Update on Blaise (11 year old early learner)

I've had several request for an update on how my 11 year old is doing. He was my first early learner, after having been inspired by IAHP many years earlier in a college psychology class. I haven't been posting about him much recently, because there was a period where he wasn't sure if he wanted me to share about him on the internet. He has now decided he is happy to share.

As part of our local home-school requirements children are required to take tests in 3rd, 5th and 8th grades. Blaise took his 5th grade test this year and scored at the 99% in all sections.  We were a little worried about how he'd do as he hasn't covered many of these topics for quite some time, but overall he got almost 100% on the entire test. He ended up missing 3 questions in total. They were in the math section and unfortunately it sounds like silly mistakes from just moving too fast.

Currently, Blaise is working his way through Algebra 2 in Saxon. Algebra 2 is generally considered to be about 10th grade math. At this point he only has Advanced Math and Calculus prior to completing the Saxon math sequence. Unfortunately, our community college only goes through Algebra and I was really hoping for him to complete the Saxon sequence and then go on to a college Calculus class. Perhaps, we will choose to just do the AP tests for college credit instead.

In English he is working on Cover Story. We were torn between that and "One Year Adventure Novel"(OYAN). I think he would have done well, but I thought he would really enjoy this program. At the end of the program he will have created an entire magazine on his chosen topic. It also has the added benefit that his 7 year old brother can do it at the same time. They really enjoy the goofy instructor on the DVD's and in general find the writing assignments enjoyable as well. We will probably go on to OYAN after this as Blaise has lots of really interesting ideas for novels and I think it would be really rewarding for him to see one through to completion.

In reading he is currently reading "The Iliad" from the Great Books of the Western World series as well as Don Quixote. I also got him a few magazine subscriptions this year including National Geographic History and Scientific American. Interestingly, the National Geographic History had a whole Iliad section this month, which really dovetailed nicely with his reading. 

For science, he continues to do a ton of science reading, as well as working on high school biology. He does coding through Kahn Academy on his own volition. Both boys got Arduino kits this year, and Blaise also got Snapino which allows you to connect your Arduino and Snap Circuit kits. 

He also works on French daily with DuoLingo, and weekly tutoring via Spyke on italki. We have been working on incorporating spaced repetition with Anki as well. In addition we try to work on French easy readers and videos on Discovery Streaming and YouTube.

For fun he enjoys swimming competitively. His team practices 1.5-2 hours a day, five days a week. He also enjoys baseball, skiing, and surfing with the occasional competitions. 

Overall he is an amazing, compassionate and thoughtful boy, and I can't wait to see what his future holds. He sees the problems in today's world, and he tells me he sees his education as a way to help him become one of the leaders we need for the future. 

Learning French for Kids

So my children have been learning French for quite a while. We began with Little Reader and the French add-on. Subsequently we have used many of the traditional options including Rosetta Stone and DuoLingo. I will be honest, that although they have learned a large number of nouns and other vocabulary they have not learned to speak. We have been searching for that missing component of our program that will get them from being able to identify what a French phrase says or what a French word means to having meaningful interactions in the language.

Initially, I had hoped to find a French tutor to come and speak with them for a few hours a week, or even a nanny/babysitter. Unfortunately, in the area in which we live it is nearly impossible. French is not even offered in the local schools.

For that reason I turned to italki. Italki is a tutoring program that connects French learners with certified French teachers at a time which is convenient to the learner. You can choose a certified teacher (most expensive option), a community tutor (less expensive), or a language exchange (free). For my kids I have opted for the lessons with the certified teacher, however we've had such great experieinces, I am contemplating taking some lessons on my own with one of the community teachers.

Most of the lessons we have had so far are taught in an immersive conversational manner. They are usually video lessons although we had one instructor that did audio and had us look at different pages, which they then discussed. After the lesson the kids are given a list of words and pharses covered, which they can then review on their own prior to the next lesson.

My hope is that as their conversational skills improve we will be able to incorporate in more movies and books as well. I'd love to hear what other parents are doing to encourage fluency in non-native languages with their children. Leave your strategies in the comments!