lexi Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 We are using Song School Spanish right now and we are having lots of fun with it. All my kids enjoy it. But my oldest is going to need something more challenging next year. I thought about moving her into Spanish for Children from the same company since we like Song School so much. But I thought I remembered reading some negative reviews here. Can anyone with experience with that curriculum give me some thoughts? Pros and cons? My daughter really wants to learn Spanish and I don't speak the language so I'd like to learn along with her. If you don't like Spanish for Children, what do you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arboreal TJ Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Bump, I'm curious too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Well, I know I've recently given it a thumbs down. It moves very quickly once you get into the 'teens' chapters. They give you five nouns & five verbs of vocab each chapter, along with some "conversation," grammar, and a chant (canto). Sounds great, right? Except the verbs are in the infinitive form and also present, future, and past tense. I think it is a LOT to remember. When they introduce 'boot stem verbs' -- they throw all sorts of them at you in one chapter. They just threw all sorts of irregularly conjugated verbs at you & the very next chapter after the boot stems, they throw 'yo-form' irregulars at you. IMO, it is LOT. We've slowed way down. There isn't very much practice (one-two pages), so we build in more practice and drill more on the verbs. (And, to be honest, it still isn't enough.) It has really taken my oldest's confidence in her ability & love of Spanish down to low levels. I'd try Getting Started With Spanish. Great next step for where you are & it is incredibly gentle. Where to go from there? I don't know. But, it'll buy you some time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Have you looked into Salsa Spanish? My children love it (ages 11-4) and they are speaking words in Spanish to people whenever they can, just for fun. We've also had a lot of success with Sara Jordan's bilingual CDs. If Spanish for Children is similar to Latin for Children, it is a lot of memorization really fast, and it made the subject dry and boring for us. Getting Started with Spanish is very slow and gentle and may be just the thing for you, if you are going to learn alongside your students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks for the thoughts. I knew I had read something negative about the program. That really helps explain it! Thank you! That doesn't sound like a good fit for us. I think we would quickly be very overwhelmed with that! I think we will try Getting Started with Spanish next but we'll need something after that. My dd is extremely motivated in wanting to learn. We do watch Salsa Spanish at lunch while I do dishes. The kids really enjoy it. She just wants "school" Spanish with a workbook or some work. I just don't know what resources to choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I also recommend Getting Started with Spanish but if your dd really wants worksheeet pages.. You could give the Complete Book of Spanish a try.. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_24?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=complete+book+of+spanish&sprefix=complete+book+of+spanish%2Caps%2C279 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Seriously, why does good Spanish programs for elementary have to be so hard to come by? I started Spanish with my five-year-old this past fall and she LOVES it and has been doing quite well. She finishes up her K curriculum tomorrow. I've been researching like crazy and already foresee major problems in the future...in trying to keep a steady stream of good, age-appropriate material on hand. I want to keep it gentle for a couple of years so she soaks it up and continues to love it. It's not like she doesn't have years and years to build on it. No need to bog her down now. She's ready for something a little more complex, but higher grade materials quickly turn into boring, uncreative, text-heavy exercises. Too much, too quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Here is a thread where we talked about what we could use after Getting Started With Spanish. There are some interesting links & posts you can at least look into. (I'm linking my post, but it should pull up the whole thread if you look up & down.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoGal Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 We are also using Song School Spanish and Salsa this year. It has been a good combination. I was thinking that next year we might try an online tutor. I was also thinking of getting some basic readers in Spanish so I can start the kids reading easy books. We might have to go over some vocab first, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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