heartofdakota.com

Ladies,

As I'm getting ready to wrap up the sneak peeks, I am glad to share our plan for foreign language study for high school. Our own two oldest sons have studied Greek for quite a few years, since my husband has an interest in both Greek and Hebrew in order to read God's Word in its original form. Greek is something we've done with Hey, Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek moving slowly through the levels. Had my hubby not instigated this study though, I don't think I would have kept up with it each year!

I will say that in today's heavily academic world, I differ with Charlotte Mason on the burning need to study multiple languages at a young age. While I do think kiddos can learn a variety languages early and with success, I also think that with the plethora of subject areas vying for our time each day, foreign language study often falls by the wayside and gets taught in fits and starts (or not at all).

As far as speakable foreign languages go, I have purchased various programs through the years and never really gotten off of the ground with any of them! This bothered me so much, for more years than I care to admit, until I finally decided this was one area upon which I could wait until my boys were older to pursue. I rationalized that they would need the credit in high school anyway, at which point they would already have an excellent foundation in English grammar (which would hopefully be a huge help to them as they studied a new language). So, to me, a solid foundation in English grammar became our most important focus in the years leading up to high school (with foreign language waiting in the wings to really take to the stage). While this may not be the case for many of you reading this sneak peek, I know it may be true for some. I share our background to help many of you know that it is alright to wait to study a foreign language until your children reach high school.

Originally, we did not intend to schedule any specific foreign language study in our guides, as the choice of which foreign language to study is such a personal one. However, with our own sons, we have found that choosing and scheduling the study of a foreign language can be pretty overwhelming, so we decided that we could at least offer an option that we have tried and had success with ourselves. With our own boys, we decided that Spanish would be a good language for them to study. This is because it is a language that is spoken quite frequently in many areas of the U.S. and is also one that is used in many other countries. It is also a language that is more like the English language, making it easier to pick up and practice. Many mission-related fields also use Spanish.

In looking at our boys' heavier schedules throughout high school, we also decided that a systematic approach over all 4 years of high school would be the ideal. Yet, we didn't want language study to overtake our boys' days. So, we opted to do .5 credit of language study each year of high school, earning 2 full credits of the same speakable foreign language by graduation. For families who wish to pursue a quicker pace... that can easily be accomplished simply by devoting more time to the study of a foreign language each year.

Our ultimate goals are that our kiddos learn to read, write, understand, and speak some Spanish. We are not expecting fluency, as being fluent in a language takes many years of serious language study. We believe the grammar of learning a language is very important, as is the writing of the language. This is why we have chosen an approach that incorporates these skills.

We believe in starting very gently with language study and in doing some work with the language daily (during the days school is scheduled). Our hope is that studying a foreign language will be a joy-filled, exciting experience (with a desire to learn more), rather than a frustrating experience where too much vocabulary is introduced too quickly to really be internalized.

With this in mind, we will schedule Alpha Omega's LifePac Spanish daily in the World History Guide as a follow-up to Getting Started with Spanish by Linney that was done in the World Geography guide. Our oldest son used this Alpha Omega course as a follow-up to Getting Started With Spanish with great success. The two courses actually complement each other very well, and our son was able to keep up with the quick pace and vocabulary used in this course thanks to Getting Started With Spanish. Together, the two courses have helped make Spanish one of our son’s favorite high school subjects. Better yet, even parents with no previous Spanish experience can oversee this course, thanks to the audio CDs and clear Answer Key. The course is meant for the student to complete on his/her own (with the exception of the speaking/dialogue exercises) and works well in that capacity. So don't fret over the illusive foreign language credit any longer! Heart of Dakota schedules a steady, manageable foreign language pace of 2 full credits spread over 4 years of high school that will help your student learn, enjoy, and retain Spanish. We do not recommend the online version (or CD version) of this course, due to a variety of glitches in the correcting of the student's work (not to mention that there is still something to be said for actually having to write the words, rather than type them, which aids in retention too).

The first half of this resource is scheduled daily in the World History guide, allowing your student to earn ½ credit in Spanish in the World History guide. The remaining half of this resource will be scheduled in the guide that follows the World History guide, allowing your student to earn another ½ credit in Spanish in that guide. Since this Spanish program moves quickly and is quite vocabulary and grammar intensive, it is best if students have some previous Spanish exposure (like Getting Started With Spanish) prior to beginning this program. Students who desire to study a different foreign language, or who are beyond Spanish I, may substitute a different language course in place of this option to fulfill the foreign language requirement.

Here is the course description from the publisher:
This full-color, consumable Spanish course is designed to build Spanish skills through dialogue and conversation practice. Afraid you can't teach a foreign language? Don't be. This course has easy, step-by-step lessons and explanations that every parent can follow. And your student will love learning Spanish with easy-to-follow, self-paced lessons! To encourage student learning, this course is divided into ten motivating worktexts. Personalized instruction, along with consistent reviews, and learning the grammar of Spanish ensures concept mastery. Topics covered in this curriculum include extensive vocabulary related to school, home, numbers, months, seasons, time, and clothing, parts of speech, and the culture and geography of Spanish speaking countries from around the world.

This course also builds skills in reading, writing, and speaking the Spanish language. Using the included audio CDs, your student will have the opportunity to hear Spanish speakers actually using various words and verb tenses! What could be more convenient? The course also comes with a teacher's guide filled with teaching ideas, supplemental activities, outlined objectives, and answer keys. Most importantly, after your student has completed this ten-unit course, he'll be able to ask and answer basic questions and respond to simple statements in Spanish!

Link to Sample (Unit 1 Worktext): http://media.glnsrv.com/pdf/products/sa ... EL9201.pdf

Link to Sample (Unit 2 Worktext): http://media.glnsrv.com/pdf/products/sa ... EL9202.pdf

Link to Sample (Unit 3 Worktext): http://media.glnsrv.com/pdf/products/sa ... EL9203.pdf

Link to Sample (Unit 4 Worktext): http://media.glnsrv.com/pdf/products/sa ... EL9204.pdf

Link to Sample (Unit 5 Worktext): http://media.glnsrv.com/pdf/products/sa ... EL9205.pdf

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie after looking at this at convention and studying the samples I think this is a great way to cover Spanish. Thanks again for doing the leg work and checking out all the various programs.

Carrie wrote: it is alright to wait to study a foreign language until your children reach high school.

Thank you. Seriously, thank you for saying that out loud. I love CM education but I can't tell you how many years Mason's foreign language ideal has hung over my head. I've wanted to implement foreign language in the younger grades, but it just never worked. It is such a wonderful relief for someone to say it will all be okay without that.

I have a question ... we did MTMM last year for my son's freshman year and did not add a foreign language. If we keep following the guides in order, which is what we are planning to do, he will end up with 1.5 credits, right? I know you said we could accelerate the language study if we want to, but honestly the closer we stick to the HOD guides the smoother and better our days are. Things are just so much more simple and enjoyable that way. Also my son is dyslexic and a slow reader. It takes him longer to assimilate new facts etc. So the slower pace you suggest sounds perfect for him and I hesitate to change what you've planned. What would you suggest for my situation?

Thanks for any thoughts you may have, and for taking the time to do these sneak peaks. I thoroughly enjoy them.

Jenn

Lynn,

Thanks so much for your comments! I appreciated seeing you and your family in Cincinnati!

Blessings,
Carrie

Jenn,

I, too, was relieved to know that I had not failed by not being able to fit foreign language study consistently into our schedule prior to high school! It is amazing how much my oldest son has enjoyed Spanish during high school, so for him the timing was right. My second oldest son has also really enjoyed Spanish this past year as a freshman, the way it was scheduled in the World Geography Guide, so the timing was right for him as well.

For your son, I would encourage you to follow the Spanish schedule in the guides as written until we get to his senior year. At that point we can double up lessons if needed to earn one full credit in Spanish that senior year. By then, you will have a better idea what career path and post-graduation ideas he might have and can know better what will be needed foreign language requirement-wise to meet those goals. Your son will also have a better founding in Spanish by then, making it easier to accelerate at that point.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie, that plan sounds great! Thanks for your advice. That is exactly what we'll do. I've been stressing a bit lately over how we're going to handle foreign language for him but this plan sounds so doable.

Oh my! I am. excited. about this! Carrie, you may have commented on this elsewhere, if so you can redirect me. I'm trying to understand how to put this on the transcript, since the students will be using a Spanish 1 course for the second half of Spanish 1 and the first half of Spanish 2. Am I correct? Can you help me understand the progression and how it would be recorded on the transcript using LInney as the first 1/2?

Thank you so much Carrie, I can't tell you what a relief it is to have such a user-friendly, stress-free plan for high school. Now, if we can only survive the upper level math, Lol.

Florence,

The Linney book from the World Geography would be listed as 1/2 credit in Spanish I on the transcript. Then, the Spanish scheduled in the World History Guide would be listed as 1/2 credit in Spanish I as well. The following year, you would list the Spanish covered in the next HOD guide as 1/2 credit in Spanish II. The last year of high school, you would list the Spanish covered in the final HOD guide as 1/2 credit in Spanish II. This works well because Alpha Omega's Spanish Lifepac actually has an accelerated Spanish scope and sequence when compared with most state requirements for Spanish. It is much like the accelerated grammar sequence of Rod and Staff English!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,

Thank you. We need 3 foreign language credits, so would the last part of the AO Lifepac Book two count for the first 1/2 credit of Spanish 3? IF so, any suggestions on how we could round out that last 1/2 a credit?