Wowzers! Here it is folks…my concluding post about the Speekee Accelerate Programme. What a journey we have been on with this – it’s been ¡fantástico!
If you’ve only just joined us, worry not as at the end of this post you will find links to the blog posts covering our year-long Spanish learning programme with the Speekee Accelerate Programme.
So, what is the Speekee Accelerate Programme?
Speekee Accelerate is an online Spanish learning course for Home Educated children age 8+. It teaches them Spanish though short, high quality videos, activities and worksheets over a period of 40 weeks!
How much is it?
You pay a monthly subscription of £4.95 for full access to all the Speekee Accelerate Programme activities (the price also includes the Speekee Fastract programme too which is a nice little bonus especially if you have younger children too). Subscription can be cancelled at any time, there are no additional costs and you can try it for free for two weeks before you comit to signing up.
The Highlights
- For me the highlight of this programme is the diversity of resources that are used. Not only are the videos supported with worksheets but there are also extension activities recommended that can be adapted to suit each child.
- The videos. And I’m not just referring to the excellent production! The children that appear in the videos are awesome and really bring each topic to life.
- The flexibility to subscribe & un-subscribe when you like and are not committed to a year-long subscription. I can pay for one month then cancel the next month joining again the following month to pick up where we left off. Of course, with this programme I recommend consistency…it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed if you don’t keep up with the activities.
- Lots of repetition throughout.
- Clear simple instructions for the activities.
- Audio files. Each video has separate audio recordings of the vocabulary so that students can practice pronunciation and develop listening skills.
- Although the units are broken down into 40 weeks this can easily be spread out over 12 months to provide a year-long curriculum!
- The worksheets are all labelled with the corresponding week and unit number so they’re easy to file and find at a later date.
Is there room for improvement?
I’d have to say yes, it’s not perfect. But improvements lie with the funcionality to make it feel less ‘cluncky’ and not the programme itself as a learning resource.
The owner Jim Porter is very approachable and open to suggestions and has acted quickly to the modifications that have needed making over the 12 months I’ve been using the programme. I’ve seen lots of improvements to the worksheets as well as the addition of the audio files.
I would however like to see further developments for more child-friendly usage, which would encourage them to browse the different units on their own. The user still has to return to the home page then select the programme you are using from a drop down menu each time to see the different units.
It would be good to have a Facebook group to support parents’ during the time it takes them to complete the programme. I enjoy seeing how others are getting on and being inspired by other Home Edders – it motivates me!
Would I recommend the Speekee Accelerate Programme?
You bet! I recommend this as a “must have” to any family that is Home Educating and looking for an on line resource. It is excellent value for money. The age limit of 8+ is about right, any younger than that and the children struggle with the comprehension of the activities.
My daughter Chloe (age 7) is bilingual. She made a short video of what she thought of the programme. Watch Chloe’s review HERE.
Top Tips for anyone starting the Speekee Accelerate Programme
- I would recommend that you get organised from the start. You will need the following resources: a good A4 folder, pens, Spanish dictionary and ink cartridges oh and make sure your printer is working ok.
- Lesson prep. Take a bit of time to prep for the lessons and print the worksheets in advance.
- Be consistent. The programme recommends four lessons per week so find a time that suits you and (try) stick to it, build the programme into your weekly Home Ed schedule will help ensure you keep up to date (as best you can) with the activities.
- It’s a 40-week course but in reality it will probably take you longer (It took us a year!). Holidays, Christmas and other ‘life stuff’ will get in the way. So budget for a little longer and don’t set yourself an unrealistic time frame as you will be disappointed!
- I found that teaming up with another family on some of the units worked really well. So if you can find someone to sign up with at the same time it will make it even more fun!
Blog Posts & Additional Resources
This is a list of the blog posts I made for each of the units, where I share in detail what we did and how we did it – Have Fun!
- Weeks 1-6
- Weeks 7-10
- Weeks 11-14
- *Weeks 15 & 16
- Weeks 17-20
- Weeks 21 & 22
- Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
- Weeks 23 & 24
- *Weeks 25 & 26
- Weeks 27-32
- Weeks 33-36
- *Weeks 37-40
(*I will be updating these three posts very soon – be sure to pop back and visit again!)
For more information on the Speekee Accelerate Programme or any of the On Line Spanish courses for children visit their website www.speekee.com.
Adventures in Spanish Blog 