Señora Gose's Homeschool Spanish Blog (aka "Seriously, Suzanne")

There are quite a few apps on the market for "low monthly fees" to use an AI character to practice your Spanish conversation with. I mean, why not, right?You speak to them, they correct you, you move on! It seems VERY tempting for a parent, because it gives you the opportunity to check another foreign language "time box" and not have to actually put in any listening or speaking effort on your own. I'll be to the point: Just DON'T.Why not?1) Follow THEIR rules. The apps all require you to sign up as a user, and it declares the user must...

Oh goodness. I'll bet EVERYone has a story from High School Spanish class, right?Let's list the worst bits of foreign language classes: (Of course, don't laugh, but I took French in high school, and these still applied.) - Comment and add the ones I've left out! 1) Feeling lost or blind 2) Public humiliation when having to read or speak without confidence 3) Confusion with English Grammar and how it correlates 4) Massive words lists to memorize in short amounts of time 5) Teacher speaking too quickly 6) Fear of being corrected ("mean teacher") 7) Tedious translations 8) Tons of...

Remember when you would get a sticker or a stamp on your paper in school? Motivating, right? Well, there's NO REASON you can't spice up your lessons at home with lots of fun little treasures from the local dollar store. Here are a few of my favorite cheap treasures to add to my lessons in co-op classes, our Community Homeschool Center classes, and yes, back when my own children were growing, they loved them too! Wander the aisles with us at our local Dollar General and see how educational the kitchen aisle can be! Each of these lovely educational investments cost you...

As a former public school teacher, the grade on the report card was literally EVERYTHING during the semester each year. That darn two digit number for each classroom subject determined a child's mood, status, equality among peers, and even their treatment, in some cases, from the entire school staff. It was soul sapping and gutting.  So, when I escaped, um I mean,... retired from public school to stay home with our first born baby in 2001, I was determined to not repeat that number ranking game in my own little private Spanish classes. That I taught in the Game Sample...

This is HARD to do. Every year, since 2014 or so, I have held a priority party for my friends. I started with my little ladies' Bible study, because I needed to get my habits in gear, and they were the BEST people to help me stay accountable!  When I spent time thinking about why my priorities did not line up with what I WANTED my life to look like, I discovered the main point of contention included how much TIME I spent on the most important parts of my life. If you want a good relationship, you have to...