Confession time. I always prided myself on getting good grades throughout all my schooling years… with one tiny exception — Spanish. It was one of those subjects that was harder for me to grasp. As much as I could remember certain words, I was always less confident about speaking conversationally. Thankfully when we travel to Baja or mainland Mexico, Steven has been able to utilize his Portuguese skills to communicate with locals in Spanish, as the two languages are fairly close. Otherwise, we’d be in trouble!
Being able to speak and understand Spanish has been a family goal of ours since our first trip to Baja California, Mexico two years ago. We had tried a couple other online homeschool platforms, but many of these were in group learning sessions, or didn’t progress rapidly enough for our little learners. So when Homeschool Spanish Academy reached out and asked if we wanted to try some one-on-one lessons with a native speaker for our boys, we jumped at the opportunity!
Becoming Bilingual with Homeschool Spanish Academy
In 2010, Homeschool Spanish Academy Founder Ron Fortin visited Guatemala, where he discovered many Spanish-speaking schools with incredibly experienced teachers. The academy is now based in the heart of Antigua, Guatemala, where all of their certified teachers reside and teach from. Because their educators are Spanish natives, students receive the most authentic learning experience. There are more than 50 teachers to choose from! Because of this, you can try classes with several different instructors before settling on the one your child clicks with the most. (Lucky for us, we found a gem on the first try!) If an instructor gets sick or goes on vacation, it doesn’t mean class has to be canceled. HSA will substitute a teacher if this happens, and the progress notes are shared seamlessly between the instructors.
Homeschool Spanish Academy offers classes for ages 5-adult in four program choices:
- Early Language (ages 5-12)
- Middle School (ages 12-15)
- High School (ages 15-19)
- Adult Program
How the Online Spanish Classes Work
When you sign up for Homeschool Spanish Academy, you purchase a set number of classes. If your children are younger, you may want to start with 30 classes, which is essentially one semester. Depending on the amount of classes you chose, the time allotment (25 or 50 minutes) and how many students (one or two), the cost varies from under $7 a class to around $13. We found these classes affordable – and once you get started you’ll see that the lessons pay dividends very quickly!
In order to do the lessons, you just need a high-speed internet connection, a microphone, and a webcam. This past summer, Levi and Harvey have completed nearly 40 online lessons with Maestra (teacher) Priscila! Each class session is 25 minutes, and is taught via a Google Meet call. For elementary students, this is perfect because it’s short enough to keep their attention span, but long enough for Levi and Harvey to walk away with new vocabulary each week. Every lesson can be scheduled through their online portal, where you pick your day, time and teacher. If you’re like me, you can schedule your entire school year all at once!
During the kids’ first lesson, their knowledge of Spanish was assessed so that each week’s lesson could be tailored to his needs and abilities. Every couple of weeks we receive a PDF document with vocabulary to review at our convenience. We print all of the PDFs to create a notebook for Levi and Harvey to reference.
The Benefits of Learning Online with Homeschool Spanish Academy
Our boys take classes twice a week, and we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in their Spanish-speaking abilities, as well as their confidence. (And in mine too – I often sit in the room and listen in to the lessons!)
We really appreciate the 1:1 aspect of the classes, and the fact that the session is in real-time with an actual person. Our teacher is very kind, reliable, patient and has a great way with our kids. The lessons are age-appropriate for our boys, particularly for Harvey. As he’s learning to read this year, their teacher has adjusted the lessons to accommodate for any challenges he might face.
There’s also an online report card that’s within the HSA portal. You can access the report card at any time to see how your child is doing in Spanish. Grades for homework and tests are posted immediately upon completion. Our teacher is always available to consult with us if there are specific areas that Levi and Harvey need extra help with.
Final Thoughts
We’ve been practicing at home, but we really put our language skills to the test every winter in Baja California, Mexico. It’s great to see to our boys have more confidence in meeting new kids there!
Witnessing our sons’ learn a new language week after week has been so fun. As homeschool parents, we supplement with a lot of different curriculum. Some work, and some don’t – so we don’t hesitate to swap something new in if it helps our kids. Both Steven and I agree that the lessons from Homeschool Spanish Academy have been an important part of our homeschool journey, and we look forward to continuing these lessons for a very long time. (Bonus: You can start working toward high school Spanish credit as early as middle school!)
If you’re at all interested in having your kiddos (or yourself!) learn Spanish at home, I cannot recommend Homeschool Spanish Academy enough. Click on the HSA banner below to sign up!
