Review on Flip Flop Spanish

About Flip Flop Spanish:

See It and Say It is a 2 year curriculum for ages 3 to 93. The program comes with 3 sets of flash cards, a whiteboard paddle, and 4 audio CDs. You will go through each lesson three times per week. "Lessons include optional writing elements as well as plenty of voice bubbles coming from mascot Egg Head to explain the grammatical concepts along the way." Every 6 weeks, the program provides an opportunity for your family to enjoy a Spanish movie or review old flashcards.The flash cards have a picture of the item on one side and on the back, you will find the Spanish word broken down into sounds, a colored line, and underneath the line, the English word. All 3 sets of cards have a different colored line in between the Spanish and English word. "If you keep your cards in sandwich baggies, or rubber bands, and in order, this makes it VERY easy to find which cards to begin with each day." On the website, you will find a tab labeled Tips and Games. Here you will find suggested games such as Bingo, Extend and Challenge, and many more.

$99.95
Price subject to change without notice.

Contact Information

Our Homeschool Experience:

Flip Flop Spanish is a great program. We loved being able to play the suggested games and make sentences using the flash cards. One of the games that we enjoyed playing was "Using Spanglish." In this game, I would ask my daughter a question using both English and Spanish words. For example, I would have her hide while I placed the flash cards all around our living room. When I was finished, I would have her come out and ask "Adonde esta the fork?" She had to go around the room and once she found the "fork" she would say "El tenedor esta aqui." The fork is here. We also used the flashed cards and made sentences with them. For instance, we would take the flash cards with the picture of the dog and the one with the ice cream on it. We would write the word "and" on an index card (in Spanish its "y") and build a sentence using both flash cards and the index card. We also played "Red Light Green Light" using the flash cards. I would stand at one end of the room and my daughter would stand at the other end. I would show her a card and she would tell me in Spanish what was pictured on the card. If she answered correctly, I would say "green light" and she would move towards me until I said "red light." The object of the game was to have my daughter touch me. Once she "touched me," she won the game and now it was her turn to pull out the flash cards while I had to tell her what was pictured on them. Since I'm fluent in Spanish, I knew the names of the objects on the flash cards. What I would do is answer incorrectly and see if she would figure it out.

I also enjoyed being able to review a particular lesson while we would be in our vehicle traveling out of town. We participate in a co-op that is about 45 minutes away from were we live. On the way to and from we would play games using the flash cards from that days lesson. My nephew (He is almost 4.) and my other daughter (She is 3.) would also participate in the games.

The lessons were really short and user friendly. It probably took us about 15 minutes to complete an entire lesson. This prevented boredom which happens frequently with a 7 year old. The lessons would provide information such as what materials were needed for that lesson and what cards were going to be used for the following task. This helped me to be a bit more organized since I knew ahead of time what flash cards I was going to need for the following day.

I have been given this product free of charge for review purposes. 

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Schoolhouse Review Crew

Review of Spanish for You Fiesta

 

Fiesta Spanish for You:

Spanish for You is a self pace program for students in grades 3rd - 8th.  The Spanish program is designed to teach pronunciation, vocabulary, verb conjunction, syntax, and grammar concepts through reading, writing, listening, and playing games. The program offers themed packages Fiestas and Estaciones. The lesson guide is designed for students to work 4 days per week. The Spanish for You book is able to be used with children of different ages at the same time. All you would have to do is select the lesson guide and worksheets for their grade level. The guides for grades 5th through 8th are 24 weeks and for grades 3rd through 4th are 30 weeks.The guide is set up for 4 days of work each week. Each day takes about 10 to 30 minutes.

 Below you will find what you will receive with your purchase.
• Spanish for You book in hard copy.
• Audio download so that you can hear the entire book
• Lesson Guides for grades 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, and 7th-8th in PDF format for download.
• Self-checking worksheets for grades 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, 7th-8th in PDF format for
download.

 Contact
Purchase Spanish for You 
$64.95 
Prices are subject to change without notice.

Our Homeschool Experience:

My daughter and I really enjoyed completing the activities together. She is in the 1st grade and I did not find the activities nor lessons hard for her to complete. Since she knows her colors, numbers, and alphabet in Spanish, I was able to skip the first few pages. I appreciated that I was able to incorporate reading into the activities. For example, I printed out a pair of picture cards for each vocabulary word and glued it to an index card. I had her write the word in Spanish in the back of the index card and also read it. We loved to play the games suggested by the vendor. For example, we played Memory, Hangman, Charades, and Simon Dice (Simon Says) with the vocabulary words. We would also use puppets and chit chat in Spanish using the vocabulary words she had just learned. I appreciated all of the suggested games and activities. The ideas on how to practice the vocabulary words using flashcards were really fun. For example, playing "Spanictionary". In this game, I would read a flashcard then draw it while my daughter would try to guess before the timer went off. She also completed the worksheets and this helped me understand if she needed more assistance with a certain word or lesson.  She also learned about the celebration  Feria de abril (The April Fair). This two week festival occurs in Seville, Spain. The event gives farmers an opportunity to buy and sell but the fair is mostly a time of celebration. There's food, rides, games, a circus, and flamenco dancing. People often dress in traditional Spanish clothing. Since my daughter had never heard flamenco music, seen the dance, nor seen traditional Spanish clothing, I decided to have her view a video on You Tube Flamenco Dancing. One of the lessons that I personally did not care for was Leccion 2 (Lesson 2). I thought that the lesson celebrated Halloween but the vendor corrected me. She said  "Day of the Dead is a holiday that is not Halloween. It is often confused with Halloween, but it is actually a holiday that celebrates and remembers loved ones who have passed on." Due to my misunderstanding, I modified the lesson a bit. I selected what words I wanted her to learn and played games with those particular words. I also had some difficulties with the pages not being numbered. The vendor would refer to the activity by grade level and topic but I think having a page number would of made searching for that particular worksheet a bit easier. Also what activity the student had to complete either a worksheet or the assignment found in the hard book should have also been explained. For example, "Review leccion 1p. 1 with audio." This lack of information made it a bit unclear as to what exactly she had to complete. Following the lesson guide and the worksheets was a bit hard. Even though there were some things I would change about the program, I would recommend it. I loved that the program helped to build vocabulary,reading skills,  and used games to help my daughter learn.

I have been given this product free of charge for review purposes.

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Schoolhouse Review Crew

Homeschool Spanish Academy

 Product:

The Homeschool Spanish Academy  is an on-line Spanish institution that offers interactive immersion lessons with native-speaking certified Spanish instructors in Central America using video conferencing software."Our teachers go through a highly selective recruiting process whereby only 30% of those interviewed are offered a position. A few of the stringent requirements include Spanish school certification, years of teaching experience, ability to speak English, and the passing of multiple rigorous simulation-based interviews." The instructors hold the students accountable and encourage them to excel.

The academy keeps records of the students' work for future college applications for 10 years. HSA offers 16 class modules which allows flexibility by allowing the student to plan the classes and overview the content covered. Since every child learning style varies, HSA has created curriculum to meet the need of every child. Homeschool Spanish Academy offers curriculum for those in early language up to an adult program. HSA also offers a free trail.The Academy also incorporates test and quizzes. The quizzes are given after every 2-3 lessons and the exams are given after every 4-5 lessons. All quizzes and tests are oral exams. In the high school level, the student is expected to write short answers and/or essays as a take home portion of the quiz or exam. The program will require the following equipment.

• An internet connection
• Skype* installed on your computer
• Skype compatible computer headset with microphone
• Webcam (recommended)

The Early Language Program could begin with a 5 year old but HSA suggest to start at 7 years old. The classes are tailored to the child which means the student could move as fast or as slow as needed. The academy also offers classes for multiple children. The sessions are for 25 minutes. Students should expect a minimum of 30 minutes of homework per week. "Homework for all students varies by teacher, but can range from memorizing songs to traditional written assignments."

With the Middle School Language Program the students will go beyond the basics and begin to learn why and how Spanish is used. "After learning the basics of pronunciation and the alphabet, students expand to sentence structure and phrase construction. The best part is that they learn the Spanish language while being immersed in it!" The sessions are for 50 minutes. Students should expect to have 1 hour of homework per week. "Your homework will depend directly on student class intensity and learning level. Homework for all students varies by teacher, but can range from memorizing songs to traditional written assignments."

High School Language Program/Adult Program the students will cover more material in a shorter time period. The students are also encouraged to speak in Spanish by repeating what they have heard from their instructor. "The Spanish 1, 2, and 3 Language courses are designed to achieve the following objectives as aligned with the Languages Other Than English (LOTE) and The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL). Each of our levels, such as our Level 1a, is the equivalent of one semester of Spanish in a public learning institution based on the ACTFL, and AATSP objectives. Students who complete this curriculum will receive 0.5 credits towards their Spanish 1 fulfillment. The full credit for Spanish 1 will be earned once the student completes Spanish 1b. The later courses are similarly structured as well (i.e. Spanish 2a and 2b, etc.)" The sessions are for 50 minutes. Adults and high school students should expect to have 1 hour of homework per week. "Your homework will depend directly on student class intensity and learning level. Homework for all students varies by teacher, but can range from memorizing songs to traditional written assignments."

 

 

Homeschool Spanish Academy 

info@homeschoolspanishacademy.com

1-713-280-HOLA(4652)

My Experience: 

My daughter looked forward to the Spanish sessions and I appreciated the convenience of the classes. I was able to select what day and time worked best for my family. Being able to view the syllabus was also important to me. I'm fluent in Spanish and wanted to make sure my daughter was going to be receiving proper instruction. Since my daughter understands and speaks a bit of Spanish, I made the instructor aware of this. My daughter was evaluated and placed in the appropriate level. After the 4th session, my daughter was tested. 

As a certified teacher, I noticed that every lesson had an introduction, lesson, and ending. For example, when my daughter was being taught phrases in Spanish (good morning, good afternoon, good night) she was first asked if she knew any phrases in Spanish. Then she was introduced to the phrases. Finally, she was shown the phrases in English and she had to remember how to say them in Spanish. 

The homework that was sent to me via email had instructions in English as well as in Spanish. This would make it easy for those parents that do not speak the language to be able to help their child with the assignment. The lessons used colorful pictures and were interactive. 

One issue that my daughter had was the fact that there are no hands on crafts. For a child who's a kinesthitic learning, it's a bit hard to sit for 25 minutes and not be able to do anything "crafty".  

The instructors were very friendly and gave immediate praise. When my daughter would mispronounce a word the instructor would repeat the word and ask her to say it again until she said the word correctly. 

The program is  not complete for its purpose. The student will need internet connection, Skype, headset with microphone, and a webcam is recommended.

Overall Thoughts:

I appreciated Ron Fontin's availability and patience. Every time I called or emailed him he would respond in a timely matter and was very helpful. As a Spanish speaker, I found it very interesting to hear how the same item is named differently depending on what Spanish speaking county one comes from. On multiple occasions, I sat  next to my daughter and watched the lesson with her. I appreciated the immediate feedback from the instructor and how they would encourage my daughter to repeat words she had mispronounced. The homework was sent promptly and I would recommend this program.

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I have received this product free of charge for review purposes.