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.
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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).
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We believe in starting very gently with language study and in doing some work with the language daily (during the days school is scheduled).
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With this in mind, we will schedule Getting Started with Spanish by Linney daily in the World Geography guide. The lessons are short and include free audios for help with pronunciation on the author's website. The text was written for homeschool settings and gets students reading, writing, and speaking some Spanish right away.
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Here is the course description from the publisher:
Getting Started with Spanish: Beginning Spanish for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age is a book that teaches beginning Spanish gradually yet systematically. This unique method was designed specifically to help homeschooled and self-taught students overcome the obstacles they face when studying Spanish at home. In each lesson, after learning something new, you can immediately apply what you've learned by translating the fun practice sentences. Download the free MP3 files that accompany the book and listen to a native speaker (co-author Antonio Orta) pronounce all the exercises. As you practice speaking and understanding spoken Spanish, refer to the answer key in the back if you get stuck. For additional help and instruction, the authors have provided extensive audio commentary recordings that teach through every lesson and exercise in the book. Everything you need is here in one book, so what's stopping you from Getting Started with Spanish?
Link to see inside: http://www.gettingstartedwithspanish.com/preview01.php
If you do not desire to take Spanish, or if you already have experience in Spanish beyond the level of this course, then you can easily use your own foreign language option instead.
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Blessings,
Carrie