In my last article I discussed teaching kids Spanish when you don’t know a lick of it. Fortunately, several quality homeschool curriculums teach Spanish with little parental involvement. In addition, you can also find tutors and local classes as well. For those of you looking to teach Spanish using a pre-packaged curriculum, here are some you should investigate.
Rosetta Stone is definitely one of the most popular homeschool Spanish curriculum’s around. My son is using as a supplement to help with an actual Spanish class and it does a great deal to help him to actually speak the language. That is the strength of this program. It uses voice recognition software that allows students to listen and speak back so they can speak as well as understand the language. There is a debate as to whether or not this would be accepted as a full Spanish credit on a transcript. The biggest plus of this curriculum is that I could split up payments over a number of months making it more easily affordable. (All Spanish homeschool kits are expensive).
BJU press Spanish homeschool kit includes the BJU press Spanish textbook as well as CD supplements and teacher materials. While this is a quality curriculum without question, it is difficult for a student to self-learn it. My son is using the text book only along with the Rosetta Stone software in his Spanish class…. If I had to do it over again, I would have purchased the BJU press CD’s as the Rosetta Stone software does not match up with the BJU press book.
Power-glide teaches Spanish from elementary through high school level and combines CD’s and workbooks to teach cultures, grammar, and reinforcing vocabulary. Power-glide can be found through homeschool curriculum providers, but it is also part of the K12 (public school at home) curriculum under the name powerspeak and is offered as a reasonably affordable online course for those who use K12 and even those who don’t.
Read:
A Foreign Language Plan for Upper Elementary Students
10 Good Reasons for Foreign Languages