Review: Flip Flop Spanish

Flip Flop Learning has developed a Spanish program that can be used with children as young as 3, yet is also great for the adult learner.  This program is See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish, and I was recently sent a copy to review.  This two-year program is priced at $99.95.

See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish comes packaged in a nice little box.  Included in the box are:

• 3 sets of flash cards
• 2 card holder pages for a 3 ring binder
• 4 audio CDs and a sleeve for a 3 ring binder
• lesson plans (3 hole punched)
• white board paddle & marker
• cover inserts and spine insert for a 3 ring binder

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box were the 3 Easy Steps to Get Started.  These explain how to set up the binder, and the next step is to open up to lesson 1 and play the CD.  It doesn't get much easier than that!

There are 45 lessons, and each lesson is designed to take one week (and there is a break week about every 6 weeks).  It's recommended that you work on Spanish 3 times a week.  Lessons take about 15 minutes.  At the end of the course, you'll have learned 160 Spanish words that will allow you to make your own sentences in Spanish.

The bulk of the teaching is done through the flash cards and the CD.  The flash cards have a photograph on one side, and on the reverse side is the Spanish word (with pronunciation) and English word.  The CD walks you through the pronunciation and has you practice speaking.  You're instructed to like up the cards (picture side up) and then repeat the Spanish word while touching the correct card.  Next, you'll move along to creating sentences.  As an extra step, older students are encouraged to flip the cards over and write the Spanish sentence.  As you progress in the program, you are instructed to make additional flashcards for words like "and" and "is", allowing you to make more complex sentences.

Throughout the lesson  manual are Grammar Notes for Parents.  These explain various Spanish grammar concepts quickly and simply.   There are also Grammar pages that go a little more in depth on the grammar concepts (they may be skipped if needed).  There are also crossword puzzles and word searches to review vocabulary.  There are fun activities, like watching a movie in Spanish or seeing who can make the longest sentence.

See It and Say It is a very engaging program.  It's so simple to use, but it's also very effective in teaching vocabulary and how the language works.  Even my 37 year old brain was able to retain the vocabulary!  I also love that it can be used with a wide range of ages.  We enjoy learning together, and it's great to have a program that will work with our range of ages (7-14).  But the best part?  It's just plain fun! It has kind of a game feel to it so you want to pull it out and work on it.

For more reviews of See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

 

Review: Prima Latina

Several months ago, Micah asked to learn Latin like his brothers.  I told him I would check into it, got sidetracked, and never decided what to use.  We were both excited when the opportunity arose to review Prima Latina  from Memoria Press.  This introductory Latin program is aimed at children in grades 2-4.

We received the complete set (priced at $90.90), which includes:

• Student Book
• Teacher's Manual
• Pronunciation CD
• Instructional DVDs
• Flashcards

Prima Latina is an introduction to Christian Latin.  The program is divided into 25 lessons, with a review lesson after every 5 lessons.  Students will learn 5 Latin vocabulary words in each of the 25 lessons, along with basic Latin grammar concepts.  They also learn the English derivatives of the vocabulary words.  In addition, students will learn 25 practical Latin expressions, 4 prayers, the numbers 1-10, and the names of popular constellations.  

The Student Book is printed in two colors, and is very streamlined and uncluttered.  Lessons include review questions, questions for the current lesson, translation, a section that guides the student through practicing speaking the Latin they're learning, a section for practicing writing the Latin words and definitions, and then a little fun practice section.  The Teacher's Guide contains a grammar overview for the teacher, teaching guidelines, tests, as well as an exact copy of the Student Book with answers filled in.  The flashcards contain all the words for Prima Latina, as well as the flashcards you'll need for the next Memoria Press Latin program, Latina Christiana.

The audio CD contains pronunciations (this program uses Ecclesiastical pronunciation) for each lesson, along with 4 hymns from Lingua Angelica.  The DVD set contains 9 hours of instruction.  Leigh Lowe guides the student through each lesson, explaining the lesson, providing recitation practice and review.  

This program has been a total success here.  I've been using it with Micah (going into 4th) and Nicholas (going into 2nd), and they both really enjoy it.  While I could teach the material, I love having the DVD to free up some of my time.  Leigh Lowe does a fabulous job teaching, and I only have to review the lesson with the boys after they've watched it.  While there is writing in the program, it is not overwhelming.  Micah hates writing, and he does the work in Prima Latina without complaint.  We've worked on the program about 3 days a week, and we usually spend about 30 minutes on it.  Micah and Nicholas ask to do Latin, and when I asked their opinion before I sat down to write this review, they both told me they "love it" and gave it "two thumbs up".  Can't beat that!

For more reviews of Prima Latina (and Memoria Press's Geography I program), visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Review: Spanish for You!

Spanish for You! is a Spanish curriculum for grades 3-8.  Spanish is taught through themed units, and the units can be done in any order.  I received the Fiestas unit to review, which centers around celebrations (check out the Fiestas samples pages).  The other available full package is Estaciones, and it centers around the seasons.  Viajes (centers around travel) is available as a 4 or 6 week trial, but will be available as a full unit in June 2013.

I received the full grade 3-8 package, which is priced at $64.95.  Included in this package is a softcover book, along with lesson guides for grades 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8, worksheets, and audio files.  Packages for each level can be purchased individually for $34.95, and extra books are available for $12.95.  The lesson guides, worksheets, and audio files are downloadable products.

Spanish for You! is unique in a couple of ways.  First, the fact that each unit is developed around themes, as outlined above.  Second, this program allows you to teach children of different ages and abilities at the same time.  Since the worksheets and lesson guides are broken down by grade level, but all use the same textbook, it's very easy to teach at different levels.  I used this with all 5 of my boys (grades 1, 3, 5, 7, & 8), by using the grades 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8 levels.  It was surprisingly easy to do.

The Lesson Guides are broken down into weeks (30 for grades 3-4, and 24 for 5-6 and 7-8).  Weekly lessons are broken down into four days worth of lessons. In general, this is how the program worked in our home.  Since we only had one softcover book, I made good use of our large whiteboard.  I wrote all the vocabulary words and translations on the board.  We listened to the pronunciation on the audio files, and recited and worked on our pronunciation while reading the words on the board.  We also worked on Common Words and Phrases by asking each other the questions and answering in Spanish.  I had each boy make their own flashcards for the vocabulary words, and I encouraged my younger boys to draw pictures on their flashcards.  After our oral practice, each child completed any worksheets for their grade level.  The lesson guides also include games to help reinforce and teach the lessons.

While I think this is an excellent concept, there were a few issues I had with the worksheets.  The first is that the worksheets are self checking.  This meant that when I printed the worksheets out double-sided, the answers were on the back of the sheet.  It didn't take long for my boys to discover this,and as my 13 year old said, "This might be for self-checking, but it also encourages cheating!".  My boys have access to answer keys to check their work, but having the answers on the back is a huge temptation when you're trying to finish your schoolwork.  I told them not to flip the sheets over until they were done, but I'd rather have a separate answer key.  The second issue was that it was more complicated than it needed to be to print, since I had to print one sheet at a time, instead of having an option to print the whole workbook.  The final issue was it wasn't always obvious and easy to grab the correct worksheet once they were printed out.  There are no page numbers on the sheets, so you're going simply by the Spanish title on the worksheet.  All of the issues I had are able to be overcome, but they were enough of an annoyance the I felt I needed to mention them.

Now, setting those issues aside, I would recommend this program. It covers vocabulary, grammar, conjugations, and pronunciation.  I liked that there is Spanish to English and English to Spanish translations on the worksheets.  Being able to teach all my boys Spanish together was a lot of fun, and not having to adapt the lessons myself for the wide ability level was wonderful. They learned a lot from the program, and we really enjoyed working together on it.

For more reviews of Spanish for You!, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Speekee TV

Speekee is a Spanish course for young children (ages 2-10).  This review is of Speekee TV, which is an online, subscription based service.  The cost is $7.50/month, or $60/year.

Speekee TV includes 10 episodes, which is over 150 minutes of Spanish learning.  Episodes are centered around a central theme:

• El Parque
• El Cafe
• La Casa
• El Zoo
• La Clase
• El Mercado
• La Estacion
• La Playa
• El Jardin
• La Fiesta

Each episode is filmed using Spanish children, in a real Spanish location.  Speekee, pictured below, is a central character in the episodes.

The episodes are filmed entirely in Spanish, and make great use of songs and repetition to aid in learning.  In addition to access to the episodes and worksheets, a subscription includes access to FastTrack--Speekee TV lesson plans for homeschoolers, which utilize worksheets and printable flashcards.  You can sign up to receive one email a week for 40 weeks, and lesson plans and a link for the worksheets needed will be sent to your inbox.  It doesn't get much easier than that!

I used Speekee TV with Jacob (10), Micah (8), and Nicholas (6).  All three loved Speekee, and asked to watch it daily.  They learned some basic Spanish vocabulary, and had fun doing it.  Jacob is definitely on the upper end of the age range, and he rolled his eyes at some of the videos.  But he still enjoyed watching with his younger brothers.  The songs are catchy an really help reinforce the vocabulary being taught.

I think Speekee is probably best suited for the younger elementary student (PreK-2nd).  Even though Jacob watched along with Micah and Nicholas and enjoyed it, I probably would not purchase a subscription just for him--it really just felt too young and light for his age.  However, for the younger set I would absolutely check Speekee out; there is a 2 week free trial available so you have nothing to lose.

For more reviews of Speekee TV, go here.

 
Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine. 

Homeschool Spanish Academy

Jacob has been itching to learn Spanish.  For various reasons, it always gets pushed to the back burner.  I was so excited when I received a half-semester (7 week) subscription to Homeschool Spanish Academy Early Language program.  Jacob was even more excited than I was.

Homeschool Spanish Academy offers lessons via Skype for all age groups and ability levels.  All of the teachers are native speakers.  They offer 4 different levels:  Early Language, Middle School, High School, and Adult Program.

To begin, you sign up for a free trial.  Homeschool Spanish Acadamy will contact you and help you run some tests to make sure that your internet connection is up to speed and that everything is working.  The next step is to schedule your lesson.  Lessons are offered daily during morning, afternoon, and evening hours.  Finally, at your scheduled class time, the instructor will contact you via Skype to conduct the lesson.  In addition to the lesson, there are review pages and homework emailed to you to work on before your next lesson.

Jacob absolutely loved this program.  He looked forward to his lessons, and when I asked him what he liked about it, he told me that the teachers were very nice and encouraging.  He even asked for homework!  We were recently evacuated for a couple of days due to the Waldo Canyon Fire, and Jacob made sure that I packed his Spanish homework.  


Classes at Homeschool Spanish Academy become less expensive per class the more classes you sign up for at a time.  Here is the pricing structure for the Early Language program (pricing for the other levels can be found at the links above):

There is also an option for two students to take a lesson at the same time:

I think Homeschool Spanish Academy is a wonderful option for learning Spanish.  Having a native speaker is fabulous, and the program is so flexible that classes can be worked around any schedule.  The pricing is reasonable for 1 on 1 (or 2 on 1) tutoring.

For more reviews of Homeschool Spanish Academy, go here.

Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine.