Spanish for Children is not working...

[Farrar]

So, two weeks of Spanish for Children and it's giving ds fits. And I admit, I don't feel like I fully get this thing either. He really wants to learn Spanish and he loves doing Duolingo and pairing this with that seemed like a decent approach. But we're all finding the book to be confusing at best. Maybe I'm missing something because I don't speak Spanish... but I do know French and some Italian, and I find it weird that it introduces both verb conjugation and verb tenses in the first lesson straight off the bat. Like, there's a bit about pronunciation and sounds and then boom, you need to know both how to conjugate and how to put verbs in tenses. And it's really throwing him for a loop. He can't keep any of it straight and I feel like it's not introduced very well. And he wants so much to be independent with it and doesn't trust me (why should he - I don't speak Spanish!) so he's not listening to any of my good romance language experience about how to approach conjugation. Sigh.

 

He's really more of a whole-to-parts learner, which is why I think he likes Duolingo so much. But I wanted him to do something on the side that would be mostly self-teaching (dh did Spanish in school so something that is self-teaching enough that between the two of us we can support it). This seemed like it... but it's really not working at the moment. I hate seeing him in growly frustration over what's supposed to be a subject he chose and wants to do.

 

Thoughts about a way to use it better? Or another program to try instead?

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I haven't used Spanish for Children, but did dismiss it for my whole-to-parts learner.  I have Getting Started with Spanish for her to use this year.  She used and enjoyed Getting Started with Latin a few years ago.

We also borrowed this book from the library a few years ago and she liked it:  https://www.amazon.com/Fun-Spanish-lee-cooper/dp/B000JE08M2/ref=sr_1_62?ie=UTF8&qid=1471871809&sr=8-62&keywords=spanish+fun

[cherimoya]

I second Getting Started with Spanish.  Nice way to ease into learning a new language.  I have the Kindle version and if you go the website for the book you can download the mp3 stuff (free).

[deerforest]

Do you have an iPad? I'd use the iPad version of Breaking the Barrier.  http://www.tobreak.com/ibooks-textbooks/ I wouldn't bother with Getting Started with Spanish either, but that's just my opinion.

[RootAnn]

We did Getting Started With Spanish first and SfC didn't work for us, either. GSWS was a great intro & really breaks everything down well. SfC seemed to throw a lot of things at us at once and even with my French background & her Latin background, it seemed like a lot of information with very little practice.

 

Now, I'll say that in retrospect, perhaps they didn't expect the complete mastery of all the vocab (multiple tenses of each verb, for example) each week. I assumed it did & dd#1 just wasn't able to get it all down with only a couple of pages of worksheets and some quizlet work. I have heard that the DVD is a must. We didn't get it because I thought we'd be fine. We paired it with Duolingo. DD still loves Duo, but we only got halfway through SfC.

 

DD went onto Spanish 1 with Sr Gamache (La Clase Divertida) and was prepared well for the first year work.

[2_girls_mommy]

I HATED Spanish for Children with a passion. And I do speak (or at least used to a little) Spanish. I paid all of that $ for that program thinking it would be a quick easy thing to do that I wouldn't have to plan that they could do fairly easily because of having had so much Latin... and it was a bust. Why do they introduce so  many tenses at once?? I don't get it at all.

 

I am no help. I have ended up using a Step by Step Easy Spanish textbook that I got for like 50 cents at a book sale, a Spanish workbook that I was given free, various music CDs  for songs that reinforce vocab and readers that I have picked up over the years, and I am adding Easy Peasy AllinOneHomeschool for dd12 this year to do daily on her own for some vocab reinforcement.  So much for not planning, lol. But for free I am getting a lot more done than we did with SFC.

[Roadrunner]

Have you looked at Galore? We are wrapping up the entire program in French and I couldn't be any happier.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I was a Spanish minor in college and was really excited about Spanish with Children. I love the look of everything from Classical Academic Press. Once I got it, I started realizing that their approach would not work for my kiddos. I'm not sure if would have worked for me, either. Introducing different tenses and conjugations at once would turn my kids off to language learning right away! 

 

We're now using Middlebury Spanish Online and it's working great for us! 

Edited August 22, 2016 by poikar

[Farrar]

Do you have an iPad? I'd use the iPad version of Breaking the Barrier.  http://www.tobreak.com/ibooks-textbooks/ I wouldn't bother with Getting Started with Spanish either, but that's just my opinion.

 

So, this looks potentially awesome and the price is certainly good for us. Does it include any pronunciation - like, can he listen to any parts, the way you might with an interactive text? And does it do a decent job with grammar? That was my objection to using Duolingo on its own. I wanted him to do something else that would have at least a little bit about things like verb conjugation and tenses. Grammar is not this child's strength and while he learns better overall just being thrown into things (that's the whole to parts thing) I think he needs it explicitly broken down a little sometimes.

[Farrar]

I'm glad I'm not the only one left scratching my head by Spanish for Children. I read some good reviews and got it used, so it wasn't too expensive. I sort of trusted CAP to have a good product. I don't mind that the chant CD and the DVD are pretty low fi (I sort of expected that) but the sequence of teaching is just making poor ds crazy.

[Jackie]

So, this looks potentially awesome and the price is certainly good for us. Does it include any pronunciation - like, can he listen to any parts, the way you might with an interactive text? And does it do a decent job with grammar? That was my objection to using Duolingo on its own. I wanted him to do something else that would have at least a little bit about things like verb conjugation and tenses. Grammar is not this child's strength and while he learns better overall just being thrown into things (that's the whole to parts thing) I think he needs it explicitly broken down a little sometimes.

I actually use Breaking the Barrier for myself because I wanted something reasonably straightforward to learn from while DD was making progress with Homeschool Spanish Academy. It does a good job with the grammar piece. There is a lot of audio included. I tried to attach a couple of screenshots, but they're apparently over the file size limit.

[deerforest]

I sent you a private message with some screen shots from the first lesson. Let me know if you need anything else!

[Runningmom80]

We did GSWS alongside Duolingo last year and I really liked that approach.  He finished GSWS so we are moving onto the Galore Park books, continuing with Duolingo.

[Ariston]

SfC remains, after years and years, the ONLY curriculum I have bought that I went to the trouble of returning.  I do speak Spanish and I could not stand it and if I remember correctly, it was confusing AND incorrect in places.

 

I found GSWS to be a waste of money, but if my kids were complete beginners maybe I'd feel differently.  The price for the amount of material it covers is very high, IMO, though I do realize it serves a function for people who need a gentle and non-intimidating introduction.

 

I'll try to write some resources I've found, later when I have time.

[bwdiaz]

So, two weeks of Spanish for Children and it's giving ds fits. And I admit, I don't feel like I fully get this thing either.

 

Thoughts about a way to use it better? Or another program to try instead?

It's been several months since you posted this, Farrar. Any updates? What did you switch to?

[Farrar]

It's been several months since you posted this, Farrar. Any updates? What did you switch to?

 

We switched to the Breaking the Barrier Spanish that was linked above - it's an iPad textbook with interactive bits. He's a little ways in, moving slowly, but I didn't actually care how fast he goes. I just allocate half an hour daily for Spanish and check that he's doing something with that time. He likes the storyline in the little conversations. And he likes the way it introduces different Spanish speaking countries, which, to me, seems super simple, but of course it's sort of new to him, he only vaguely knows where people speak Spanish. And he's continuing with Duolingo as well. So overall we're happy with it.

[tmstranger]

What age is Breaking the Barrier geared towards? 

[Julie Smith]

We switched to the Breaking the Barrier Spanish that was linked above - it's an iPad textbook with interactive bits. He's a little ways in, moving slowly, but I didn't actually care how fast he goes. I just allocate half an hour daily for Spanish and check that he's doing something with that time. He likes the storyline in the little conversations. And he likes the way it introduces different Spanish speaking countries, which, to me, seems super simple, but of course it's sort of new to him, he only vaguely knows where people speak Spanish. And he's continuing with Duolingo as well. So overall we're happy with it.

 

How is the Duolingo going for him? 

 

My son is working with Duolingo to learn French. He got to the point he had 17 skills left to finish (The French tree has 81 skills). He also has a streak of over a year and is at level 21. But he said it was getting to hard at that point. He is now working on the Learning English for French speakers tree. 

 

He also uses memrise. I found the trees were nice for a chance and liked that they would occasionally have actual short videos of french people saying the phrases. 

[Farrar]

How is the Duolingo going for him? 

 

My son is working with Duolingo to learn French. He got to the point he had 17 skills left to finish (The French tree has 81 skills). He also has a streak of over a year and is at level 21. But he said it was getting to hard at that point. He is now working on the Learning English for French speakers tree. 

 

He also uses memrise. I found the trees were nice for a chance and liked that they would occasionally have actual short videos of french people saying the phrases. 

 

He's really loving it. He's strangely good at Duolingo but I can't figure out if it's translating to actually being able to say anything. I think it makes him feel really confident though - like he can just figure it out. I'm glad I have it paired with an actual text right now though because sometimes there are things that he doesn't get and learning them with the grammar is helping a lot.

 

I need to check out Memrise...

[lexi]

I am using Galore Park and it's going well. My daughter does a lot of it on her own. The CD is nice because it has lots of exercises to listen to and then translate. It uses several different speakers so my daughter gets good practice listening to Spanish. She has been able to keep up with the book fairly well. We used GSWS before Galore. I feel like Galore introduces only a few things at a time so she's not overwhelmed. So far we both enjoy it.

[Runningmom80]

He's really loving it. He's strangely good at Duolingo but I can't figure out if it's translating to actually being able to say anything. I think it makes him feel really confident though - like he can just figure it out. I'm glad I have it paired with an actual text right now though because sometimes there are things that he doesn't get and learning them with the grammar is helping a lot.

 

I need to check out Memrise...

 

We have had the same experience as the bolded.  DS 10 is now doing HSA along with Galore Park and I am seeing results.  I think Duolingo has a place, but I also think we relied on it too heavily when we should have been looking elsewhere. 

Edited November 26, 2016 by Runningmom80

[lexi]

We have had the same experience as the bolded. DS 10 is now doing HSA along with Galore Park and I am seeing results. I think Duolingo has a place, but I also think we relied on it too heavily when we should have been looking elsewhere.

Which level are you using of Galore Park? This is our first year using it and I feel it's going well. I feel like it challenges my daughter but that she's learning from it. She has to think and write in a Spanish and I like the translations it has her do. Now I just need someone she can chat with in Spanish.

[Runningmom80]

Which level are you using of Galore Park? This is our first year using it and I feel it's going well. I feel like it challenges my daughter but that she's learning from it. She has to think and write in a Spanish and I like the translations it has her do. Now I just need someone she can chat with in Spanish.

Syrwtls 1. For my 10 year old who had only completed GSWS, it's a good fit.

[tmstranger]

Where do you find Galore Park samples?  And where have you purchased it from?  When I google, I find uk reference and, of course, amazon, but no samples.

 

 

ETA:  I found a sample of the student book on the UK website, but I still cannot find the teacher guide or a place to purchase in the US.

Edited November 28, 2016 by tmstranger

[Roadrunner]

Where do you find Galore Park samples? And where have you purchased it from? When I google, I find uk reference and, of course, amazon, but no samples.

 

 

ETA: I found a sample of the student book on the UK website, but I still cannot find the teacher guide or a place to purchase in the US.

You can order from Book Depository website. It is a U.K. shop, but will ship to US for free. I have ordered many times without a problem from them.

[lexi]

I ordered mine from Ray's Horrible Books. He shipped them quickly. I was impressed. I believe he's someone on the west coast but I'm not remembering right now.

I think I emailed Galore spark and asked for samples and they sent me some PDFs that were helpful to look through.