French III Help

[TheAttachedMama]

Hi Everyone!

My daughter has been taking French with Mrs. Barstow from AIM academy for the past two years. (French I and French II).  The classes have been great and my daughter is doing well despite having dyslexia and a few other language learning challenges.   The problem is that my daughter would like to pursue some dual enrollment classes at our local community college next year----And these college classes are at the same time as the French III class next year.   So I need to find another option for French III.

Our goal with learning French is to fulfill a basic college preparatory education in high school.   My daughter really just wants to "check the box" and move on to more math and science classes.   She does not love French, but she tolerates it.  (She likes it better than Latin, which is what she was learning in middle school.).  After this third year, I don't think she will wish to continue studying French.   She says she prefers to have more time on math and science.  

I have two questions:

1) Will it look "bad" if I have two years of outsourced French through AIM academy and then I suddenly switch to teaching the class at home myself?  I can't really count on outside tests scores to validate my grades (ex. Le Grand Concours/National French Contest or French CLEP), because she doesn't test well in languages.  

2) If I do teach French, can anyone recommend a text book or program that I might use for a French III credit?   Her previous teacher would have used the second half of Bon Voyage French 2  for her French III class, but I don't think this book would work well for me teaching the class.   Her teacher does a wonderful job because she is fluent in French, but looking at the book, I would need more support in order to teach the class than this book provides.  The difficult thing about me switching classes is that there isn't really any type of "standard" about what a French III class would cover.   It is all over the place.  So I don't want to start at the beginning of a French program and have her become bored...but I can't skip to the third book because she might have some gaps.

Ideas I have had:  

Option 1:  Join our local French Alliance chapter.  They provide in person classes once per week for two hours, and they have opportunities to meet for cultural events, movies, book clubs, and conversation practice.   My daughter is not really into this and doesn't like the idea of meeting with strangers to speak French, but she would do it if I asked her to. 😉 (I would do it with her too.).  

Option 2:  Ulat.   I guess we would start at the beginning and just see how far we could get in a year.

Option 3:  Mommy-Made Hodge-Podge French class.   I could find some easy-to-read French short stories (example) and have her read and listen to them and then try to narrate back to me what she understood.  And eventually see what we could work towards.  She could also do some French movie/tv watching or news or Easy French (YouTube), etc.  She could do copywork or a French workbook for writing practice, etc.   (Basically total up hours to justify credit)

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Do I speak French? I speak some.  I have four years of high school French and was French club president all through high school because I was SO into French growing up.  (lol!) I have also tried to stay active with learning French as an adult by reading and listening to things---but I am NOT fluent and still make lots of mistakes.   So I need some support.

Edited February 28 by TheAttachedMama

[freesia]

No one will know if you switch from outsourced to home. I don’t think it will signal anything even if they do. No one has ever cared about validation of grades in foreign language. My kids all did have outsourced classes but no one knew that. 
 

I love ULAT, but it would be really hard to use the way you are thinking. It’s a particular methodology which doesn’t lend itself to switching over. 
 

I think your Mommy made class might work the best. I might add a workbook of some kind to reinforce grammar. And maybe some Duolingo or manga work. 

[teachermom2834]

I vote for a mom class at home to check this box and focus on what your dd is more interested in. 

My dd is in French 3 at a private high school where she is getting a pretty nice education but the French is the weakest class. It’s very meh and she did AIM French 1 in 8th grade so I have that to compare it to. She isn’t doing alot in there but her transcript will say French 3 Honors and no one will be the wiser. I think if your dd has AIM 1 & 2 and a basic Mom French 3 you can check that box and move on, since your dd isn’t really that interested in pursuing it. I think you will have fulfilled a college preparatory course and it makes sense to focus on other interests. You can’t do all things!

Sometimes I get annoyed my dd’s French class isn’t more involved but then I remember she has all these other APs that she is more interested in and remind myself she just can’t do everything and that is OK. 
 

 

[Amoret]

I have a pretty basic knowledge of French and have had success working with DD through the Breaking the Barrier books. She is working on Level 3 right now, which starts with review. If your DD isn't familiar with the subjunctive tense, that is introduced in Level 2. We supplement with translations (we have done several Perrault fairy tales, The Little Prince, and she is now reading Harry Potter). We also have some old Rosetta Stone disks, so she does that once weekly for listening/speaking practice (for whatever it's worth), and we have done Coffee Break French podcasts for more listening practice.

[jplain]

Have you talked to Mrs. Barstow about the schedule conflict?  You might be able to work out something with her, some sort of asynchronous participation using the recordings plus perhaps a scheduled weekly check-in.

Or why not transition to one of the French 3 classes offered by WTMA (MWF at 2pm or 4pm Eastern) or CLRC (TW 2pm Pacific = 5pm Eastern)?  My kid transitioned from independent study to WTMA French, and she has taken both Spanish and Russian with CLRC.  She was happy with both providers for languages. CLRC's website seems to be having issues right now, so an email or phone call might be necessary to get more info.

Edited February 29 by jplain

[jplain]

I've heard good things about Breaking the Barrier, so in your shoes I'd be exploring that.  

You might also look at CMU's Open Learning Initiative French 2 for independent learners.  My daughter didn't use it, but I did.  I think I could give high school French 3 credit for completion.  To it I would add weekly iTalki tutoring.  (If you need a tutor suggestion, I can look up who my daughter used when she was at that level of French.)

Cost to access it is extremely low at $10 per user.  In the menu on the left, click on "Learning Objectives by Module" to see the concepts covered (it will be a lot of scrolling).  I will say that it might be best to start at the very beginning with their French 1 and work through that course at a faster pace.  It would not be a waste of time at all, because it would help the student develop the necessary oral comprehension (it is not easy, but so satisfying when you prevail!).  Also, it would not be a bad idea for a parent (hopefully with some French exposure) to work through it at the same time, so you could support each other as co-learners.

CMU French 2: https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/elementary-french-ii-independent-paid/

CMU French 1: https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/elementary-french-i-independent-paid/

 

Edited February 29 by jplain

[Smikell]

Salut! You already have so many good suggestions; but just in case you decide to pursue your option #3, I wanted to share some resources. I taught both my children French III and now teach for an online homeschool provider. You are correct when you say that French III doesn't have a "standard." Everyone does it differently! My first thought when you mentioned that your daughter likes science was a subscription to Slow French.

News in Slow French - Intermediate Podcast

They have weekly stories/podcasts in the science and technology field that might be of interest to her. You could use these for listening and reading comprehension. 

In case you need a good grammar workbook with exercises, I like both of these:

Workbook in French: Three Years, Third Edition: Perfection Learning Corp: 9781531129293: Amazon.com: Books

Get a used/older copy and save some $!

Amazon.com: Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar, Premium Fifth Edition: 9781266005596: Heminway, Annie: Books

The Lawless French website can also be a helpful grammar resource and has online quizzes:

Learn French at Lawless French

YouTube is a great resource. You mentioned Easy French, but I also love French School TV:

French School TV - YouTube

Instagram is also amazing for short daily doses of content in the target language. I love and use the following accounts:

@frenchteachercarlitoo

@frenchschooltv

@frenchwithpatrick

@prononciation_avec_christophe

And podcasts are great too--she might even find one geared toward science.

Let me know if you have any questions! 

 

Edited February 29 by Smikell

[Kristini2]

On 2/29/2024 at 4:45 AM, jplain said:

Have you talked to Mrs. Barstow about the schedule conflict?  You might be able to work out something with her, some sort of asynchronous participation using the recordings plus perhaps a scheduled weekly check-in.

We reached out this past year when none of the French 2 times worked for my daughter due to classes at a local college, and she added an afternoon section. She might not want to add another section of French 3, but she’s super nice and might be able to work something out? 

Edited March 1 by Kristini2

[ieta_cassiopeia]

If you are doing a non-option #1, you could speak to individual members of the Alliance Française to see if any of them would be open to conversing with your daughter, even if it is once a week for part of the year. This would probably be less socially daunting than going to the whole Alliance Française class (since you could be reasonably confident of her speaking to the same stranger through the year), but still gives an opportunity to maintain French speaking skills - and of course those hours can be counted towards the credit, giving you fewer hours to plan in detail elsewhere on the course.

[SoCal_Bear]

doesn't WTMA have French 3? Is that at all an option?

[pehp]

Not sure this is helpful to you, but my son took College French 3 with Madame S at The Potter’s School. They do award credit for it through Belhaven, I believe, if you go that route. We love Madame S!