spanish » Tenacity Divine

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We’ve been in between-house limbo for several weeks now, and thankfully, it’s been over the holidays – a time of year we usually focus on unit studies, fun activities, and spending time together as a family. It’s been a perfect time to explore a homeschool Spanish Curriculum created especially for use within families.

The REAL Homeschool Spanish bundle includes a 100-page text, a 170-page activity book, an answer book with easy-to-read answers for the activity pages, and audio files. It is available as either a digital download or in hardcopy form. In the download variation, all books are pdf, and audio files are mp3. The hardcopy version includes a printed text book, and cds with the audio files and ready-to-print files for the activity pages.

Audio for book and activity book are clearly marked with which page or section they pertain to – makes the audio easy to use. Pages that have audio also have an “audio” symbol marked on there – a useful reminder for those of us that might forget to use it otherwise!

REAL Homeschool Spanish is VERY flexible; it is set up in a manner to encourage you to incorporate Spanish into your daily family life. Though not everyone will want the optional Daily Curriculum Guide, I really appreciate it. I love curriculum that is easy to adapt to the way I want to use it, but sometimes, I get a bit overwhelmed with too much flexibility – where do I start? That’s what the Daily Curriculum Guide is perfect for. If you have a busy household like us, there’s something immensely satisfying about a guide that you can skim through, say, THIS is what we’re going to do today, and then, if you choose to, add in more from the ideas section.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is divided into ten units; each unit has two to four parts. The shorter sections help to keep it simple and controllable; no “there’s too many words to remember” here. Each of the sections haas a list of vocabulary words, a list of phrases to use, and a “tips to the home educator” sidebar. (I call it a sidebar, for lack of a better word, but often, it’s close to half the page – there’s plenty of guidance in REAL Homeschool Spanish, even if you’re new to the language.)

The activity book is wonderfully done. My kids are enjoying the puzzles, and pages are much more appealing than a fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice typical workbook. I appreciate that the activity books are in digital form – I can print as many pages as I need for my family, and not worry that I’m wasting money because I want to do the activities and learn alongside them.

It’s been easy for me to pick and and go with REAL Homeschool Spanish – much of the vocabulary here I’m already familiar with – but I think that this program, with the included audio files for help with pronunciation, would make it an excellent choice for a parent and family that is totally new to learning Spanish.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is intended for elementary and middle school ages, though my oldest students have enjoyed it as much and my younger ones. I’d heard that a high-school supplement is in the works, and I’m looking foward to seeing it.

One of the nice things about REAL Homeschool Spanish? If there is a topic that your family would like to learn vocabulary about, it would be relatively simple to use many of the same ideas (minus the activity book) to learn that material, once you’re familiar with pronunciation and feel comfortable doing so.

Samples are available on the REAL Homeschool Spanish website for you to view, and sample audio files may also be downloaded. REAL Homeschool Spanish could be incorporated into any homeschool (or family) that wants to learn Spanish together.

Pricing for REAL Homeschool Spanish varies depending on whether you choose the digital or hard copy version, and whether or not you wish to included the daily curriculum guide. (The daily curriculum guide may also be purchased separately.)

Hard copy: $99.95 with Daily Curriculum Guide, $89.95 without
Digital download: $59.95 with Daily Curriculum Guide, $59.95 without

To see what other crew members had to say, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, REAL Homeschool Spanish.

**I received this product for free as a member of the 2011-12 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**

Speekee is a intro to Spanish course for young children, wrapped in friendly videos filled with kids and cute puppets. Think Sesame Street, in Spanish, captioned in English and Spanish, full of catchy – but not annoying – songs, and you’ll have the right idea.

My family tried out Speekee TV, which is their new online version. The website is easy to use, with bright, kid-friendly colors. Speekee recommends that the videos be viewed in order to be the most effective, as Speekee uses a spiral teaching method to enhance retention.

There are ten Speekee episodes, all 15-20 minutes in length. On Speekee TV, activity suggestions and worksheets are included for each video that can be used to reinforce the new words and phrases from the videos. (In the DVD set, these are included in the parent’s guide.)

The children are “real Spanish children in real Spanish locations”. As Speekee is produced in the United Kingdom, and therefore would use a European-centric Spanish, I was concerned that this would be a problem. Rest assured, it’s not. The children are surprisingly easy to understand – much more so then the Spanish exchange students I remember from high school. Words are enunciated clearly and spoken slowly to aid in understanding.

Regional variations are minor and non-intrusive - my kids pointed out one – that naranja is used for the both fruit and the color orange in the video. For Latin American Spanish speakers, anaranjado would more commonly be used for the color.

All spoken words are in Spanish, a positive, since immersion instruction is considered more effective. Subtitles are in both English and Spanish. If your kids are pre-readers, it would be helpful to watch the videos with them, in case there is any confusion about vocabulary.

Videos develop vocabulary around themes such as the zoo, the home, a birthday party. Basic conversation, colors, and terms for description and comparison are focused on, as these are the most practical and widely used.

No prep time required, and Speekee TV doesn’t require that the parent know Spanish for the children to learn. With a low time commitment needed, any family could add Speekee TV to their regular routine – it’s as simple as turning on the TV. Log in, choose the episode, and it’s ready to go.

Recommended for ages 2-10, Speekee‘s style is most appropriate for those at the younger range, who enjoy watching it repeatedly. Older children should find it easy to quickly pick up some basic vocabulary, and it would give them a jump-start into a more scholastic-focused curriculum.

Speekee TV offers a free two-week trial. Test it out – the monthly subscription fee is quite reasonable, £4.95 (or $7.50 USD). It’s a great price for an intro to Spanish course for your family, presented in a fun, no-pressure atmosphere.

Note to families that have limited computer time or bandwidth restrictions: Speekee is also available as a DVD set for £95.00 - HOWEVER - Speekee is based in the United Kingdom, so the DVDs are in PAL format. (North American DVDs use the NTSC format.) Many North American DVD players will play the PAL format, but you’d want to make certain yours does before you order the DVD set.

To see what other crew members had to say about this product, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, Speekee.

**I received this product for free as a member of the 2010-11 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**