Volume 5 - Edition 6 - March 2009
Curriculum Review – Mission Monde
by I had the privilege of reviewing a new French language program called Mission Monde. Mission Monde is a comprehensive program that offers a K-2 level (Mission ABC) as well as further levels that dovetail nicely with our PLOs starting in grade 5. It includes oral conversation, a quality audio component, interesting and relevant content, explicit grammar instruction and a variety of assignments that will help students to think and apply their knowledge. It comes with a teacher’s guide, an audio CD, and a workbook for the student.
The teacher’s guide contains everything you need to successfully teach French to your students. Each lesson is scheduled to take 30 minutes and that time is broken down between conversation, review, and new work. I love that each day begins with five minutes of French conversation and that the questions are written right in the teacher’s guide. That means that I don’t have to hunt around trying to figure out what we’re going to talk about. It’s also a great opportunity to review previously learned material. Mission Monde really helps us to apply what we’ve learned in French to our daily lives.
Review is also scheduled to take just five minutes a day. Mission Monde is very creative in how they structure review. It’s not a matter of filling out a boring review sheet, instead there’s something different every day. One day you might count by 2’s in French, the next day you might play Hangman with French words or perhaps you may play a game with flashcards.
The CD is well done and easy to listen to. It contains all the audio you need so that you and your student are pronouncing words correctly. There are stories, songs, and lessons on the CD.
I really like the fact that students are challenged to use their French in both conversation and writing. Level 1 (grade 5) already has students writing letters and short stories in French. There is a big emphasis on explicit grammar instruction and yet there are games, stories, and songs to balance things out. The student book contains a variety of exercises. There are basic exercises like word searches but there are also more advanced exercises like translations. Students are required to actually use their French instead of just regurgitating vocabulary. Students will also learn some Bible in French and there are some great add-ons available; a French worship CD and a book of 15 simple Bible stories in French with a CD.
The content of Mission Monde is engaging and interesting. Each level is set in a French speaking location where students learn what it’s like to be a missionary family there. Students will learn about France, Burundi, a boarding school for missionary kids in Germany, and Quebec as well as other places. Mission Monde explores both the culture and the challenges that missionary families face. The interest level is so high that even parents will want to find out what happens in the next lesson. This is a huge advantage to older beginners because they won’t feel talked down to; even if they start in level 1. Mission Monde appeals to a very wide age range.
While the teacher’s guide isn’t written specifically for teachers without previous French, it’s still a manageable program even if you don’t have a French background. I estimate that it probably takes about 15 minutes a week of prep time for the teacher. This will give you a chance to preview the audio, make sure you are comfortable with the daily conversation questions and that you are comfortable with the lesson material before teaching it. While written for classroom use, the teacher’s guide is definitely friendly to homeschoolers and really doesn’t require a lot of adapting for home use. I would hesitate to recommend it for independent use, but a very motivated grade 7 student would probably do fine independently. The author of the program is very easy to reach and is happy to receive questions through email.
The homeschool package is very reasonably priced at $65 (CDN). It includes the teacher’s guide (which has flashcards and a bingo game in the back to copy), an audio CD and a student workbook.