Recently we were selected to review the Early Language Program through Homeschool Spanish Academy with other TOS Crew members. We received a half semester which consisted of 7 lessons. My kids thought this was pretty neat as we don't tend to do a lot on the computer. They were very excited to get to meet a new "teacher" and also to learn some Spanish. The only exposure they had really had to Spanish prior to this course(for these two students) was Dora and Diego!
The Early Language Program is designed for children ages 5-8. We used it with our two second graders. They are Bridgett age 8 and Patrick age 6. The program happens over Skype where their instructor would call us via Skype and talk to the kids while teaching them Spanish. My kids were shown pictures and taught the words to go with the pictures as well as the alphabet and numbers.
I was impressed with how good the teacher we used was with the kids. My 6 year old boy tends to be a bit shy and really didn't want to participate the first few lessons. We used the same teacher for all of our lessons to make this easier on him. She would ask him specific questions knowing that the subject interested him. While sister would say all the words he would only want to say the ones he liked such as spider, dog, etc. By the end of our lessons he was just as loud and answering as many questions as his older sister.
The style of learning is great! It's more see and say at this stage. You see the picture, the teacher asks you what it is, you say the English, she says the Spanish, and you say the Spanish. Each session lasts roughly 25 minutes and then you're done for the day. A copy of the lesson was then emailed to us as homework for the kids to study and practice the words that they had learned.
A half semester(which is what we reviewed) for a pair(again what we used) doing one class per week for a total of 7 lessons is $89.99 or $12.86 per class. If you opted to do one on one learning for the half semester of one class per week for a total of 7 lessons it would only be $59.99 or $8.57 per class.
The Early Language is not the only level they offer. You can also choose to take middle school, high school, or adult classes as well. You can opt for a full semester instead of a half semester or to do two lessons per week instead of one. It's really very adaptable as you are the one who sets up when your lessons will be and you are the one who chooses your teacher. We loved the flexibility of being able to choose our teacher and to continue to use her throughout the entire half semester.
I do want to say that we really did love our teacher! My kids looked forward to learning with her and she made their learning fun. We did not try out any other teachers so we can't compare her to the others, but she definitely earns high marks from us and knows how to work with young children. It was a bit difficult at times to find times that were available to meet with her that were open on our schedule due to the number o people attending classes. To combat this Homeschool Spanish was training new teachers! They saw the need and worked quickly to fill it which is exceptional!
One of the hardest things for us was keeping the rest of the children away from the computer so the two taking the course could hear and respond. Our internet connection is not the best, but we were able to see and hear everything. It probably would have been a bit faster if we had a better connection, but we were highly pleased with our experience and definitely recommend to others.
You don't have to take our word for it though. Feel free to check out the other Crew Reviews to see what our fellow members thought of the level they reviewed.
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