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Cindy asked, “Is there a particular Latin American Spanish curriculum that you recommend above others?  My children are 16,14,13 and 8.  We’ve been homeschooling for 10 years and I used to have a hard time learning a foreign language in school myself.”

Dear Cindy,

Thank you for your question about Foreign Languages and Latin American Spanish!  The most common homeschool curriculum choices are Rosetta Stone, Power-Glide, and Aurolog.  You have a great opportunity with 4 students to have some quality practice!  It’s important to work on foreign language for 15 minutes a day, so that the brain starts to “think” in Spanish.  If you miss a few days on a regular basis, then the brain needs to “reboot” and start over at a lower level.  You know how math books have a long review at the beginning of each year?  That’s the same concept – when you don’t use it regularly, you lose it.  So really, the curriculum isn’t as important as the consistency.

We were very successful with Power-Glide French, but it probably depends on the learning style of your kids.  Try to compare the programs side by side.  Here are some links for you to compare high school Spanish:

Power Glide

Tell Me More

Rosetta Stone

There are lots of other choices as well.  These are just the three that I hear the most about.

You can do it, Cindy!  My children learned Latin, even though I don’t know Latin, and they learned French, even though I only had one year of French in Junior High School.  It’s all about consistency, and regular practice.  It’s NOT about learning it perfectly, or knowing it ahead of time!  The great thing about Spanish is that you can practice with people every day.

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Spanish is nice because there are always people and things to help with pronunciation.  Remember that most DVDs come with Spanish language and Spanish subtitles.  If you use Disney and Pixar films, you don’t even notice that the lips don’t match – and it’s a fun way to laugh & joke while getting your 15 minutes for the day.  We used to watch movies once a week as our French study.  There is also radio programming, and if you can find a children’s show on radio or TV or even books, the vocabulary will be simpler.

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The simplest way to tell whether a foreign language curriculum is high school level is if the curriculum provider TELLS you that it’s high school level!

Take a look at the Rock Solid website, When you do a search, you can see MANY high school level choices for foreign language.

Here is a foreign language program available from Sonlight Curriculum.

Notice how it says in one paragraph:  “Rosetta Stone customers tell us the program is equivalent to two years of high school study or one year of college study.”

Remember that the most important thing is that the curriculum fits your child.  Any curriculum that includes grade 9 in the description would be considered high school level.  So Power Glide, for example, is for grades 7 through 12, and it’s considered high school level.

Currently, the most popular programs are Rosetta Stone, Auralog, and Power Glide.  However, any foreign language curriculum will fail unless you actually USE it.  For best results, whatever curriculum you choose, use it for at least 15 minutes each day (use it or lose it.)

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We used Power Glide and loved it.  Rosetta Stone is often available through the library system (i.e., free.)  Foreign languages are available at co-ops.  Some people wait until Running Start or dual enrollment in community college, and take foreign language there.  It only takes 2 college quarters or semesters to meet the requirements for foreign language if you do it that way.

What are some of your favorite foreign language strategies?

True Confession:  I taught Latin for three years and never really learned it.  Now that it has been a couple of years since I’ve looked at it, Latin is once again a “dead language” to me!  I was able to teach it because I followed the easy instructions in the book.  I didn’t know Latin in advance at all (just Latin roots, from my nursing background.)  You don’t have to know a foreign language to teach it, so don’t be afraid!

Latin Road is the program we used during the school year, but it’s pretty intense.  The first year takes about 1/2 hour a day (second year 45 minutes, third year a full 1 hour each day.)  It also requires some hands-on Mom help in the beginning.  That alone would have made it a no-go for MY summer program.  MY summer program was about time off for ME!  (I am a certifiable wimp sometimes…)   On the other hand, foreign languages really do benefit from 15 minutes a day practice, and a little bit every day is better than a ton of time once a week.

You can certainly start Latin Road during the summer, if your really into that.  When you are weighing the pros and cons, let me set out another option for you:  Rummy Roots.  You can play the Rummy Roots game and More Rummy Roots for just 15 minutes per day during the summer, and by the end of summer they will have a LARGE number of Greek and Latin roots memorized.  We did this before starting Latin Road and it was very successful.  It seemed like the kids have something to build on.

So consider lightening up this summer by using Rummy Roots for a fun introduction to Latin, and then start the Latin Road in the fall, when you’re back to school in earnest.

Do you have a question for The HomeScholar? Email me (homescholar@gmail.com) and put “Blog Question” in the subject line!