Transitioning from Sr. Gamache Spanish 1 to Potter's School Spanish 2 or Skype Homeschool High School Spanish

[JadeOrchidSong]

Ds12.5 did Sr. Gamache Spanish 1 and is really burned out with the heavy workload. I will move him on to either Potter's School Spanish 2 or Homeschool High School Spanish 2 with live teacher. If you have experience with this kind of transition, would you please share with me how you feel about it? Thanks a lot!

[freesia]

Homeschool Spanish academy will test your student the first time and place them in their program.  If they get placed back (which ds was b/c he was a lackluster spanish student in Spanish 1), they go quickly through the lessons that your student is only missing part of (in other words, the instruction is geared to the student and slowed down or accelerated according to the student.)

 

If I recall, Potters has a placement test, but it's been a few years since I looked.

[raristy]

Students learn a lot through Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA). They are very flexible to tailor the teaching methods to what works with your student. I am very fond of a foreign language teaching approach (TPRS) and they are very nice to accommodate for that. My kids do other formal curricula besides HSA, but having the opportunity to speak with a native is key to significant progress in learning a foreign language and HSA provides that.

 

I am not familiar with Potter's School. They seem to have an AP Spanish class with a very good track record. I believe they have some sample recordings of their classes. 

 

Rosa

Edited July 16, 2017 by raristy

[TiaTia]

I'll chime in with a recommendation for a teacher you didn't ask about: Ray Leven in Pennsylvania.  He's known for teaching AP Spanish via PA Homeschoolers, but also teaches other levels of Spanish.  Because I just asked him about something else, I happen to know he has a couple of openings in his Spanish 2 and 3 now. I've had two students with quite different learning styles work with him over several years and would be happy to share our experiences with you via PM, if you want to know more. 

 

Ray uses Skype for live, small classes and (for some levels) Vista Learning's "Descubre" series of textbooks with an e-component.  You can find his email and other info here:  https://sites.google.com/site/spanishlearningonline/

 

Before you start, Ray meets with your student via Skype to chat a bit and determine placement.  He's very astute, but gentle and encouraging.  I've found that the name/level label of the class is less important than his ability to figure out where a student is, and then help him or her become more confident and proficient.  My students had different goals, but both found the workloads very manageable and assignments well-chosen.  I speak Spanish, so can tell you that both made excellent progress.  (One corrects my terrible grammar now; I love it!)

 

Sheesh, it sounds like I get a percentage.  But you know how it is, when you find a good fit -- you want to share!  Good luck with your transition.

 

[TCB]

I'll chime in with a recommendation for a teacher you didn't ask about: Ray Leven in Pennsylvania.  He's known for teaching AP Spanish via PA Homeschoolers, but also teaches other levels of Spanish.  Because I just asked him about something else, I happen to know he has a couple of openings in his Spanish 2 and 3 now. I've had two students with quite different learning styles work with him over several years and would be happy to share our experiences with you via PM, if you want to know more. 

 

Ray uses Skype for live, small classes and (for some levels) Vista Learning's "Descubre" series of textbooks with an e-component.  You can find his email and other info here:  https://sites.google.com/site/spanishlearningonline/

 

Before you start, Ray meets with your student via Skype to chat a bit and determine placement.  He's very astute, but gentle and encouraging.  I've found that the name/level label of the class is less important than his ability to figure out where a student is, and then help him or her become more confident and proficient.  My students had different goals, but both found the workloads very manageable and assignments well-chosen.  I speak Spanish, so can tell you that both made excellent progress.  (One corrects my terrible grammar now; I love it!)

 

Sheesh, it sounds like I get a percentage.  But you know how it is, when you find a good fit -- you want to share!  Good luck with your transition.

 

I do not have personal experience with Mr Levin however a very close friend has a child who has taken a class with him. I just want to say that gentle and encouraging are not the words my friend's child would use to describe their experience. I realize that experiences and perceptions are different for others like yourself but just wanted to put that out there.

[mirabillis]

We really like Homeschool Spanish Academy. Used it for our first year last year (9th) and found it to be a light-workload class (important as we have some heavy workload courses) but ds learned a surprising amount. I can't wait to see what next year brings. 

[TiaTia]

I do not have personal experience with Mr Levin however a very close friend has a child who has taken a class with him. I just want to say that gentle and encouraging are not the words my friend's child would use to describe their experience. I realize that experiences and perceptions are different for others like yourself but just wanted to put that out there.

 

A good reminder that YMMV.  We once had an experience with an instructor whom others loved and recommended wholeheartedly (and still do), but whose particular pros and cons were a real problem for us.  Lots of variables, for sure.