R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish is a Spanish curriculum that is designed with homeschoolers in mind. It is not a Spanish curriculum that has been reworked for homeschoolers. Because of this unique approach, I found it extremely easy to implement this program into our homeschooling schedule without a great deal a preparation.
The download that we received included:
- R.E.A.L. Spanish pdf book which includes 10 units (black & white and color versions)
- R.E.A.L. Spanish audio files (mp3 format) for each of the 10 units
- R.E.A.L. Spanish pdf activity book (many different forms of activities for each unit)
- R.E.A.L. Spanish pdf daily curriculum guide
- R.E.A.L. Spanish pdf answer key
I really appreciated the daily curriculum guide as it broke down exactly what we would be doing each day. I could quickly glance at the guide and know what all I needed to have prepared/ready for that day. It was also very easy for Munchkin to pick up and follow. Her assignments were all spelled out for her in an easy to understand format.
For each unit…
- Introduce the lesson for the week using one of the cultural websites featured on the R.E.A.L. Spanish website. There are quite a few different activities to chose from, so we were able to pick one that Munchkin found interesting. Obviously, as a parent, you’ll probably want to preview the website ahead of time. (Websites change all the time, so you want to make sure the material is suitable for your child.) In the subsequent weeks, you’ll use a different introduction/review activity as you work your way through the unit.
- Learn the vocabulary words using different activities from the activity book and ideas from the lesson. You’ll also be listening to the vocabulary words using the audio files. (There are tips peppered throughout the units to help you teach the kids.)
- Learn the phrases. (same concept as vocabulary words)
- Use things like puppets, board games, memory/vocab cards to help cement the ideas. You will not be using all of the things suggested unless you really want to go that route.
We really appreciated all of the different ideas and activities that were presented. We were able to find the ones that worked best for us and set aside the rest while still feeling that we were fully utilizing the program. The activity book was chuck full of activities that allowed Munchkin to see the vocabulary presented in many different ways. I could pick and chose the activities. (There were some types of activities that Munchkin doesn’t really care for, so we skipped over those.)
Since we received the download version of the curriculum, I was able to print out the lessons/activities as needed. If you’re on a tight budget, you could even skip the printing for the book. I would recommend printing out the activity book pages unless you have a program that allows you to write on the pages on the computer/tablet.
One of the things that was not quite up to par with this curriculum was the audio files. While some of them were okay, other files had a horrible echo to them which made them difficult to understand. The quality of the audios just didn’t match up to the rest of the curriculum.
You can check out the samples of the curriculum (including audio files) on the R.E.A.L. Spanish website. The R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish curriculum package download that we received is available for $59.95. They do have a package for $49.95 which does not include the daily curriculum guide, but I highly recommend purchasing the package which includes the guide as it’s very useful. If you prefer a hard copy version of the same package, it is available for $99.95 (with curriculum guide). I’m excited to see that R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish has a high school supplement coming soon!
I received a copy of this product as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew to help facilitate the writing of a frank and honest review. A positive review is not guaranteed, and all opinions are my own.
