The Dirty Dozen - Twelve tips on Teaching Homeschool Teens (Part three of three)

I hope this series of teaching teens Spanish (and truly ANYTHING) has been helpful to you! Remember - if you don't have a teen yet, one day you will!

Learning along with your high schooler in your homeschool day is a fail-safe way to check in on their understanding. And while learning a foreign language, you must most CERTAINLY must know your purpose for doing so. It's a VERY hard thing to do. You can't just look at a list, read it over and have it in your head. It's not enough. Unlike other facts-based classes (history, science, literature), language is a TOOL, and just like learning to use any tool, you must use it to learn how to use it. Now then. What's your WHY? 
Here are a few options:

• Exposing yourself to a new culture.
• Finding unique job opportunities.
• Increase your earning potential by $15k per year.
• Speaking a common language with other you may meet 
• Second most spoken language in the U.S.
• Differentiating yourself from other job candidates.
• Increasing your cognitive health.
• Making travel easier.
• Exploring other languages becomes easier after Spanish (arguably the easiest second language to learn).
• Making new professional connections.

Choose one! Ask your teen what theirs is (let them choose one or two from the list). Once you know WHY you are doing something, achieving it become immensely easier.

 

  

  

This one seems intuitive to me, but I LOVE change, and most people do NOT love change. I think changing ANYthing is good, as long as you can change back!

Don't like the word list? Change it. Tired of nouns? Change. Prefer the couch to the kitchen table? Want to add in more songs or culture? Wondering if there's a movie in Spanish? Maybe a podcast of Youtube? What's the topic? Come on SpanishGeniuses, or post in the forums the complaint. WE CAN CHANGE IT! Even the color of your PEN gives you POWER! CHANGE IT ALLL!!!!

 

  

 

This is a LITTLE bit like the last tip - they can CHANGE it, you do not have to! Ask questions, sit back, and enjoy! If they are are one of "those" sorts of teens.... You know the kind, "I dunno." 

"I dunno, it's fine." 

"I don't care. All the same." 
Then give them a choice:

"We are choosing ONE of THESE curricula. Which one will you do most happily? If you don't choose, I am choosing Spanish Geniuses, because she is hilarious and answers every email personally unless an ngry octopus smothers her in her sleep." Then, they feel the need to check out the angry octopus lady and suddenly they love or hate me. Which is GOOD! Emotion is ALWAYS good! So. LET. THEM. CHOOSE. As much as you can. The time of day. The location, the order. The topic. With or without food. The pen color, the music. With or without you. LET THEM CHOOSE!

 

  

 Ah yes, I saved the hardest for last.

When you need to find a way to motivate your child to do literally ANYthing. DO IT FIRST.

I've recently been frustrated with my children's exercise lack. So... I decided to start. OH MY GOSH. Y'all. I used to run. Like a LOT. I was FIT. I'm still not heavy set - I FEEL pretty fit. I could not do ONE push up. I could not to ONE pull up. But I got in there, and I tried. And BOTH of the remaining teens were exercising later that day. We have an in home gym. An entire SPACE for me to ignore. WELL. NOW I have started. What's the hardest for you? Spanish? What's the hardest for them? SHOW them your dedication. TRY IT ON YOUR OWN!

 

Then post below. What worked? What didn't?