Help me think this through - Withdrawing from Spanish mid-year or reducing workload?

[cjzimmer1]

DS2 is taking 3 online classes this semester.  His Science and English classes are going fine but he's really struggling with Spanish.  He is not a quick learner and has always had to spend 2-3 times on any assignments compared to his siblings on the exact same assignment.  But he mostly has a good attitude and just keeps plugging along.  But I'm wonder if it's time to intervene.

 

He is in Spanish II and it's a pretty rigorous class.  They are already past the topics I learned in Spanish III.  The teacher doesn't hand out individual assignments but instead assigns a block of work that needs to be completed by the time the chapter is done.  DS2 struggled a bit with this last year but was able to do it  The work load is more and harder this year.  He spends more than 60% of his study time on Spanish alone.  Needless to say a bunch of his other schoolwork is being left by the wayside because he doesn't have enough hours in the day to get everything done  (My eldest, for who school is very easy, at times even struggled with this class but if he buckled down could still get through it, so I know this isn't a case of DS2 being lazy, just the workload comes in very uneven spurts).  The teacher is a very good teacher and both my boys have/are learning far more Spanish than I ever did so I don't want to knock the teacher because he is getting the information to stick in their heads, its just DS2 is buried in work.

 

I'm not one to care about learning a foreign language.  I personally found no value of it in my life.  (I realize for some it is useful, that's just not been my experience).  But it's a box we need to check for college so I'm hesitant to completely drop the subject.  I would like to figure out a way to finish the year so I can honestly grant him his 2 credits of foreign language and we can be done with it without him having to spend 15 -20 (and some weeks more than that) hours a week on one class.

 

Is it reasonable to tell the teacher that DS2 will continue attending class but will not complete all the work?  I understand the teacher will need to dock him for uncompleted work but I have no qualms adjusting the grade to reflect my expectations of a less rigorous class. 

 

How would you handle this?

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2017 by cjzimmer1

[chiguirre]

Have him try a CLEP prep test for the first level of Spanish. If he can pass that, call it good. If you want the documentation and credit have him study a bit a take the CLEP.

 

https://clep.collegeboard.org/world-languages/spanish-language

[RootAnn]

I think your idea is a good one. If the block of work is online assignments (like Vistas/VHL), he will still be able to do them after the class time is over (say, over the summer) to finish up the final semester. Even if it isn't, he should be able to save the assignments (and if they go over them in class, write the answers somewhere) so he can check his work later.

 

I'd let the teacher know he will be "auditing" the class, participating as much as he can, but won't be able to get all the work done. (Or, something along those lines.) I know of at least one other kid who got to that same point in Spanish 2 with the provider my DD uses. She ended up dropping out of Spanish to try to finish it on her own but I don't think she ever did. So, I'd encourage him to try to keep up with the day-to-day work and just not complete ALL the longer-term stuff if he doesn't have time. If he continues to study the vocab & grasp the grammar, he should be able to somewhat keep up in class even if he doesn't do the big block of written chapter work.

[cjzimmer1]

I think your idea is a good one. If the block of work is online assignments (like Vistas/VHL), he will still be able to do them after the class time is over (say, over the summer) to finish up the final semester. Even if it isn't, he should be able to save the assignments (and if they go over them in class, write the answers somewhere) so he can check his work later.

 

I'd let the teacher know he will be "auditing" the class, participating as much as he can, but won't be able to get all the work done. (Or, something along those lines.) I know of at least one other kid who got to that same point in Spanish 2 with the provider my DD uses. She ended up dropping out of Spanish to try to finish it on her own but I don't think she ever did. So, I'd encourage him to try to keep up with the day-to-day work and just not complete ALL the longer-term stuff if he doesn't have time. If he continues to study the vocab & grasp the grammar, he should be able to somewhat keep up in class even if he doesn't do the big block of written chapter work.

 

Yep, that's the stuff we are hung up on.  DS just finished the test on Wednesday night after spending 3 days on different portions of the test.   He especially struggles with the listening portions.  Which resulted in him missing the due date for his English class.  He's out for a tournament today and tomorrow and when he gets back on Sunday not only will he be worn out from the trip he has the overdue English paper and 40 sections of Spanish hanging over his head to finish by Sunday night.  He hasn't even touched math in a couple of weeks because he is so overwhelmed with these two classes but he is trying very hard to do well but school is not easy for him. (I told him to give first priority to his online classes and the stuff he does for me can wait if needed because we can always finish those in the summer).

 

I sent an email to the teacher letting him know DS was not able to keep up with the workload. I asked if there were portions of the lessons that would be more beneficial to focus his efforts than others because DS wouldn't be doing it all.  We'll see what the teacher says.

 

Thanks for reminding me the Vistas stuff doesn't expire yet, gives me a few more options if we need to take this into summer to get a credits worth done.

[dereksurfs]

Thank you so much for sharing your son's struggles. Though I know it can be hard. I think you're making the best decision to pull him out of it at this stage and continue at his own pace.

 

In planning next year, we don't want or need something so rigorous it sucks the life out of everything else of greater interest. We are looking for something both lighter and more conversational. I'm thinking of combining iTalki lessons with FundaFunda Spanish. Maybe something like iTalki  or Homeschool Spanish Academy is all your son needs at this stage.

Edited February 18, 2017 by dereksurfs

[Lanny]

I  think you should talk with your DS about withdrawing from the course. He seems to require more time than others, on other subjects, but IMO if he is spending 80% of his time on the Spanish course, that will screw up ALL of his schooling.....   I believe learning Spanish (if you are in the USA) is something that can be very useful now and in the future it will be more important.