Sneak Peek #11: New World Geography Guide
Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:04 pm
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 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. It is worth .5 credit in Spanish, when used with the audios or when used with pronunciation practice with an adult who has a little bit of Spanish experience. The course requires no previous Spanish experience for the student, is economic, easy-to-use, and includes an answer key in the back. It is not an intensive program for the parent and is written directly to the student. Our own oldest son thoroughly enjoyed the course and went on to a different Spanish program easily. He is requesting to take Spanish at college.
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. This is definitely an area that is personal and may differ for each student! We just wanted to offer our own thoughts and a possible plan for families to follow who may desire an approach similar to what I've outlined above. It appears that the author is also working on a Getting Started With French, which could be an alternate option. He does have a Getting Started with Latin as well.
Blessings,
Carrie
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 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. It is worth .5 credit in Spanish, when used with the audios or when used with pronunciation practice with an adult who has a little bit of Spanish experience. The course requires no previous Spanish experience for the student, is economic, easy-to-use, and includes an answer key in the back. It is not an intensive program for the parent and is written directly to the student. Our own oldest son thoroughly enjoyed the course and went on to a different Spanish program easily. He is requesting to take Spanish at college.
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. This is definitely an area that is personal and may differ for each student! We just wanted to offer our own thoughts and a possible plan for families to follow who may desire an approach similar to what I've outlined above. It appears that the author is also working on a Getting Started With French, which could be an alternate option. He does have a Getting Started with Latin as well.
Blessings,
Carrie