Cherrydale Press Spanish book users — do you jump around in the volumes?

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  • I’ve been using the samples for Speaking Spanish with Miiss Mason & Francois, and am planning to buy volume one, but as I look at the contents of volume 2 I notice that there are a couple of lessons I would really like to introduce fairly soon…certainly not in a couple of years if these books are used as outlined. 

    So I’m just curious if those who use the volumes have purchased BOTH volumes and pull in sections from volume two from time to time, or do you just stick with the sequential format?

    I really don’t want to spend the money on both volumes all at once…although I guess I might save a couple dollars on shipping by doing that.

    <bump>  Anyone have an opinion on this? Not sure if many are using this resource at this point….

    missceegee
    Participant

    I own volume one, audio, teacher resource but we aren’t using yet.

    Kristen
    Participant

    I am highly interested in these resources (Cherrydale Press Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and Francois), but dh says to be sure to check other reviews first.  How are you finding them?  They do seem pricey, do you find it worth it?  

     

    luveezmum
    Participant

    We have been using volume one for the last 6 weeks or so.  We are on series 4.  I like how we (I am learning too!) speak the words or phrases and act out what we are doing.  It’s been very effective for remembering long term.  My boys are 7 and 9 and are having fun thinking of their own series with the words they have learned.  They just stick in English words when they haven’t learned the Spanish yet, or we’ll look it up to find out the word.  For example, we learned “I take the pencil” (Tomo el lapiz) and they went around the house picking up various items and saying “Tomo (item name here).  They just thought it was hilarious.  And now they won’t be forgetting Tomo.  

    For the OP, somewhere in the books — maybe in the teacher resource (sorry, don’t have the books handy), the author talks about how you can just use the method, but make up your own series.  So I would guess that you could use some series from volume one or volume two, if there were certain series that you wanted to learn right away.  Many of the series do build on each other, but I don’t think you need to follow exactly in order. 

    @ Kristen – I am very excited to see how well we are doing.  It requires only 5 or 10 minutes each day.  The longer series we are breaking down into smaller bites, but it’s so simple!  And the focus is on hearing and speaking, not on reading like many other Spanish programs.  The books are a bit pricey, but will be used for years.  I’m quite pleased!  Hope that helps.

    missceegee
    Participant

    Each volume is expected to last 2-3 years by learning a series every 2 weeks or so. $30 for 2-3 years seems quite reasonable to me.

    We intend to implement this method with the Spanish book in our CM co-op beginning in the fall. We will learn the series at group and everyone will have the book at home to practice. I’m really looking forward to learning this content in community.

    Kristen
    Participant

    Thank you!

     

    hlmckinney7
    Participant

    I am very intrigued by this curriculum! How are you all liking it? Do you think I need to know the language to teach my kids? I had French in school, but zero Spanish…but I think Spanish is more useful/useable.  I don’t have time (I don’t think) to do multiple languages with my oldest (8th grade) — he’s only ever had some Latin pre-homeschooling. 

    Thoughts?

    Ricki
    Participant

    Is this too easy for a 14 year old who is a Freshman?  If not, is there writing involved?

    JenniferM
    Participant

    The introduction gives instructions for older students and adults to write the series to aide in learning.

    I like this resource. It has a unique approach to teaching another language.

    I am somewhat dissatisfied with it in general, however. I will share this to help you decide for your high schooler.

    The premise is learn a statement in English while acting it out. Identify the verb. Learn the Spanish word for that verb. Speak the Spanish translation. (acting out throught these steps to reinforce)

    My dissatisfaction is mostly in the exercises used. Most of the sentences are not sentences that we (in our family) use. Sometimes a Bible verse is included in the additional exercises at the bottom, which I like. If I did not previously know Spanish at all or have the opportunity to speak Spanish with native speakers, then this book would be fine.

    However, I would like my children to learn phrases they would actually use to communicate with the Spanish kids at the soccer field or the guys who work at our farm. My seven year old son is buddies with two of my husband’s employees. I asked him one night if he talks to them in Spanish or English. He said mostly English because he doesn’t know many words in Spanish. He told me he was making them laugh one day by saying “sacapuntas” which means “pencil sharpener,” from the early lessons in Volume 1. So I asked him what he would like to be able to say. He wanted to learn how to say “good morning” and “see you later, alligator.”. :).

    Therefore, I would suggest you consider your goals for your son learning Spanish. Also, if you need a foreign language to fulfill high school/ college entrance requirements, you may want to contact the company since it is a non-traditional approach and may or may not meet those requirements.

    I don’t want to come across as negative about this resource at all. I just would prefer to learn/teach words which we would use on a daily basis.

    mrsmccardell
    Participant

    So JenniferM, have you found a resource to teach a more conversational Spanish?

    JenniferM
    Participant

    No, mrsmccardell. I am considering doing my own using the SCM memory box system. It’s just not a top priority right now. We are still using Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and Francois right now in order to provide consistency. We did learn the months last week doing the same little “Macarena” dance moves we used to learn the months in English when my children were younger! 😉 What I’m thinking I’d like to do is to alternate between learning some conversational sentences one week and a Bible verse the next. Then I would move what we learn through the memory box as outlined for Scripture memory (even/odd, days of the week, days of the month). Of course, I would have to pull all that together, but I could get input from the kids about what they would like to learn. I just don’t want to reinvent the wheel!

    missceegee
    Participant

    We’re using the Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and François book in co-op this year. I like the simplicity, and the learning of verbs. I do agree that more pertinent conversational series would be nice. Our kids like saying sacapuntas in a fierce voice like an insult or something. They find it hilarious for some reason, esp. the teens.

     

     

    mrsmccardell
    Participant

    That’s funny. Sacrapuntas is a big hit in our house.

    With a real quick check of practical Spanish I found this web site

    http://www.learnpracticalspanishonline.com/beginner/basic-sentences/greetings.html

    It looks simple and functional.

    JenniferM
    Participant

    Isn’t that funny how they all love saying sacapuntas! Thanks for the link, MrsMccardell. I will check it out!

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