As I clicked "Publish" on my previous post, I noticed that sidebar over on the right that purports to list all of the curricula and materials we're using this year. And I realized it's wrong. And then I realized it might be worth discussing why it's wrong, and also why my approach to gathering and planning homeschool curricula means I don't stress out about this kind of thing.
The information is wrong, because we've already made a change.
Until just a couple of weeks ago, we assumed that my son would continue with a second year of Spanish as his foreign language. So, the sidebar says that he's doing this:
Spanish II:- Destinos text and video lessons
- Usborne Easy Spanish
- Teach Yourself Spanish Grammar
- Extra reading: ¡Horton escucha a quién!
And for the first three weeks of this year, he was on that path. However, in the back of my mind, I've known for some time that it wasn't really working out for him. My son has a long history of trying various approaches for foreign language, none of which have really been successful for him. Over the years, he's tried three different languages using at least five different curricula, and I'm not convinced he could speak or write a sentence in anything other than English.
Since everything else is has been going reasonably well, I had decided to let this one go. Not every course, I told myself, will knock the socks off a student. Not every subject has to be a passion. He needs to study a foreign language because we believe it is part of a well-rounded education and because most colleges want to see two years of that study on an applicant's transcript. But, I assured myself, it's not the end of the world if this one subject amounts to checking off the box.
And then . . . and then . . . out of the blue, my son told me one afternoon that he hated Spanish, that it made him feel badly that he didn't seem to be able to learn it, that he was desperate enough for a change that he was willing to ignore the first year of foreign language study and start over with something different.
After I caught my breath, I told him I'd think about it and talk with his dad. I explained that we don't have much of a budget to replace curricula and that, whatever we did, it would have to be very inexpensive. I asked him to think carefully about what it is he wasn't liking about Spanish and the curricula we had tried, and to come up with a wish list of languages he'd prefer to study and characteristics of the curriculum he would like. He thought, and we talked. I posted questions (okay, maybe frantic pleas for help) on the homeschool message boards. He said he wanted something that allowed him to read words while he heard them. I went back over any notes I had ever made for myself about foreign language curricula . . .
I remembered noticing that our county library has some foreign language materials available online for free. I pulled up each program, played with it for a while, decided which one I thought came closest to what my son said he wanted. I dragged him over to my computer and showed him what I'd found. Together, we played with the first lesson of seven or eight different languages. Eventually, he decided:
1. He liked the online program.
2. He wanted to study Italian.
Looking over the online lessons, I saw that the approach is much more conversational than a traditional school-based language study would be. There wasn't much emphasis on grammar, for example. So, I repeated a few of the steps from my usual brainstorming process, poking around on Google looking for ideas of what is usually covered in first-year high school language course, what texts and supplements are popular, etc. I made a list of materials I thought might be helpful, and I popped over to BookMooch and PaperbackSwap and requested a few items. And, finally, because we were in a hurry to make the transition, I took my son to the local Barnes and Noble and had him choose a self-teaching guide off the shelf.
All told, I spent about $20 to acquire these new materials. And, because I didn't have a tremendous amount of money invested in the Spanish curricula and I'm not spending a lot on Italian, there's no pressure or panic when we need to make this kind of adjustment. If I had spent $300 on a packaged foreign language curriculum (as I did once for my daughter, big mistake), this might have prompted all kinds of hand-wringing and resentment and trauma. But, as it is, we just made the change and got back on our feet, with no muss and very little fuss.
And now, I should probably go change that sidebar.
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