At St. Nicholas School, Spanish part of curriculum

MINERSVILLE -- Students at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School are learning how to speak Spanish using a special computer program that enhances traditional language lessons. The teaching of Spanish begins in kindergarten, according to Principal Thomas C. Dando, but beginning in the second grade, students are introduced to , a software program that teaches 30 languages in an interactive way through audio and visual means. Languages available include two versions of Spanish (Latin America and Spain), Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Persian, Hebrew, Latin, Polish, Swahili and Welsh. "When I first came here, I thought about what are some of the things we could do to make us special," said Dando. "Spanish came to mind. When you buy things nowadays, a lot of items have English and Spanish." Spanish was taught at the school when Dando arrived by instructor Joan Stout to students in grades five through eight. However, Dando believed it was time to expand the curriculum. "So we started teaching Spanish in kindergarten. Our kids learn Spanish every other day for a half-hour," Dando said. "For students in the second grade and up, we purchased a program called . The State Department, the military and others use it. It's an individualized computer program to help people learn a language." Dando said Stout uses theas an additional tool in developing language skills. Rosetta Stone Japanese "Mrs. Stout does other things away from the computer, such as memorizing words and fun things for the kids, but each child works at their own pace. She also (has) additional learning time four days a week after school to work on ." The move to teach Spanish early has already shown remarkable results. "The third- and fourth-graders have surpassed the seventh- and eighth-graders in what they've accomplished," said Dando. "By the time these kids get to the ninth grade in high school, we believe they're going to be well prepared for Spanish." The program starts with simple words and builds from there. The word is pronounced by the computer and four pictures are shown. One photo is the correct answer. Choose the wrong answer and the program will tell you of the incorrect choice. As the student progresses through the levels, words introduced earlier are joined to create phrases. The student can go back at any time to review and is allowed to move to a test and a higher level after answering everything correctly. "The mistakes that you make will bring the student back to those same questions," said Stout. Dando said the kindergarten students are enthusiastic when introduced to the Spanish curriculum. "They get a real inkling about what the language is all about and they get very excited about Spanish," he said. Stout said the use ofis in its third year at the school. "It's a good tool. There is also a teaching portion on the program. I can also make the tests what I want them to be," she said. Only half of each class learns at a time ondue to the limited amount of computers. Stout said she plans to use the recently installed Smart Board interactive whiteboards to teach an entire class at a time on occasion.

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