Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) We've been doing some informal Spanish since the kids were born. We've read books, listened to cd's, and played some games. This semester dd is taking a Spanish class through our co-op. She'll learn some basic vocabulary and be exposed to more spoken Spanish. I've decided to take this opportunity to beef up what we are doing, with The Complete Book of Spanish. I'll add some games to go along with what we are studying in the workbook. What I'm wondering is where to go from here. Any ideas? Edited February 10, 2010 by Lisa in the UP of MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 We like Elementary Spanish, from Discovery Streaming. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Thanks, Tara. Anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 We like Elementary Spanish, from Discovery Streaming. Tara We just started Elementary Spanish last week and really like it. We're only three lessons into it, but we all enjoy watching the lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 You can download a free trial of PowerSpeak Spanish (PowerGlide) that gives you two-weeks' worth of lessons. My son tried it and liked it and I think we'll use it next year. You do the lessons on the computer, and they use DigLot technology where they weave the Spanish words into a story. And of course the student is hearing Spanish spoken by a native-speaker. The story is animated and pretty silly (which my son thought was funny) - about a girl daring a boy to stick his hand in a hole, which contains a rat! They listen to the story one day, then there might be two days of fun activities - the speaker says words, such as "oso", and several animals float down the screen and you have to click on the bear before he disappears. Then the student listens to the story again, and more of it is in Spanish. This continues for 2 weeks, I think - where it alternates fun exercises with listening to the story, each time increasing the number of Spanish words. I think it says it is supposed to take 45 minutes/day, but it took us about 10! But I suppose if you wanted to really get more out of it you'd study vocabulary, etc. It's also a bit pricey - $100/"semester", although I've seen specials for $85, and I think they try to hook you in by signing up within a certain time-period of using your trial period. I'm thinking they will give me a second chance next August! Also, it would take a semester if you did it 5 days/week and I'm only planning on 2-3 so will stretch it out over a year. I think there are 90 lessons. Anyway, check out the free download and see what you and your child think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 At the prompting of my 5 year old who wanted to watch Spanish videos, we also started Elementary Spanish using Discovery Streaming. At a time when I have no more time on my plate to add another subject, this is working out so well! We've just watched a few lessons. I also have La Clase Divertida for when I do find more time... I do have a Spanish degree, so I'm looking forward to practicing speaking with my daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Another vote for Elementary Spanish. We're on our 7th year -- is that possible?! -- and we still like it. PowerGlide -- yucko yucko yuck! We finished that entire program from cover to cover, and it was extremely painful. I would not recommend that to an enemy. Just my opinion, of course; but I don't think I've ever read a post on this board arguing that their kids loved it and learned a lot. IMO, you're MUCH better off with Elementary Spanish. BTW, search the board for this topic. We've discussed it often (and recently). Oh, and here's the link I always post for Spanish options: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/spanishcurriculum.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Can you tell me more about Elementary Spanish? I have heard it mentioned before but I've never looked into it. What are lessons like? Are there any fun, hands-on activities? Any other thoughts on first grade Spanish are welcome. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Does anyone use La Clase Divertida? It looks like fun and I like that it also teaches about Spanish culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Can you tell me more about Elementary Spanish? I have heard it mentioned before but I've never looked into it. What are lessons like? Are there any fun, hands-on activities? Any other thoughts on first grade Spanish are welcome. :) We've only done the first three lessons in the 1st/2nd grade level of Elementary Spanish, but we do enjoy it. It is taught by a woman (I think the other levels have a male teacher). She uses props/visuals to help with the vocabulary, sings songs, and sometimes will read a book to them. This last lesson had the kids playing "hide and seek" with paper dolls in a house (the house was on the bulletin boards - they were working on room names; I'm sorry I'm not describing it well). There are not hands-on activities. There is a teacher's guide download which includes worksheets to review the lesson. I appreciate the fact that my boys are hearing the Spanish with the correct accenting. They enjoy watching the show; each lesson is about 20 minutes. Afterwards, we usually do the activity worksheet and then I try and incorporate the vocabulary in our days (for instance, last night I wanted everyone in the living room so I told them to meet me in "la sala"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Can you tell me more about Elementary Spanish? I don't know to tell you -- it's sweet, it's simple, it is zero trouble to implement. One semester is taught by a lady, whom we liked very much. The remainder of the classes are taught by a man whom we've come to think of almost as family. :) (We've been using E.S. for 6 years.) Sr. Morris has a very dry sense of humor, and is often very funny in a groany sort of way. There are occasional hands-on activities. More often you watch him do something. Like in one show, he does a magic trick. Once he ran a kilometer in silly fast-forward. My son loved it. :) He sings, he plays the guitar, he has the kids run around (dance, sing, touch, jump, etc.) a little bit. It's not a program that will leave you bilingual. It's an introduction to the language, an exposure. I think it's great preparation for a more serious study in high school. (It does cover culture as well.) Does anyone use La Clase Divertida? It looks like fun and I like that it also teaches about Spanish culture. We used this before we discovered E.S., and we liked it too. Delightful teacher. Simple to implement. Loved the crafts. The problem is that once you've gone through the lessons, you're done. (I hate rewatching lessons.) With E.S., you always have more classes to watch. I don't think you can go wrong with either one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Can you tell me more about Elementary Spanish? Here is the site for Elementary Spanish. Very informative. I agree with what everyone else has said. It's easy, enjoyable and effective. You can also buy the workbooks, dvds and cds through this site if you wish. My kids use this and Rosetta Stone but I would just use this if we didn't get RS for free. We also just started using this calendar and love, love, love it. Another favorite of mine is this wonderful box of Spanish resources from School Specialty Publishing. My favorite component is the English/Spanish books with audio. There are four fairy tale books and six really great boyish fact books. It's great because they can see the words in English and Spanish while they listen to the Spanish pronunciation. I'm about to invest in some more Spanish versions of our favorite picture books because I find that to be a really fun way to learn Spanish. Another thing we're about to do for vocabulary is label everything in the house. Should be tons of fun. :) it's sweet, it's simple, it is zero trouble to implement. It's not a program that will leave you bilingual. It's an introduction to the language, an exposure. I think it's great preparation for a more serious study in high school. (It does cover culture as well.) NAU also offers Educacion Espanola as a follow-up to Elementary Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iquilt Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Does anyone use La Clase Divertida? It looks like fun and I like that it also teaches about Spanish culture. We are using it this year with 8yo, 6yo and 4yo and we love it! I am learning along with the kids. We enjoy the crafts, the workbook activities, the DVD's, the practice CD and practicing on each other. DH knows quite a lot of Spanish so he has been helping us practice as well. It's also very easy to fit into our schedule with 2 weeks suggested for each lesson; there are 15 lessons so there is some wiggle room for the year, time to practice and time to plan for a fiesta :001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Does anyone use La Clase Divertida? It looks like fun and I like that it also teaches about Spanish culture. Yes, we're loving it too. It includes a lot and is so easy to implement. DS says that Spanish is his favorite subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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