Note: This post is one in a series on how we prepared our homeschooled children to take various College Level Examination Program tests. The introductory post for this series explains why we take these tests, what parts of the preparation worked for us, and what parts of the preparation did not work.
The CLEP test: Spanish
SPECIAL NOTE: Unlike the other entries in this series of posts, the explanation we provide here will probably not be valid for most homeschool students who plan to take the Spanish CLEP test. We speak Spanish at least half the time in our home as my wife was born and raised in Mexico. We plan for the kids to study a third language using Rosetta Stone. If we chose to go with French or German, for which there are available CLEP tests, we will post our results here.
Primary study materials:
- Best Test Preparation for the CLEP Spanish includes two audio CD’s for practice on the listening section of the test
Secondary study materials:
Tertiary influences:
- We speak Spanish at home at least half of the time with a native speaker of the language.
Discussion:
Both Rosetta Stone and the REA materials served Kelly very well in preparation for the test. Again, because we have a native speaker in the home, this is probably the least valuable of the explanations on how to prepare for a CLEP examination. We plan to use a similar method for our next language, but with the addition of some grammar workbooks. We do not yet know which language we will chose, but we will add a page for that language if it is either French or German for which there are available CLEP tests.
Results:
Kelly took the test in the ninth grade. She received a scaled score that, according to the REA book, would give her an A if the course were graded for two years of college level Spanish. Christian will not take the test until he is in the ninth grade. Christian ended up taking this test as an eighth grader and got an A on the test for two years of college level Spanish.
What we would do differently: Nothing.