birchbark Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 We have friends who are missionaries in South America and one of their jobs is to provide support for a number of homeschooling families in their church. One of their biggest challenges is finding resources and curriculum for the families, who are all Spanish-speaking nationals. Shipping curriculum there apparently is not feasible. A few of them have internet access, and I asked them if they could use websites with the "translate this page" option, but they said the translation is usually too poor quality. I mentioned the Charlotte Mason approach of using real books for LA, but they feel the parents would be far too intimidated to be that inventive. They really need something open-and-go. Anyone have ideas or leads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'd use the national textbooks. They're usually very inexpensive and follow the national curriculum. Depending on the country, the kids will have to pass tests at certain intervals in order to obtain qualifications. Without the qualifications, they will not be able to attend university or get many jobs in their country. Unless they plan to go abroad for university (and have the money to do that), they'll be condemned to menial work at near to starvation wages without their bachillerato. Unless these missionaries are very sure that they can guarantee these kids an education that will allow them to pass the equivalency tests (the math and science tests are notoriously difficult in Venezuela) they are doing them a grave disservice in encouraging their parents to homeschool. I don't say that lightly. Unless they have a plan to prepare these kids to pass the equivalency test or found a school that can legally award their bachillerato, they'd be better off in an existing b&m school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 The national textbooks are what they have been using, and they are less than impressed. They say that the education there is pretty ineffective. Recently our friend gave a middle-school-level math problem to some high school and uni grads, and they all had difficulty with it. We didn't discuss testing though, so I cannot speak to that. Thank you for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 The national textbooks are what they have been using, and they are less than impressed. They say that the education there is pretty ineffective. Recently our friend gave a middle-school-level math problem to some high school and uni grads, and they all had difficulty with it. Depending on what they studied in university and how long it's been since they studied middle school math, I'm not surprised. How many moms on this board need help once they get to middle school math because they don't remember it or never really mastered it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Look at MEP math (easy to find on Google - I'm on my phone or I'd link it) - it is downloadable for free and has been translated into Spanish. Khan Academy had been translated into Spanish, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Probably 2 years ago, I read a thread, somewhere, about something I believe was based in Costa Rica. I believe their courses are in Spanish. Sadly, I have just given you all of the information that I remember... I believe this was run by a missionary group there. I'm not positive that it was in Costa Rica. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohdanigirl Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I know this thread is over a month old (don't know how I missed it), but I wanted to add a few things. The national textbooks are what they have been using, and they are less than impressed. They say that the education there is pretty ineffective. Recently our friend gave a middle-school-level math problem to some high school and uni grads, and they all had difficulty with it. We didn't discuss testing though, so I cannot speak to that. Thank you for your thoughts. After living in Mexico for quite a few years, I came to learn that the good schools used the national curriculum along with heavy supplementation. In many Latin American countries, some of these books are required and even provided for free. Things that I saw schools add... Copy work Dictation Poem memorization Math fact drills at home Reading outside of class All these things can be done at home and inexpensively. As someone up thread mentioned, MEP is very good and available in Spanish. The approach is very different so using it in addition to the National curriculum would be a good idea, if testing is required. Most likely, this is the case. In addition, are at can look into what books are used at the local private schools. In addition, you can google escuela en casa. When I last checked, there was an active group in Argentina and even an online school in Spanish. There was also a homeschooling forum for parents on Spain. It was a couple years ago when I was googling, but there should be plenty of info out there. I was even able to find sone videos of families on youtube. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I'd use the national textbooks. They're usually very inexpensive and follow the national curriculum. Depending on the country, the kids will have to pass tests at certain intervals in order to obtain qualifications. Without the qualifications, they will not be able to attend university or get many jobs in their country. Unless they plan to go abroad for university (and have the money to do that), they'll be condemned to menial work at near to starvation wages without their bachillerato. Unless these missionaries are very sure that they can guarantee these kids an education that will allow them to pass the equivalency tests (the math and science tests are notoriously difficult in Venezuela) they are doing them a grave disservice in encouraging their parents to homeschool. I don't say that lightly. Unless they have a plan to prepare these kids to pass the equivalency test or found a school that can legally award their bachillerato, they'd be better off in an existing b&m school. +1 for this. Here in Colombia, the children graduate after 11th grade. The national examination is called ICFES. It is very tough and it is make or break if someone wants to attend one of the best universities. Usually, those are the Public universities, which are also the least expensive. There are some good Private universities here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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