Spanish 2/3: WHA vs. Ray Leven

[frankincense]

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Edited February 26 by frankincense

[Miss Tick]

We've used Ray Leven for three years and he is top-notch. The class is all business, and my dc have had 4-5 hours worth of work outside of the 1 hour weekly discussion since they started. That makes the per-hour cost very cheap. It was important to me that they have enough learning work outside of class for at least an hour a day so that I didn't pay a lot of money and then feel like I had to supplement all the time. He labels his upper classes as Honors, and from the syllabus and homework comparisons I've done they seem worthy of that title. The biggest potential drawback is that he can be brusque. We have encountered this with other teachers who are very good at what they do and don't have much patience for repeated errors. He also does not announce his full schedule ahead of the school-year starting. This has never been a hardship for us since all the activities and classes that we are in have their own schedule so they are never all quiet at once except for the major holidays. Classes are arranged at the beginning of the year depending on the availabilities  of the students and this has worked out surprisingly well.

[Mom0012]

My dd took from Spanish 2 through AP Spanish with Ray.  She really loved his class for level 2, 3 and 4 and he was probably her favorite teacher for all those years.  She was in a class with some really strong students who were highly motivated and I do think that is part of what my dd liked about the class. Some of the things I really liked about the class were his no-nonsense attitude and the efficient way it was run from a teaching and homework perspective.  One thing that frustrated me a bit from level 3 on was that he did not have the kids do as much reading in Spanish as I would have liked, but, in looking at other options, I’m not sure there is a class that does that.  It always seemed to me that my dd had very little homework and there was time for him to assign more reading. But, I’m starting to realize that my dd is just pretty quick with languages, so maybe my perception is skewed.  She scored a 780 on the Spanish SAT II subject test.  She is continuing with her Spanish studies and is now reading books and writing essays in Spanish and she is able to use the language in her volunteer work.

[frankincense]

Thank you both so much for your input! It's very helpful. 

I think no-nonsense, even veering toward brusque (but hopefully not soul-crushing : ), could actually be helpful. Although she favors teachers that are warm and fuzzy (who doesn't?), that doesn't really reflect the real world and knowing that she won't be able to coast through the class is a good thing. I like that he offers upper level Spanish classes -- few providers seem to extend offerings beyond Spanish 2 or perhaps Spanish 3. 

The only wrinkle will be whether he'll accept a slightly younger student. DD is in middle school and I see his classes are slated for high school students. I sent him email so will wait to hear from him on this front.

Thanks again!

[RootAnn]

I like that Ray does a placement Skype appointment with each student. You don't find that with most providers. Wilson Hill has had good & not-so-good Spanish teachers in the past. I think they would be willing to talk to your student to see where best she would be placed, but then she'll pretty much have to fit into the place that class is with that book. Smaller classes are better for language, IMO, so Ray has some draw there.

We did Sr Gamache / La Clase Divertida for Spanish 1-3 which was nice from a price standpoint (cost of the textbook was spread over three years) and DD loved him as a teacher. He is certainly not perfect and not the right teacher for everyone - especially kids who are not willing or able to be organized and plan out their work. He's also a Christian provider (although I'm not sure that is clear from the website). DD did Spanish 4 with WHA with a teacher that I dont know is still employed there. We were not impressed although we had high hopes. I would have done things differently for Spanish 4, but I don't know what that would have been even in hindsight.

I'd reach out to WHA's possible Spanish teacher and see what she says, too. I have heard good things about Samantha Lucas if you want a name to contact. Good luck!

[Miss Tick]

2 hours ago, frankincense said:

The only wrinkle will be whether he'll accept a slightly younger student. DD is in middle school

Mine started Spanish 1 with Ray in 6th.

[flor]

My child really enjoyed Mr. Leven. He is very direct, but we never had a problem with that. The assignments were interesting and my student’s Spanish blossomed, in particular the writing skills (others as well). 

[frankincense]

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences! 

To give some follow up -- Wilson Hill was very helpful in assessing our individual needs. They reviewed DD's syllabus from HSA and her grade report and gave a recommendation of the appropriate level for her at WHA. I appreciated the time and individual attention both on the phone as well as via email follow-up. 

We've decided to go with Ray Leven for the fall. WHA's Spanish is a relative unknown -- they have very few sample classes on the WHA website, and I haven't heard much feedback on their Spanish teachers. (Thank you, however, RootAnn, for the pointer to Samantha Lucas. I see that she's teaching most Spanish sessions in 2019-2020.) Ray conducted an individual Skype assessment and I've seen so many positive posts about him that we're willing to take the plunge. The small class sizes are also attractive. Thank you to all who replied and shared your thoughts! This board has been such an amazing resource in our homeschooling journey.

[RootAnn]

@frankincense I'm curious as to how the placement differed (if any) between WHA & Leven?

I think the smaller class sizes are great for foreign language classes!!!