Middlebury Spanish Online vs. Spanish Homeschool Academy

[Nart]

I am trying to decide between Middlebury Spanish Online (https://shop.middleburyinteractive.com/?_ga=2.228027293.1468267202.1567053052-1498658565.1567053052)  vs. Homeschool Spanish Academy (https://www.spanish.academy/) for my 5th grader.  Has anyone used both and can compare? Or used only one of them and has a review or opinion. I read some previous posts that had concerns about being able to schedule Homeschool Spanish and perhaps they were overextending themselves a bit. 

[73349]

We've been happy with HSA and plan to continue to use them this year. Once you have a teacher you like, go ahead and book all the rest of your classes if you want the same time slot(s) every week.

They're not perfect--I'm very much a parts-to-whole person, and they'd rather have kids try things out instead of going too much into grammar/background (which is why having our teacher able to answer questions is good); and there have been occasional issues like the teacher's page of questions for DS expecting vocabulary that had not been covered. But the instruction is solid (and native speakers are really helpful since I've never had a class in Spanish, only some self-study), the written materials colorful and friendly, and the customer service responsive.

DS is not an enthusiastic student, but Sra has done really well with him.

[Jackie]

We’ve used Homeschool Spanish Academy for a few years, and I see us continuing to use them. Popular teachers can definitely be difficult to schedule with. When we first started, I had my daughter try several teachers to find ones she really likes. We’ve ended up with one very popular teacher, and if I don’t schedule six months in advance with her, we won’t get her at all. The other two teachers she likes have much more accommodating schedules, and I have little trouble finding times that work with them, as long as I schedule at least 2-3 weeks in advance. I would never expect to be able to scheduled within a few days and get one of the teachers she likes, though. I treat it like signing up for any other online class - in spring or summer, I sit down and schedule out for the following year, at the same time that I’m signing up for any other online classes for that next academic year.

[Nart]

20 hours ago, Jackie said:

We’ve used Homeschool Spanish Academy for a few years, and I see us continuing to use them. Popular teachers can definitely be difficult to schedule with. When we first started, I had my daughter try several teachers to find ones she really likes. We’ve ended up with one very popular teacher, and if I don’t schedule six months in advance with her, we won’t get her at all. The other two teachers she likes have much more accommodating schedules, and I have little trouble finding times that work with them, as long as I schedule at least 2-3 weeks in advance. I would never expect to be able to scheduled within a few days and get one of the teachers she likes, though. I treat it like signing up for any other online class - in spring or summer, I sit down and schedule out for the following year, at the same time that I’m signing up for any other online classes for that next academic year.

 

Thanks. My boys both tried the Homeschool Spanish Academy free class and really enjoyed it. I just signed them up for classes. 

[Maryam]

On 8/31/2019 at 5:49 AM, Jackie said:

We’ve used Homeschool Spanish Academy for a few years, and I see us continuing to use them. Popular teachers can definitely be difficult to schedule with. When we first started, I had my daughter try several teachers to find ones she really likes. We’ve ended up with one very popular teacher, and if I don’t schedule six months in advance with her, we won’t get her at all. The other two teachers she likes have much more accommodating schedules, and I have little trouble finding times that work with them, as long as I schedule at least 2-3 weeks in advance. I would never expect to be able to scheduled within a few days and get one of the teachers she likes, though. I treat it like signing up for any other online class - in spring or summer, I sit down and schedule out for the following year, at the same time that I’m signing up for any other online classes for that next academic year.

I’m considering it for my 6th grader. Is it too late to get good teachers scheduled if I join now? Also, how do you try teachers and find one you like? (Don’t quite understand how that works).

[Jackie]

4 hours ago, Maryam said:

I’m considering it for my 6th grader. Is it too late to get good teachers scheduled if I join now? Also, how do you try teachers and find one you like? (Don’t quite understand how that works).

 

Out of the three teachers my daughter likes, we would still be able to schedule with two of them with a few days notice. The other one is crazy popular and booked for months in advance. When you schedule classes, the program asks you to choose a teacher first, then you can see all the dates and time slots they have available. If you’re not sure what teachers to choose, you can choose “no preference” on the teacher page, and then choose by only time slot. That’s what we did for DD’s first several classes, so she could try a variety of teachers and decide who she liked best to schedule with thereafter.

[Maryam]

3 hours ago, Jackie said:

 

Out of the three teachers my daughter likes, we would still be able to schedule with two of them with a few days notice. The other one is crazy popular and booked for months in advance. When you schedule classes, the program asks you to choose a teacher first, then you can see all the dates and time slots they have available. If you’re not sure what teachers to choose, you can choose “no preference” on the teacher page, and then choose by only time slot. That’s what we did for DD’s first several classes, so she could try a variety of teachers and decide who she liked best to schedule with thereafter.

Would you mind PM’ing me some names of the more available ones she liked to give us a starting point? Thanks.