The Easy French vs. L'ART DE LIRE?

[SnegurochkaL]

Hi, If you have to decide which one of these( The Easy French or L'ART DE LIRE) to use in homeschool settings what will be your choice and why? Thank you very much!

[PeterPan]

I like them both! They're totally different. What age are you teaching? Do you want a workbook or a totally mom-driven approach? L'art de Lire is a series of workbooks, very straightforward to implement. The Easy French has prerecordered dialogs and activity options for you to reinforce the learning. For a younger student, the Easy French Jr. is even more adorable than regular Easy French. Again though, it's a different teaching style from L'art de Lire. So I'd just chose the one that fits you better. The content of both is very good.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

:bigear: I was actually about to ask this very question.

 

DD is 4.5, and has had about 6 months of exposure to French. She is starting to read in English, mostly CVC words and other words she has memorized (:glare:). She is *very* interested in learning French.

I have 1 semester of college French and so independent study over the summer, so I can guide her a little with pronounciation and such, but can only do so much. (Especially since I expect her to progress faster than me. She picks up on everything I can teach her very quickly)

 

I like the look of both programs, and can't make this decision on my own!! :tongue_smilie:

[SnegurochkaL]

I will be teaching 8 years old who has had 2 years of formal French. She did 3 levels of PowerGlide, Level 1 of Learnables and Level 1 of PowerSpeak through on-line school. I bought Easy French level 1 and we are planning to use it this fall. I speak little bit of French( I was learning it with my child last 2 years).

We have few DVDs in French and a lot of good children books for young kids. Is The Easy French going to be enough or do I need to supplement with anything else? Thanks a lot. Lena.

[PeterPan]

Well it's certainly not going to hurt her, but she might find it familiar and fly through it. Why don't you just look over it and see what you think? I'm not familiar with Powerglide (have seen the name, not used it), but it sounds like she'll have done enough that The Easy French will be repetitive.

 

Kymmie, L'Art de Lire, is, as the name implies, reading-based. Can she read individual french words if they are associated with a picture? If you look at the samples, you'll see the words under the pictures. Then they start putting those words into sentences. So it definitely requires reading.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Kymmie, L'Art de Lire, is, as the name implies, reading-based. Can she read individual french words if they are associated with a picture? If you look at the samples, you'll see the words under the pictures. Then they start putting those words into sentences. So it definitely requires reading.

 

Hm. Well, she's progressing quickly in reading in English, so I think she *could* do it. But since she is still in the learning phase for English, should I start with a non-reading based program, maybe L'Art de Dire, and then move on from there once she's mastered English reading?

 

I swear this whole learning how to read thing is the TOUGHEST thing I've ever taught. I feel like the whole world will open up for us once she can read... :tongue_smilie:

[PeterPan]

Why don't you do something that doesn't require reading until her english reading takes off? Reading is one of those things that clicks when it clicks and not before. Teaching reading is not hard. Waiting for it to click in the dc is. ;)

 

Until then, you could do The Easy French Jr, which would be very age appropriate and fun, or the Learnables. Have you tried your library for kid language cds? They'll doubtless have some. Does she have any other interests like art or music? We did a TON of art when my dd was that age because it was a big thing for my dd. I'd read aloud to her while she played, or she would listen to audio books while she crafted. We took lots of nature walks, identifying things with field guides. Find other ways to busy your time. The reading will come soon enough, and anything you do now can be done three times faster in another year. :)

[AHASRADA]

Why don't you do something that doesn't require reading until her english reading takes off?

 

I haven't used either of these programs, but to address the comment above, L'Art de Lire has a companion pre-reading program, called L'Art de Dire. It is completely oral, for kids K-2 who are not yet ready to learn to read in French. In fact, the author recommends waiting until the child is "reading well" in English, so they don't confuse the two phonetic systems.

 

So, if you are looking for something completely planned out, open and go, for an oral-based, pre-reading style program, you could start with L'Art de Dire.

[PeterPan]

Ooo, I didn't realize that! Well cool, that should be good for that pre-reading dc. And congrats on your new little one coming up! We have a 10 year gap too (9 1/2), and although it was a head-thunking shock for a while, it has been wonderful. Someone else had told me the same thing, and it has turned out to be true. You're wiser, more relaxed, know the drill, and can just generally enjoy them more instead of worrying so much. Ok, I still worry, hehe, but it has been a nice change! So congrats on your little surprise! :)

[sarawatsonim]

I haven't used either of these programs, but to address the comment above, L'Art de Lire has a companion pre-reading program, called L'Art de Dire. It is completely oral, for kids K-2 who are not yet ready to learn to read in French. In fact, the author recommends waiting until the child is "reading well" in English, so they don't confuse the two phonetic systems.

 

So, if you are looking for something completely planned out, open and go, for an oral-based, pre-reading style program, you could start with L'Art de Dire.

 

We use L'Art de Dire with my dd5 and she loves it. It's so easy to go at your own pace and each lesson only takes minutes to do.

[AHASRADA]

Thanks for the congrats, Oh Elizabeth. Nice to hear some positive feedback from someone BTDT. I am thinking the same thing; older and wiser, more relaxed and, as I tell my kids, I now have built-in babysitters!

 

The only annoying part is, my OB (who is overbooked and can't remember all the details of each patient's lives) asks me if this is the same father :glare:. I say, "Yes, this dd, God willing, will be our 19th anniversary present ;)".

 

Oh, and back to the topic of French, I am actually toying with the idea of speaking French with the new baby. With my older kids, we were already speaking 2 languages in the house, and I thought it would be too confusing to add another one, especially one that is not our native language. I now realize how much easier it would have been if I'd taught them some French from day one, and their French might improve if they hear me speaking it to the baby on a regular basis. Just a thought, hmm...

Edited July 11, 2010 by AHASRADA

[SnegurochkaL]

I want to thank all of you for your replies. Where do you buy your curriculum. I looked around and saw only one place-directly from the author of the books. Are there any other options in US? Thanks.