spanish~want to get serious!

[mamamoon]

hello, i have searched the boards and a lot of the reviews for spanish programs are lukewarm. i really want a spanish curriculum (latin based) that is working for people.

i have la clase divertida, and i think it is great for exposure and fun, but that is about it.

last year i almost bought rosetta stone, and i got cold feet. i would love to have a curriculum, and have a spanish tutor over on a bi-weekly basis.

i am wanting this for my 4th grader~

 

thanks in advance for any input.

lisa

[Maureen]

I'd suggest you work on getting a tutor first. They may have good suggestions of a curriculum to supplement their teaching. There really isn't a better way to go than someone to talk to in learning a language.

[Sue G in PA]

The best "curriculum" for learning a language is exposure. Getting a native-speaking tutor would be awesome! As for curriculum, I am still new to language curriculums but have not been impressed with many. La Clase Divertida is, as you said, good for exposure and for fun. I plan to get it for my elementary aged kids. I recently purchased Galore Park's So You Really Want to Learn Spanish for my 7th and 9th graders. 9th grader has already had a year of Spanish in ps. I'm not sure Galore Park's would be appropriate for 4th gr, though. It does look to be the most solid that I've found as far as instruction. Rosetta Stone was a bit pricey for us. We bought Tell Me More when the co-op had it for sale a year ago and I do like it but not as a stand-alone program...not enough grammar instruction which I do believe is "key". I would go with finding a tutor first. Simple communication w/ a native speaker along with flash-cards might just be enough. Listening to children's books in Spanish (your library might have some), songs, etc., just to get a feel for the language and how it is spoken is also good.

[mamamoon]

i agree, but would really like to find a curriculum for the tutor to follow~not sure how experienced she will be with teaching.

[StephanieZ]

I love Galore Park's SYRWTL Spanish, but it would be a stretch for 4th grade. My 6th grader began it last year as a 5th grader and is doing fine, but he has been studying Spanish for 5 years and has had a tutor all those years. . . I wouldn't really want to suggest it for before 5th grade unless you are feeling really ambitious, have a very motivated or accelerated student, and/or can really work through it with him and take your time. . . There is a lot of formal grammar involved in SYRWTL Spanish (possessive pronouns, tenses, etc, etc, etc) I'd definitely want a solid grammar foundation before attempting it.

 

The best I have found for elementary is the Elementary Spanish program put out by NAU that is available through Discovery Streaming. It's really nicely done. I used it in the past with a couple of the kids when they were K-4th grade, but I am not using it with my 2nd grader this year just b/c I found that I wasn't using any other materials in Discovery Streaming, so it seemed expensive to do for just one child. . .

 

So, for my little one, we are reading childrens' books, practicing with the tutor, and using Rosetta Stone as her core curriculum. Rosetta Stone works great for her, and I plan to just have her use that consistently until she is ready for Galore Park in a couple years.

 

FWIW, if you have not yet used the Complete Book of Spanish (McGraw Hill), it is a very cost effective colorful means to gather a lot of basic spanish, and is just right for 4th grade, IMHO. It'd be great to use with a tutor. Also, See It and Say It in Spanish is a super cheap treasure trove of spoken spanish and works just great with a tutor.

 

So, if you get those two things, and handful of story books (library or other), you can hire the tutor and then each meeting the tutor can go over a few pages of the Complete Book, a few pages of See It Say It, and read a story book or two with your child.

 

(That's pretty much what my little one does during her turns with the tutor. . . as the tutor is not involved with her Rosetta Stone stuff.)

 

And, yes, we have a tutor for 30 min each child every two weeks. I can't imagine trying to do it w/o a tutor unless I was fluent.

[Matryoshka]

If you have a native speaking tutor, who is willing to do what you want her to, and is also a good teacher, here's the curriculum I'd suggest:

 

For 4th, Español para chicos y grandes

 

Starting in 5th, you could probably start either Spanish Now! Level 1 or Breaking the Spanish Barrier Level 1 and stretch either over 2 years (5th and 6th).

 

In 7th they'd be ready for Breaking the Spanish Barrier Level 2 (I really don't like Spanish Now! Level 2).

 

This is pretty much what I'm doing with my kids (except I'm the teacher - but I am fluent).

 

I know this is waaay more ambitious than most would suggest, but you said you wanted to get serious. :) I get really frustrated with the glacial pace of elementary langauge curriclula available for the US market.

Edited August 16, 2010 by matroyshka

[mamamoon]

great!!!!

what about spanish for children or teach them spanish???

have you ladies tried either? was just browsing them at rainbow....

[2cents]

One of the best I've found is through Discovery's Unitedstreaming. You would have to subscribe to Unitedstreaming to get it. It is called Elementary Spanish. The program is best if you also use the associated worksheets though. They also have a fantastic middle school spanish program. These programs were created by Northern Arizona University.

[mamamoon]

anyone else have anything to chime in about espanol para chicos y grandes? looks good~