Spanish Part 2

So now your child has all this vocabulary (where I am with oldest peep) but is not really speaking Spanish. What do you do? You get So You Really Want to Learn Spanish because you really do want to learn.

I have written often about this program many times on the WTM boards and on the Galore Park yahoo group. I can not say it enough. This program will get your child reading, writing, speaking, and thinking in Spanish. All you have to do is use it, study it, learn it. I will be the first to admit I need to have my peeps speaking it more, but they can translate most of what they hear me say to them. They can understand most simple books I read to them. I just really really need to make them answer me in Spanish. Funny enough, I know many in my generation whose parents speak Spanish but they do not. They understand completely but will answer completely in English. I am creating this!!! AHHHH!!!

Back to SYRWTLS......it has exercises to translate sentences from English to Spanish from Spanish to English. They have short passages that tell about the culture in Spain. For example, they have a diary of sorts about a young boy's day. Your student reads it and then the is asked questions to see if they comprehend the passage. I read the passage to them. I let them read it aloud and to themselves. I copy it and let them mark the words they do not know. I ask them to translate orally and then I ask them to write out the translation. Then I read it to them again and ask them to just listen to it in Spanish and try to understand in Spanish. This is just one of the many exercises. Enough to say I love it.

Now my cautions. I speak Spanish fluently so I find it easy to use. I don't know how this would relate if I did not speak Spanish. I do know that French Prep and Latin Prep are books that I am easily using without really knowing the language. I do not own the audio cd's. I have read and heard from others that the cds are not that helpful. I am sorry for that as I will soon order the French one just because there are a lot of words I know I am pronouncing wrong. Also, it is Spain Spanish not South American Spanish. I know the differences and can easily add them in when necessary. There really are not many and anyone you speak to will know the differences. Most importantly I would not begin this with anyone younger than 10 and only if they have a large Spanish vocabulary. If they are younger I am finding some other things helpful.

I would find a Spanish Immersion class for the year, rent favorite videos and watch them in Spanish, tape Plaza Sesamo, read Dr. Seuss in Spanish (that is challenging even for me) and just immerse yourselves. If you have Dish Network or access to United Streaming, I highly recommend Elementary Spanish. I dismissed this program when I first reviewed it. Baby Peep is using it and enjoying it tremendously. I may start Middle Peep on it soon. If you can use this, I recommend you watch it with your peeps and help them practice throughout the day.

Another program that we are enjoying a lot if Fun Spanish. If you look farther down the blog you will see Middle Peep has started this also. It is funny and is allowing my not so language crazy peeps to have fun and still learn. It is written by a fellow homeschool mom who has some wonderful ideas and products available at her site so go check her out.

It is not an easy task to learn a language. It is not something to be undertaken by the faint of heart. It is immensely rewarding and satisfying. Just think of the part of the world that will open to you because of your new acquired language.

French Update

So we are using So You Really Want to Learn French....French Prep. Oldest Peep is working through this and to be honest I have been involved very little. Today I grabbed the book and did 2 exercises orally with her. I thought she would have some trouble answering the questions or have difficulty with some words but she not only pronounces better than I but she said it all correctly. I am amazed. She has a gift for languages. This homeschool thing can be lots of fun. I will post some of her work at another time. I just wanted to share how impressed I am. Now if only I could get her to do that in Spanish as well. That is another story.....

Spanish

I have been asked several times how I teach Spanish to my kids. I will write this upfront...I wish I had done better when they were younger. Learn from my mistakes. If you are fluent, I beg you to please talk to them in Spanish as much as you can. Make the effort. Tell yourself for this hour I will only speak spanish to them. The younger the better of course, but really any age will benefit.

If you are like me and have missed out on those formidable years, do not fret. There is hope. But it will cost you!

First, label the house. Everything you can. Like everything else this is a stage of your life that will pass. Like not buying diapers anymore, the day will come when you can take them down. For now bear with them. But don't just put them up. Use them! Make the kids ask for leche, taza, cuchillo, agua, pan, plato. Make them say gracias, por favor, de nada. When you need to go say Vamonos, Apurate/Apurense, sientate/sientense.

Flashcards like these may help yo with this task.

What they use, sticks. Bottom line.

Go to the library and get books in Spanish.

Clifford, Froggy, Franklin and other popular kids books can be found in most libraries now.

If you are lucky, Scholastic has a warehouse sale near you. Take advantage. They usually have the Spanish books in the $1 section. Get other tales in Spanish. I once found this book in Spanish with a lot of action verbs. The first day I read it I translated the whole thing as I went along. The second day I translated less and made them act out some of the verbs. The third day even less and more acting. The fourth day totally in Spanish and they had to act every verb with no prompting from me. The fifth day they acted the whole book for dad while I read. They loved it. Whenever we encounter those verbs you bet they remember what they mean.
Have some kind of scavenger hunt. Say a word in Spanish and they have to work together to find the item....zapato, libro, abrigo, etc.


I like this book and this one for word ideas. This site has some great booklets you can print out to help with the reading.

These are fun as well as the others on that page. I have not used them all but some and they are fun for the crafty or easily bored child.

This one is cool and this one.

This is a workbook that worked well when oldest peep was 8 or 9. Here is another version of the same book. Looking for that one I came across this one. I have not used it, but their reviews look good. Check your library for it first.


This is a set of three books the peeps have enjoyed a lot.

Say Hola to Spanish, Say Hola Otra Vez, Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus.


Basically whatever you do, have a plan, stick to it, and most importantly get your kids repeating after you. This is the most important.

More to come........

Parlez-vous français?

So my order from Ray finally came today. I think my mail person with holding my packages. They always take so much longer to get to me than most people. On the WTM board a bunch of people ordered from Ray and those living in my area received their books Friday and Saturday, but I did not get mine until today. I will have to keep my eye on that postal worker!

I finally had a chance to look them over quickly. We had a very looooooooong day today. Many interruptions and life skills got in our way but we still did accomplish our core subjects. YAY!!!

Back to the Galore Park books....I ordered book 1 and 2 of So You Really Want to Learn French and the Greek book they distribute. They are working on a Greek Prep series but it is still in the planning stages. I hope they hurry up.

I have mainly looked over the Greek book as a fellow homeschooler wants to use this with her son as well. At first glance it looks good but scary at the same time. There is no answer key and that is the scary part. It has a good chapter on letter sounds but it then delves right into words. It is nice that they introduce Greek words still in use in the English language, but since they are in Greek letters it scared me. I have to remember that κομμα is comma. μ is mu. My brain is too old for this. But the children want to learn it and it would be neat only if my brain were younger.

The French book looks a little easier.....but only a little! I still do remember *some* of my high school French. I did not order the Cd's. I hope I don't regret that choice. I am impressed with them and think they will provide us with just what we need to learn the language.

I will update this post as we start to use these books, but so far, like all the other Galore Park products I use, I give them 2 thumbs up.

Salvete!

I have much to write about but I have not been in a writing mood. Today, while schooling the oldest peep in Latin, I was so proud it made me want to tell you all about it.

Her assignment was to translate a story written in Latin to English. She had to translate it nautically. The author of this text is very silly that way, which is one of the many reasons we love it so much and HIGHLY recommend it. She did such a marvelous job that I will share it with you.

i will leave out the accents because i don't know how to add them here

An Adventure by Sea

olim quinque pueri cum quinque puellis novam inculm petere constituerunt. ibi non incolas superare cupiebant sed invenire aurum. gladios et hastas trans undas non vexerunt, sed multum cibum et multum aquam et magnum librum. librum scripsit poeta Quintus et parvis nautis dedit; pulcher erat et pulcher verba continuit; nautae librum magnopere amabant. fortier per undas navigabant; ubi venti boni fuerunt, laeti erant; sed ubi mali fuerunt, quod in magno periculo erant, miseri erant. tandem insulam invenerunt; in oppidum festinant. ibi incolae nautis "salvete!" dicunt.

Translation by an 11 year old!
Once upon a time, five boys with five girls decide to seek an island. They did not want to overcome the inhabitants, but to find gold. They do not take swords and spears across the waves, but much food, much water, and a big book. The poet Quintus wrote the book, and gave it to the small sailors; it was beautiful and it contained beautiful words. The sailors loved the book. They bravely sailed through the waves; when the winds were good they were happy, because they were in great danger, they were miserable. At last they found the island; they hurry into town. There the inhabitants say, "Hello!" to the sailors.

to be continued................... What do you think happens to the boys and girls.........will they find gold............will the inhabitants help them or chase them away....stay tuned to find out...........

I peaked ahead so I know there is more to come.

She wrote all that and only asked my help a few times. I think this peep has got this Latin thing down! We are almost done with the first book in this series and can't wait to start the next one. The best thing about it is that I am learning just as much as she. I can't remember the vocabulary as well as she can, but I have the Spanish to help me out there most times. Anyway, I am such a proud mama.

Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek

click on title to see website for product

Disclaimer: I do not work for this company nor have any affiliation with them.

This weekend I received my order from Greek 'N' Stuff. I purchased the Reader and the Level One workbook as recommended to me by a poster on the Latin Centered Curriculum Yahoo Group. Looking it over and listening to the cd briefly, I am excited to start this. They go over each letter well and provide the sound and how to write it. I plan on teaching the children (all 3) 2 letters a week including how to write them. I really think Julian will enjoy learning something with the older two and I fully expect him to keep up. He is writing well and reading well now. I see no reason not to include him as well.

I will start tomorrow. I will keep you all updated on our progress. After whatever point that we finish learning the Greek alphabet, I will start Elementary Greek. I am very excited about that.

Effort pays off!!

Today, I have been very tired. (Note to self: Take iron pills tomorrow!) I usually get like this once a month. It takes a little for me to recover. Anyway, because I have been tired today, I was also easily annoyed. When I mentioned this to Papa Peep, he suggested I get more sleep. I explained that more sleep would mean I got up later in the mornings, but I can't because I have children to care for. He then had the nerve to suggest I go to bed earlier! Well that absolutely won't work either because here it is 2 am and I am still awake. He made it worse by suggesting I go to bed earlier. Now what do I do?

Today, Oldest Peep made me very happy. We have been learning Latin for about 2 years now. We first started with Minimus. We loved that program. It was a lot of fun and she did get a lot of vocabulary from it. Next we moved onto to Latina Christiana. That was a total flop. Then on the WTM boards someone starting talking about Latin Prep and other products offered by Galore Park. I looked and looked at these books. It takes me a very long time to decide on curriculum and I almost never buy anything I have not seen first hand. Well I took the plunge. I not only bought Latin Prep 1, but 2 and 3 as well. I am so glad I did. These books are amazing! Oldest Peep liked them from the beginning. At times she has hated them, but for the most part they have been a great resource. Well Chapter 6 in Latin Prep 1 has taken us a while to go over. Up to this point she has done Latin on her own for the most part. I explain a few things she doesn't understand, I quiz her on vocabulary, and I may go over a declension, but she does the exercises on her own. She was beginning to get a lot of them wrong. So now we do it together. This of course takes longer because I have to explain every sentence. Today however, after much struggle, she did all of exercise 6. 15 and 6.16 all on her own and got everything right except two. She translated to English very well and to Latin in all the right order. I could not believe it. Earlier this week we had a long talk about hard work and how it feels good to reap the rewards of it. Well today she reaped! She was basking in all her effort. She has such a beautiful smile and she displayed it today in all it's glory. Well done my girl!