Non teacher-intensive Spanish?

[Moonhawk]

Any recommendations? I was hoping for something that was focused on conversational Spanish that could bring them up to basic use. We've used DuoLingo and they like it but nothing seems to stick. I have a very basic proficiency but it's been years since I've had to have any actual conversation, so other than getting the right pronunciation/accent I do not want to be pulling stuff together, and I've already got a full plate to plan. I can practice with them during the day though and it's my mom's first language, so we can give them practice, just not the lesson, kwim?

[Lori D.]

Sounds like "exposure" rather than formal program is what you're looking for? Perhaps have your mom come over and teach them a few times a week, or have them visit grandma several times a week and she speak Spanish to/with them?? Watch Spanish-speaking children's shows?

[Jentrovert]

We really like the boxes from talkbox.mom. They are pricey, but I don't get them very often (you can adjust when you receive.) There is also just a book. Both the boxes and the book focus on conversational Spanish, phrases that we actualy use around the house regularly. I'm not fluent, but I can read Spanish pretty well, so it's perfect for us. I have the cards placed around the house, where I can easily reference them as we go about life.

 

[Sarah0000]

We're in a similar situation and I went with the Learnables on the PC. It does not require the student to speak (at least as far as we've gotten) but it does require the student to listen to and understand complete spoken sentences. My seven year old has been doing it completely independently and I have been so surprised by just how much Spanish he had picked up from our cobbled together Spanish at home we were doing. I think its great for receptive language. 

For practicing speaking together I use Speaking Spanish WIth Miss Mason. It is a pdf with a series of sentences to memorize to describe common things you would do. At first it was really prescriptive, and my son would only say the exact sentences provided, but then he started branching out and using other vocabulary that fit in the sentence model. So it has been good for getting him to speak in Spanish. It's not really teacher intensive but to make quick progress you should do it every day. I keep meaning to add it into morning basket/memory work time but it does tend to drop off my radar and I end up squeezing it in at random times. Because of this I don't think it would be enough for us as far as vocabulary memorization but if your kids are also doing Duolingo maybe that wouldn't be an issue.

If you're fine with daily practice than reading aloud is easy to add in. My kids are young and they enjoy reading Elephant and Piggy in Spanish, and other preschool age books. 

[Random]

We've used and loved Speedy Spanish as mentioned above.  It has a great audio component and if the student follows the directions, he/she will be speaking a lot.  My library has children's audio book kits in Spanish-it's a Spanish book along the lines of A Pocket for Corduroy, Harold and the Purple Crayon, etc. with Spanish audio.  We listen to the book while reading along.  Since they are books we have already read in English, it's a great way to increase vocabulary and hear the language spoken well.

Some other things I like: News in Slow Spanish podcast, Easy Peasy's Spanish lessons, Salsa Spanish episodes by Georgia Public Broadcasting, and the Pre-k and K phonics workbooks in Spanish from Rod & Staff.

Enjoy!

[Create Your Ritual]

My DS11 is studying Spanish this year, and he's been using a Fluenz Spanish program I've owned for a few years. He's goes through the lesson on a desktop with headphones while I review each lesson with my laptop and headphones next to him. It's fairly low key, and has been very easy to implement. We close it down at the end of each 30 min lesson, and then it comes right back to where you left off the next time. I've used Fluenz for both Spanish & Italian. What I appreciate about the program is how quickly you are speaking useful, conversational Spanish which is what I was after for his first year of Spanish. It's a fairly expensive initial purchase, but there's a big sale every year for Black Friday and maybe the month of December. 

[Moonhawk]

Thank you for the suggestions! Alas, in my impatience I found a copy of Spanish for Children by Classical Academic Press. It looked like maybe it could be less teacher intensive, and maybe in future chapters it will be, but it's a bit more than I was hoping for, lol. It doesn't focus (as of yet) onto conversational Spanish like I wanted, but at least they are getting introduced to it and hopefully it'll give them a good foundation so the next program we do will be successful. 

A lot of the suggestions here look perfect, so thank you! I'll definitely be doing some of these once we finish up this first program.

[RootAnn]

@Moonhawk Don't feel bad if you shelve SfC before finishing it. I found it really really tough because there wasn't enough practice/review for my DD. We used it after Getting Started With Spanish (which was good). We didn't finish it & she eventually moved onto high school Spanish 1 with La Class Divertida (online) in 8th grade. The first semester grammar stuff was almost all review & she knew quite a bit of the vocab, too. Looking back at SfC, it covered a LOT. Don't be afraid to do other stuff alongside SfC or instead of it for awhile!

FWIW, that DD is now a Freshman in college & taking a 300-level Spanish class.