Spanish for You

I took three years of French in high school.   I passed each year with A’s and B’s.  Fifteen years later the only vocabulary I have retained is “I love you” and a few curse words.  I tell myself I’m not they only one but maybe I am.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like French…I loved it!!! I was very interested in it and I loved learning everything from the language to details about the culture.  My French teacher was excellent so she is definitely not to blame.  Foreign languages are required in school for children.  I think it’s a good idea but as a homeschooler I question why I would waste my time and energy teaching my children another language for a couple of years when they are just going to forget it (like I did).  Especially when sometimes I wonder if they even comprehend English ;-)  Then it occurred to me that since I do homeschool…… teaching a foreign language doesn’t have to be done in the manner my high school taught it.  Of course I’ve forgot most of it, I spent three years studying it then haven’t used it once since.  The same principle applies to other subjects.  I was a bit of a nerd, school came easy to me.  It just made sense, I never really had to study and if I brought home anything below a B it was just from pure laziness.  I was actually a Math Olympian….but put anything above a basic Algebra problem in front of me today and I might as well be reading Greek!!  Why?  Once again I spent all these years “mastering” subjects only to forget them because I haven’t utilized them.  I was determined to not allow my children to be the same….not only will they be proficient in their subjects but with a lot of determination I intend to make sure they retain the information.

The opportunity to review "Spanish for You" by Debbie Annett could not have come at a better time.  I had just made the decision to start the children out on a foreign language early in elementary then just repeat and build on lessons as the years went on.  There are a few different options for the “Spanish for You” curriculum; you can purchase a hard copy book with digital downloads for worksheets and such (this is what we used), lessons for grades 5-8, lessons for grades 3-4, Fiestas (parties, celebrations) book (we used this one, or Estaciones (Seasons).  At this time she also has a trial book available with the theme Travels.  I have a 6^th grader in public school that played around with the book a little but the main success came from using it with my preschooler and Kindergartner.  I realize the lesson plans aren’t created for these ages but we made it work for us.  I didn’t utilize many of the worksheets at all even thought I intend to next year when we progress into 1^st.  Our lifeline was the book itself, the audio files and FLASHCARDS!!  I made flash cards for all of the basic stuff at the beginning of the book; numbers, colors, common phrases, and commands.  WE focused on these for a while and we continue to review them often.  I followed only the suggested time frame that Debbie mentions in the book 10-30 minutes a day (we stayed closer to 10), 4 days a week.  It’s working great for us.  Spanish for You is designed to be a full year’s worth of curriculum; since my children are younger we will probably take longer.  That is another pro in my opinion, the layout of Spanish for You is so easy and flexible that you can make it fit your family.  Even though we have been busy learning Spanish for a while now utilizing Spanish for You we just recently began our first official lesson entitled The Birthday Party.  With each new lesson comes new flashcards since these are a life saver with my kiddos.  Other fiestas included in the book are Day of the Dead, Carnival, Holy Week in Spain, and April Fair. 

 

I am very happy with this curriculum.  I love that it is so easy to use.  Debbie did all the work for you by writing detailed lesson plans and worksheets, so even though I have adapted it to fit a younger age range it was very simple.  I am looking forward to using Spanish for You in the years to come and plan on purchasing the other books as we go.

If you want to try out some lessons before you purchase once again they have made it easy for you. Visit their website for free mini lessons, free worksheets, and free activities.

 Purchasing Options...

Package Theme- Fiestas (Celebrations)

Grades 3-8 Pkg. $64.95

Grades 3-4 Pkg. $39.95

Grades 5-6 Pkg. $39.95

Grades 7-8 Pkg. $39.95

Extra Books $12.95 each

 Package Theme: Estaciones (Seasons)

Grades 3-8 Pkg. $64.95

Grades 3-4 Pkg. $39.95

Grades 5-6 Pkg. $39.95

Grades 7-8 Pkg. $39.95

Extra Books $12.95 each