R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish

     The girls and I have wanted to study Central American Spanish for a long time. 

     It all started when our family decided to go on a week-long family missions trip back around 2005.  The girls weren't very old back then, but old enough to make the trip with us and experience a third-world culture...and have difficulty communicating with Spanish-only speaking people.

     For the last two years, though, we've been learning Latin.  Actually, I think our Latin studies have helped to prepare us for learning Spanish!

     This year, we were blessed to be able to receive the download version of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish, designed by a native Spanish-speaking homeschool parent.  This sounded perfect to us!

R.E.A.L. Spanish = Relax, Enjoy, Aspire, and Learn Spanish!

     So, this was the test.

     Could R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish deliver?

     Could we be learning Spanish in a way that wasn't stressful and "textbookish"?  I'm not entirely against textbooks, but many of them aren't written well and in an interesting manner.  And most of them aren't written for homeschooling families.

     Could using R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish actually be fun?  And cause us to want to learn more?

Here is what our family received:

Parent/Student Textbook

Student Activity Book

Answer Key

 

Daily Curriculum Guide

• Parent/Student Textbook
• Student Activity Book
• Answer Key
• Daily Curriculum Guide
• Audio files for Textbook and Activity Book

I'm going to let you take a look at these components, up close and personal, so you may get a feel for what the actual curriculum is like.

Parent/Student Textbook:  the download includes both a "black and white" version and a "color" version.

     My printer does such an excellent job of printing that I generally print most everything in its lowest resolution, saving on the cost of ink.  However, I noticed that the "black and white" version of this curriculum contained a huge amount of gray scale vs. just black text and graphics/borders/boxes.  The gray graphics, text boxes, and text was difficult to read and track with our eyes, so I ended up printing out the entire Parent/Student Textbook in color. 

     Before I did this, I asked each of the girls separately which version would work well for their eyes, and they both said that the grayscale/black/white version was too challenging to read, even at the "Normal" or "Best" print setting on my printer.  This was my impression, too.  I was surprised, because we've never had this problem before with anything that we print out in black and white.  I'm wondering if the black and white text was just a "gray scale" copy of an original color version, instead of a separate black & white text.  I'd have to say that for most families, this would be a concern.  If the black and white text isn't able to work for many families, then the more expensive color version will need to be printed, which will cost more money; some people don't have a color printer for their own use.  I do appreciate the author giving us the option of printing in color or black & white, but the black & white version may not work with all families.

     Here's a sample for you to view:

     Each Unit Lesson contains two sections of each of the following:  new vocabulary, new phrases to learn, and tips for the home educator.  In addition, 2 to 4 pages of "Ideas" on how to continue to assimilate this new language into your family is included with each unit!  These are wonderful suggestions involving all four learning styles, personality styles, and various amounts of time and effort.  Here's a sample:

Activity Book:

     The Student Activity Book is only available in black and white.  It seemed to print off better for our family, so I didn't have to set it to the highest quality print settings. 

     The Activity Book is my favorite component of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish!  Here's why:  every other foreign language curriculum I've used is lacking in enough worksheet pages to thoroughly get to know the new material, and to provide enough review throughout the program.

     R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish's Activity Book contains 8-12 worksheets for every single unit in the main book.  This means that I can assign one worksheet per day for 2 weeks to help cement the vocabulary and phrases, or I can assign 1-2 worksheets per day for a week and then occasionally toss another worksheet from past units to my daughters to have them review the material. 

     Finally!  I don't have to invent new worksheet pages or review pages for my children!

     We did, however, begin entering the new vocabulary words and phrases into Quizlet.com for our own use...to help provide another source for reviewing the new material, as this has always helped our family in the past. 

     Here's a sneak peek at what the Activity pages look like:

Answer Key:

     The Answer Key provides answers for all of the Activity pages, which is very helpful:

Audio Files:

     Most of the audio mp3 files were clear and easy to use.  However, some of them were fuzzy, or had echoes like they were coming from inside a cave.  There didn't seem to be as much consistency as what I would expect from a foreign language program.

     But to also give the benefit of the doubt, in the future when I will be located in an area where Spanish is being spoken, it won't necessarily be in the best audio format.  A Spanish-speaking person may not speak as clearly as I'd like, or may speak more quickly than I can translate, or may be calling to me down a long hallway, or may be speaking to me over the telephone. 

Unit Lessons:

Here is a list of the particular units in this curriculum:

Unit 1

• Greetings
• How are you?

Unit 2

• Colors
• Numbers
• More numbers
• Telling time

Unit 3

• Fruits and Vegetables
• Meats and proteins
• Carbs and desserts
• Beverages, condiments, dairy and other
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 3: definite and indefinite articles, plurals.

Unit 4

• Family
• Adjectives
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 4: adjectives, possessive adjective singulars, de + el

Unit 5

• Face
• The body
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 5: demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 5: possessive adjective - plurals

Unit 6

• Clothes
• Weather and seasons
• Months of the year

Unit 7

• Places
• Days of Week
• The verb “to go”
• Transportation/Places
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 7: “ser” and “estar” (to be)

Unit 8

• Animals
• Nature

Unit 9

• Sports
• Grammar Tidbit Unit 9: Comparison and Superlative

Unit 10

• Verbs Part 1
• Verbs Part 2
• Verbs Part 3
• The house
• Things in the house

     R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish has announced on their website that a high school-level supplement will be available soon!  I haven't seen this yet, or used it, but I am excited that it will be available in the near future. 

     Our overall opinion? 

• The price is adequate and not overly expensive, especially for the downloaded version.
• The material is very straight-forward and simple to use.  Very little parent planning will need to go into this curriculum.
• Students can use this program independently to learn Spanish on their own.
• Our family prefers DVDs or videos of lessons in foreign language, because it also helps us to see how the teacher is moving the face, lips, tongue, etc. to make various foreign sounds.  However, this is still an effective program that provides much review and additional helps on their website.
  

     Homeschool Spanish, a R.E.A.L. Curriculum for the Whole Family is available in a downloadable version ($49.95) or print version ($89.95 includes shipping).  If you would like to purchase the curriculum guide, that is an additional $10.

     We thought Homeschool Spanish was fun and easy to use, and provides great tools to help children and young adults learn Spanish no matter what the learning style!   See what other TOS Crew members thought of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish!

Julieanne
Joy In Our Journey.com

Disclaimer:  I received the download version of R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish in exchange for my use and review of this product.  No other compensation was provided.

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