Getting Started with Spanish or another program?

[JadeOrchidSong]

I have been teaching (and learning) GSWL to my 8 and 6 yr olds. We are half way through and we really like it and progress well. I would like to teach Spanish as well. Do you think Getting Started with Spanish would be a good fit? I would like a program that is simple and easy to teach like GSWL. I wish I could teach three or four languages. I know, I should focus more on the three Rs. But I have this undying passion for languages. Thank you for your advice.

[RootAnn]

Mostly bumping for you....

 

I plan on using GSWS & Spanish in 10 Minutes A Day with my older one next year. I'm going through them now myself & trying to get a "schedule" together for her.

 

My tentative plan is to move to Spanish For Children A the following year, but we'll see how it goes.

[JadeOrchidSong]

Mostly bumping for you....

 

I plan on using GSWS & Spanish in 10 Minutes A Day with my older one next year. I'm going through them now myself & trying to get a "schedule" together for her.

 

My tentative plan is to move to Spanish For Children A the following year, but we'll see how it goes.

I really like to teach more languages, but I don't know if I am overdoing it. I definitely can study Spanish myself first using GSWS. Do you already know Spanish?

[hmschooling]

I have it and really think it's a great program! We just got it recently and are only two lessons in, but so far, I like it. My oy concern would be the grammar being heavy for your kids' ages. But, perhaps the Latin book is the same way and they are doing well with it. I plan to use GSWL later as well, alongside Visual Latin.

[crazyforlatin]

We're on lesson #101 in GSWS and I really love it! I think DD would love it more if I allowed her to translate from the book, but I think with any language program it can be made more effective if done only orally if the child can already read the words fluently. I did have DD initially read the sentences aloud, but then it was just too easy for her to translate and it was an easy way out of really listening carefully without visual aid. You don't need to know Spanish and the author provides a pronunciation MP3 file.

 

Some kids may not like the approach of GSWS and GSWL because it's really a no-nonsense, grammar-focused book with no drawings and lots of white space. But that's the only way I can teach and this book will give any child a solid beginning to another program. As to which program I will use after this book, I wish I knew and may post this question in a couple of weeks.

 

I'm going to go through GSWS again after we are finished but this time only having her translate from English to Spanish.

 

Now if only the author could write one up for German and French.

[whitestavern]

We're using GSWS in conjunction with Rosetta Stone and I think they complement eachother very well.

[RootAnn]

Do you already know Spanish?

 

I took Spanish in 4th-6th grade, so I remember how to say things like, "My name is .." "May I go to the bathroom" (not as helpful as "where is the bathroom"), and colors/parts of the body.

 

I've remembered some & learned a lot more going through GSWS. It is a lot like Latin, so that has been helpful (as we did Prima Latina this year & are using Minimus as a way not to forget what we've learned on the way to Latina Christiana in the fall). I'm making my own notebook with notes & translating the lessons myself. I'm also making the flashcards she (& I) will use to review. Her handwriting is terrible, so I figure they will be more legible this way.

 

The Spanish in 10 Minutes or less is mostly vocab (which GSWS is light on compared to other programs) and I'm using it so far very lightly in my scheduling.

[KarenNC]

For kids that age, you might look at R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish (disclaimer: I'm beta-testing it for a friend, but no compensation other than the materials). It's heavy on vocabulary that can be used right away, with the grammar added in in easy stages. She's got it on Homeschool Buyer's Co-op as well https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1567&c=1. Samples can be found at http://www.realhomeschoolspanish.com/samples.html

 

The program is inexpensive and very meaty rather than spending tons of space on illustrations. It does have a lot of pencil and paper activities, but she gives a lot of ideas of activities to make it fun for young kids while the whole family learns. It could easily be a two year program for early elementary. We're closing in on halfway through at this point with my 10 yo, but our schedule got very fragmented. Had we followed our initial schedule, we would probably be taking at least 18 months, especially if we added as part of Spanish time in all the cultural options she gives. Instead, I folded some of that into history and geography. Dr. Williamson-Coria is also more than happy to answer questions about it.

 

I have to say that I've seen much more retention with this program for my daughter than I did with the entire summer course of powerspeak French online that we tried through k12 that we did when she was 8. It was online with lots of cartoon characters, very colorful, etc and she thought it was fun---but she remembered nothing almost immediately after the course ended. This was with both her father and I knowing enough French to reinforce it through conversation :confused:.

Edited June 7, 2011 by KarenNC

[hmschooling]

I forgot about another fun one! The Fun Spanish. Had it a while back and it was...fun ;)

[JadeOrchidSong]

We're on lesson #101 in GSWS and I really love it! I think DD would love it more if I allowed her to translate from the book, but I think with any language program it can be made more effective if done only orally if the child can already read the words fluently. I did have DD initially read the sentences aloud, but then it was just too easy for her to translate and it was an easy way out of really listening carefully without visual aid. You don't need to know Spanish and the author provides a pronunciation MP3 file.

 

Some kids may not like the approach of GSWS and GSWL because it's really a no-nonsense, grammar-focused book with no drawings and lots of white space. But that's the only way I can teach and this book will give any child a solid beginning to another program. As to which program I will use after this book, I wish I knew and may post this question in a couple of weeks.

 

I'm going to go through GSWS again after we are finished but this time only having her translate from English to Spanish.

I thought of doing the same thing even now with Latin.

 

Now if only the author could write one up for German and French.

Oh, my goodness! When I read your sig, I found all the languages that I plan to teach! How have you been doing all those languages? Is Chinese the most challenging? I would rather teaching two western languages than Chinese. The reading and writing takes forever to master, or an entire life to master. We are using a Chinese program for native speakers, which accelerates fast. There are many new words in each lesson. The benefit of this approach is that the kids develop great ear for Chinese and they understand all the long reading material in the books when I read them aloud.

How long did it take you to finish the 101 lessons of GSWS? We started GSWL in Jan. after we were done with SSL. We finished 74 lessons so far. We will probably finish by the end of this year. I do it the same way as you. I ask each child to read each sentence orally to me and then translate into English. Amazingly, my ds6.4 is doing better than ds8.5. He has an amazing memory and his grammar is quite good.

[crazyforlatin]

Oh, my goodness! When I read your sig, I found all the languages that I plan to teach! How have you been doing all those languages? Is Chinese the most challenging? I would rather teaching two western languages than Chinese. The reading and writing takes forever to master, or an entire life to master. We are using a Chinese program for native speakers, which accelerates fast. There are many new words in each lesson. The benefit of this approach is that the kids develop great ear for Chinese and they understand all the long reading material in the books when I read them aloud.

How long did it take you to finish the 101 lessons of GSWS? We started GSWL in Jan. after we were done with SSL. We finished 74 lessons so far. We will probably finish by the end of this year. I do it the same way as you. I ask each child to read each sentence orally to me and then translate into English. Amazingly, my ds6.4 is doing better than ds8.5. He has an amazing memory and his grammar is quite good.

 

As I said in my P/M to you, the siggy looks great but in fact it's not as impressive since I'm not good with languages and that hinders DD.

 

With GSWL, we finished within 4 months, but with GSWS, we are taking time because I really need her to speak it well and repeat it after me only after listening to me once. She is not allowed to read the book. I can't carry a conversation in Spanish, despite taking a few classes over the years, but I can pronounce the words well and read it aloud fast, so I'm hoping that this method will help her understand someone else one day.

 

As for Chinese, I wish I could put more time into teaching her characters, but for now, we are focused on speaking it and expanding her vocabulary. Those Chinese characters are just so difficult to remember so in fact I don't know if I can actually memorize enough to correct her work, and so the procrastination continues.

[JadeOrchidSong]

As I said in my P/M to you, the siggy looks great but in fact it's not as impressive since I'm not good with languages and that hinders DD.

 

With GSWL, we finished within 4 months, but with GSWS, we are taking time because I really need her to speak it well and repeat it after me only after listening to me once. She is not allowed to read the book. I can't carry a conversation in Spanish, despite taking a few classes over the years, but I can pronounce the words well and read it aloud fast, so I'm hoping that this method will help her understand someone else one day.

 

As for Chinese, I wish I could put more time into teaching her characters, but for now, we are focused on speaking it and expanding her vocabulary. Those Chinese characters are just so difficult to remember so in fact I don't know if I can actually memorize enough to correct her work, and so the procrastination continues.

 

I do try to get to Chinese every other day if not every day. Still it is very hard.

I can't believe that you finished GSWL in 4 months. I thought we were doing quite well. I wonder how old your DD is. You do seem to do a great job teaching her so many things. I spoke French quite well for a while, but since moving to the US, I don't have people around to speak with. I used to talk with my African students in China in French. I forget a lot now.

[crazyforlatin]

I do try to get to Chinese every other day if not every day. Still it is very hard.

I can't believe that you finished GSWL in 4 months. I thought we were doing quite well. I wonder how old your DD is. You do seem to do a great job teaching her so many things. I spoke French quite well for a while, but since moving to the US, I don't have people around to speak with. I used to talk with my African students in China in French. I forget a lot now.

 

Oh another thing is that I didn't introduce all the languages at once. First it was Chinese, then Spanish (but then dropped it for a while), Latin, back to Spanish, and now French. We only do short lessons every day, so it's actually possible to get 4 languages done within 1 hour and that's with a child that runs around while translating. It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do for now.