 

My children have used a lot of Landry Academy classes and almost all of them have been fantastic. It usually comes down to the teacher. If you get a great instructor then almost any topic can be interesting and vice versa.

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Have you looked at EasyPeasy high school's Spanish 1? If you go with it, I would have him work a certain amount of time per day, not just do one lesson a day. I'd have him keep going into Spanish 2 or however far he gets. He would also need conversation practice.

 

However, I wouldn't switch languages if he doesn't want to switch. I'd allow him to continue with Latin, just having him redo one part of one old lesson each day when doing a new lesson. More practice will cement his translations, vocab, and grammar.

Edited by RootAnn
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Thanks, RootAnn. Latin is harder than Spanish I believe. On the other hand, Latin is easier in that it deson't require listening and speaking. Ds is not a strong language learner. He is turning 14 very soon. So I feel the clock is ticking for him to have a langauge he can stick with for the rest of his homeschool years before college. I will take a look at Easy Peasy.

Can someone share sample pages from Advancemos 1 or 2? I searched and couldn't find any. I want to see if I can pull it off teaching ds myself.

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The Great Courses has a Spanish course that is highly rated.

 

Learning Spanish: How to Understand and Speak a New Language

 

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/learning-spanish-how-to-understand-and-speak-a-new-language.html

This looks great!

I just made an offer on eBay for Chinese Link. I will teach Chinese Mandarin for the second round. Ds had a two year break after a 5-year Chinese study. Since I am a native speaker, it will be OK for me to teach, better than Spanish and Latin, which I just learn a few steps ahead of him.

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I can't comment on the language arts and writing classes but I can give a little feedback on the Art and Art History classes.  DD loved the art classes she has taken but they were with Tim Chambers.  Sadly, I don't think he teaches at Landry anymore.  He was fantastic.  She learned wonderful techniques.  That man is amazing.

 

Since then DD has been taking Art History courses with Julie Rapelje (someone up thread mentioned her Renaissance to the 18th Century course).  Julie has 4 time periods for Art History that she teaches (she may teach other classes, too).  DD has taken two time periods so far.  DD still does art projects from a past class and has definitely learned a lot about history (a subject she used to loathe), art history, and art.  

 

Julie is a great teacher.  She is funny, energetic, and very encouraging.  She expects a lot from her students but she is also very understanding and helps ease them into things.  She gives tips for better note taking (and encourages artist types to use sketches alongside word notes instead of only lots and lots of words if they remember better based with pictures) and she always adds in a LOT of interesting resources on the class page for the kids to have access to outside of class.  There are lots of discussion topics on the class page, too, along with surveys and additional art to look at and share with each other so even when class is not in session the students are interacting. Since the class only meets once a week this adds a lot to the class that would otherwise be missing.  Art projects are quite varied and interesting and she ties them in well with the history of the whatever time period is being studies.  

 

Quality of Landry classes is very dependent on the teacher.  Try to get recommendations for specific teachers, not just subjects.  Our experience has been that most are quite good but some don't seem to handle the once a week format well.  They can't cram it all in to one class and they don't know how to utilize the class pages effectively to fill in for the limited live interaction.  Anyway, I hope you find some great ones.  Best wishes.  :)

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