Need to change my Spanish curriculum to...

[TheApprentice]

...somthing else.:sad: I am currently using "So You Really Want to Learn Spanish" Book 1 by Galore Park. This is for ds in the 7th grade, and we have been using it for 8 weeks, and there is NO retention. If you are teaching Spanish to your middle school child, please tell me the pros and cons of your curriculum. I really need to switch in a timely manner. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Catherine

[Guest]

I'm using Galore Park at the moment. It's quite similar to a textbook my dd had in private school. I think there is an unstated assumption that you will do a whole lot more practice than just the text exercises; teachers usually lead kids in classrooms in a lot of recitation -- you know, listen and repeat after me type of thing.

 

I have my dd make flashcards for herself of any new words (not individual numbers or the like, but pretty much everything else) and we go through them every other day or so. I found a couple of booklets with various forms of word Bingo in Spanish that we play; I also bought a Spanish version of a couple of popular games like Guess Who (which reinforces basic vocabulary of description and appearance) and Silly Sentences. I found several bilingual versions of kids' picture books at the library that we're going through, not to memorize the words or anything but just to familiarize her with what the language looks like, and to pick out catch phrases (we just read Green Eggs and Ham, which was great fun). I'm looking for picture books with accompanying audiotapes or CDs in Spanish for her to follow along with.

 

No independent program is perfect or complete. If you're not a native speaker or bilingual yourself (which I am not, although I've had Spanish for six years and a stint as a foreign exchange student in Paraguay a LONG time ago), you have to think up ways to extend the main text and reinforce speaking and listening skills.

 

Also, if this is your child's first year, it can take a while to get going and accumulate a vocabulary of individual words so that there's enough content for it to stick -- a reason for it to be remembered, or hooks of some kind to be developed in your child's mind. It's not necessarily the program at fault. It's just difficult (although not impossible) to learn a language at home.

[StephanieZ]

Are you studying/drilling the vocab?

 

I have all the SYRWTL level 1 lists and most of the level 2 lists on quizlet. 10 min a day on drill makes a huge difference with my kids.

[Matryoshka]

I agree with the others. I don't use SYRWTL Spanish, but I've heard it's a very good text. We've started with Breaking the Spanish Barrier 2 this year, and over on its website, the author put up an article called "The Ideal Lesson Plan: Ten Steps to Making Your Students Fluent" - I found that really helpful. The text itself is only a small part of what he does in a Spanish class.

[MIch elle]

VSL is focused on speaking.

 

We also have Spanish for Children A which is more of a traditional program - grammar based. It's NOT too young for middle school.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, mine already knows a fair amount of vocabulary, and that takes some time. I am using a Barron's book this year to cover grammar more in depth:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Grammar-Easy-Way-Barrons/dp/0764122630

 

Barron puts out many books for learning languages. They also have another called Spanish the Easy Way in this same series....

[Sue G in PA]

It can be difficult to retain much of any language using any curriculum unless you USE it daily, kwim? We are using SYRWTL level 2 as dd had Span. 1 in ps last year. I have her make index flash cards for each of the vocab words and we drill those daily. We also use TMM Spanish on the computer to supplement. The biggest thing is using the language in everyday conversation which can be difficult if you do not know the language. I engage in a conversation with dd every day and use the vocab she has learned to cement it. We also attend a church that has a Span. speaking church that meets there so have access to many native speakers.

[AngieW in Texas]

I'll 2nd Visual Link Spanish.

[Laura Corin]

I think there is an unstated assumption that you will do a whole lot more practice than just the text exercises; teachers usually lead kids in classrooms in a lot of recitation -- you know, listen and repeat after me type of thing.

 

When I was using SY French, we always started with five or ten minutes of conversation, covering old topics. I also selectively re-did some exercises from old chapters with my boys. In addition, they drilled vocab and grammar (verb endings, etc.)

 

Laura