Saturday, October 23, 2010

Theory vs. practice



One of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to shift gears when the educational engine isn’t running smoothly. Case in point: French. Allegra isn’t really into French, which is the language she began studying in sixth grade at public school, but it’s the only foreign language I can teach. She wants to study Latin when she enters a brick-and-mortar high school next year. Meanwhile, we continue to study le français as I research online Latin courses.

I suggested we drop French entirely because it’s not a requirement, but Allegra believes she needs some foreign-language education. Our text, The Ultimate French Review and Practice with CD-ROM by David M. Stillman, Ph.D. and Ronni L. Gordon, Ph.D., is designed for advanced beginners, but its approach is too academic for this 13-year-old. On the other hand, Allegra finds the Easy French Reader by R. de Roussy de Sales completely accessible but not always interesting.

On a whim, I purchased three children’s picture books by Brigitte Weninger about an endearing young rabbit named Fenouil. These Allegra LOVES. Fortunately, the series consists of several books. And while they are children’s books, the vocabulary is quite challenging to anyone unfamiliar with French idiomatic expressions.

It’s worth remembering that, although middle schoolers may be capable of advanced academic work, they remain children in many ways. That’s why K-8 academic models tend to be more successful than middle-school models that mimic high school. So, for French studies, we continue to use The Ultimate French Review and Practice for grammatical exercises, but for reading comprehension, we use children’s books. Merci, Fenouil, for returning the magic to learning a foreign language.

Allegra's take: The adventures of the adorable Fenouil truly saved my interest in French. The stories are simple enough to avoid too much confusion in comprehension, and the advanced vocabulary offers valuable expressions not found in every textbook. While not directly contributing to the learning experience, the series illustrations by Ève Tharlet always serve to brighten up the day.

The Easy French Reader has both easy fiction and more difficult historical essays. In terms of entertainment, I enjoyed the fiction section, "Marc et Julie," more. Middle schoolers will enjoy following the “soap opera” of the two teens in France and learn basic vocabulary and grammar as they go. While they could be a bit dry, the historical pieces made an excellent link to our history studies last year.