This is weighing on me...should we continue with French?

[Kfamily]

I have looked at where we are this year and where I want to take us throughout our remaining years (7th-12th). Our schedule will be moderately full but definitely challenging for me as a teacher and our family as we are who we are(not on par with many of you ladies and gents I admire). I am feeling overwhelmed! I am thinking that we need to narrow our scope even more (I thought I had already done that:001_smile:) and so I am considering dropping French. We are only on lesson 9 of First Start French and I just don't feel like I am teaching it well enough. I think we shoud focus instead on all the components of English, math, Latin, history and later a stronger focus on science. On the other hand the girls like the idea of learning French (they and neighbors are dress-up drama queens:D) and my dd5 could gain even more from it with the exposure.

 

Any opinions or advice are always appreciated!

 

I feel like I am failing a little because I think this is important in my ideal vision of a quality education but I also am realistic enough to realize that doing it halfway isn't enough and I'm not sure I can turn French up.

 

If you agree that I should stick with it, please motivate me to stay with it.

Thanks in advance!

[MIch elle]

If they are currently in high school then do only one for. lang., French or Latin.

[Kfamily]

Dd is 11 in 6th this year doing First Start French and my younger dd is 5 in K.

 

:001_smile:

 

P.S. We are starting Henle this year and I think I may add Cambridge in 8th.

[Sahamamama]

If fitting in French is too difficult FOR NOW, then you could drop it FOR NOW. This doesn't seem to me to be AT ALL about success or failure, because learning something like French isn't an all or nothing issue. Tomorrow, or next month, or next year, it's still going to be there -- being the happy, beautiful, enjoyable language that it is! :D

 

When I was in 7th-12th grades, I studied French and enjoyed it immensely, but now (at age 41, ack!), I have been studying Latin with even more amazement and enjoyment. I must say, all of life and school would have been easier and more understandable for me if I had been made to learn THIS language. And I was a strong "verbal" student!

 

A well-done grammar/translation Latin program (Latina Christiana 1/2; Henle) will cover more long-term bases for you than "conversational" French will, IMO, in the sense that it can encompass:

 

(1) a world language (for the HS transcripts & college applications)

(2) grammar (not just parts of speech, but how a language works)

(3) history and geography (can't miss out on these in Latin)

(4) logic (to do Latin, you have to turn your brain ON)

(5) music and Christian studies (if you incorporate these, e.g., Lingua Angelica and/or Lingua Biblica)

(6) vocabulary building and study (prefixes, suffixes, roots, etc. -- have you seen The Book of Roots by Memoria Press? I like how it helps me to remember my vocabulary)

(7) preparation for studying any world language, especially French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portugese! How's that for payback?

 

In other words, if it's a choice between languages at this point, French can wait. Do Latin first thing in the morning, that way it'll be done for the day. :D Don't be discouraged about putting French aside for a while to focus on your priorities. That's why they're called "priorities" -- they are what you put first, but it doesn't mean that you are giving up FOREVER on enjoying French.

 

In the meantime, you can certainly saturate your 5 year old with French songs and vocabulary (we have Brainy Baby French and Spanish for our 3.5 year old, she enjoys these and learns from them). Perhaps your library has read-along audiobooks in French, French DVDs and CDs, and French picture dictionaries. If your strategy is to let your little one to "absorb" whatever French she can, while your older daughter STUDIES Latin, then the older might absorb more French than you might imagine, while the 5 year old picks up some Latin! Hope it all works out. :001_smile:

[Kfamily]

That was so supportive, thank you. I tried but can't rep you right now.

 

I will think about this more.

 

:grouphug:

[Peela]

I am finding it hard to split our time between two languages, but my older is 14 and she has had 3-4 years of Latin already, and she is a natural at pronouncing French (past life or something :) ) so I am making the effort to do both.

My ds12 has little interest in it so he is just along for the ride.

We do French two mornings and Latin 2 mornings a week. Not ideal, but it's how I do it for now.

You oldest is 11- I think you have plenty of time to take it up again later if you desire.

[Suzannah]

We began French last year and I ended up setting it aside after a few months. I fully intend to take it up again...sometime. Last year we had a new baby and I was sadly disorganized so the first part of the year didn't go as smoothly as it might have. The only thing I felt like we could reasonably drop was French. If we don't get to it before high school it's not the end of the world, but I do hope to try again either this spring or next year.

 

Good luck with your decision. One of the hardest parts of homeschooling is trying to choose from EVERYTHING that COULD be done.

[anissarobert]

We are facing this right now with my oldest. She is in 9th grade and wants to learn French. (She is a ballerina and ballet terminology is primarily French.) I require that she take 4 years of Latin in HS, so she is taking an online Latin course. She is doing Rosetta Stone French at home. She already has a full load of classes and ballet, so I told her that if she can't keep up then French will be the first thing to go. If we drop it, I will try to have her pick it up as a summer course. It is so hard to fit it all in.

 

Good luck,

 

Anissa

[MIch elle]

Latin (LC or Henle) will be our primary for. lang. and we will do French on the side. We will do First French orally only.

 

My older ds is studying French this year in 9th grade at his school so I thought we should do some at home too. We can all speak a little French together.

 

Since you have First French why not continue with it orally? Listening and repeating the songs, chants & vocabulary shouldn't take that long and will give you an "ear" for French and also you can see the relationship between Latin & French.

[Paula in PA]

(1) a world language (for the HS transcripts & college applications)

 

You might want to double check this with the university of choice before using Latin to fulfill a foreign language requirement. Our local university no longer accepts it as it is a 'dead' language. Only a modern, spoken language will work.

[danielle]

Disclaimer: since I'm the author of First Start French, you will surely have to take my comments with a grain of salt! No real answers, just some of our experience. French (or Spanish, German, etc.) is nowhere near as essential as math, grammar, etc. Neither is Latin, or music, or art. But for me, one of the reasons I chose to hs was to be able to give my dc the opportunity to enjoy these topics, which many schools no longer provide.

 

These are the luxuries of a well-furnished mind, but also have provided my dd with a way to positively develop an identity. I firmly believe that the buzz she gets when people learn she speaks French fulfills the same corner of the teenage psyche that causes some kids to get a tatoo or a piercing. It's a way to be "different" in a positive way and to have pride in some "uniqueness".

 

When dd was younger, I too felt that there was NO TIME to cram it all in. We strove for 45 minutes of Latin and 45 minutes of French 4 days a week. (and almost never achieved more than 3 days of each). But over the years, that still built up knowledge, and certainly improved grammar and vocabulary in English. Dd regularly "switches" languages in her mind for cognates--if Latin doesn't provide a clue, French often does. I made every effort thoroughly to cover grammar, but also to provide fun magazines and kid's books in French--even if they sat on the shelf for a year. She was just dying to unlock all the good stories, and it was high motivation.

 

Believe me, our dc do NOT have more time to cover material in high school! The special interests and extracurricular activities kick in big time, along with the pressure of covering every base for college "resumes". My dd is now so busy that we're reduced to eating dinner in the car two evenings a week.

 

If you continue with French, even at a slow level, it is very likely that your dc will be able to read by late high school level. I am really looking forward to dd reading Balzac or Maupassant or Corneille in the original when the period comes up in our history/literature rotation.

 

You do not have to cover a text in whatever schedule the author recommends--even me! 15 minutes a day over 4 or 5 years is better than none at all for 4 or 5 years, then trying to pick it up again. It makes other languages just part of the normal study day, and everyday life.

 

I know this is going to sound like heresy, but I'd cut back on science in the early years before I'd cut out languages. Most kids will willing do experiments from kits as "play", and science books can be part of normal reading. Serious science requires more math than most kids have early on. If something has to go, I'd try to strike a balance.

 

Finally, I concur with the poster that recommended songs, etc. Also, you might try turning the French subtitles on on any DVD you're watching for a little more exposure.

 

JMTC

Danielle

[Kfamily]

Your supportive responses were just what I needed. I really wanted to keep up our French and you encouraged me to hang in there. You have truly warmed my heart to hear your encouragement and support. It means a lot!

 

We will hang in there!!:D

 

I must repeat often "I can do this."