Communication matters
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Which One Schoolhouse Language Course Is Right for Me?
At One Schoolhouse, our language sequences are designed to offer multiple entry points, a strong core of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, and a variety of options for advanced study. Our range of offerings has been created and titled to reflect the wide range of language learning approaches in independent schools.
For students beginning their study of a language:
In Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish, Students with no prior experience in learning a language can begin in either Beginning I or Beginning II. (All students in the American Sign Language sequence begin in ASL - Beginning I.) When choosing which course to select, please keep the following in mind:
In Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish, Students with no prior experience in learning a language can begin in either Beginning I or Beginning II. (All students in the American Sign Language sequence begin in ASL - Beginning I.) When choosing which course to select, please keep the following in mind:
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Students best placed in Beginning I courses are:
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Students who succeed in Beginning II courses are:
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For students who have already begun to study a language:
Please request the appropriate course sequence document from One Schoolhouse. After reviewing the topics and material covered in our courses, please register your student for the course that seems most appropriate for them. We consider registrations in our language courses to be preliminary placements.
In the first two weeks of the school year, each student enrolled in language courses completes a pre-course assessment and meets with their teacher. If the student meets expectations in those activities, we consider their placement confirmed. If the student either exceeds the course expectations, or is not able to meet those expectations, we will do our best to move them to the course that the teacher feels is most appropriate.
Please request the appropriate course sequence document from One Schoolhouse. After reviewing the topics and material covered in our courses, please register your student for the course that seems most appropriate for them. We consider registrations in our language courses to be preliminary placements.
In the first two weeks of the school year, each student enrolled in language courses completes a pre-course assessment and meets with their teacher. If the student meets expectations in those activities, we consider their placement confirmed. If the student either exceeds the course expectations, or is not able to meet those expectations, we will do our best to move them to the course that the teacher feels is most appropriate.
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2023-2024 Courses
American Sign Language
Chinese
French
Latin
More on the One Schoolhouse Language Learning Pedagogy
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One Schoolhouse designs competency-based courses with the student-teacher relationship as the cornerstone of our personalized pedagogy. While students excelled in our language AP courses, for many years we did not offer full sequence language courses because there was little research to support the efficacy of online language learning at the early levels.
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The research shows that fewer than 1% of Americans are proficient in the language they studied in traditional classrooms. We did not want this outcome for One Schoolhouse students, so our goal is to inspire deep learning as we strive to ensure that the online learning experience increases the effectiveness of second language acquisition. In recent years, we have honed our approaches to delivering the four language competencies – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – in the online space, and have therefore endeavored to build out our Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish sequences.
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The limitations of other online language programs are mitigated by the centrality of the student-teacher relationship, including interactive sessions where students speak, listen, and translate with their peers and teacher, at One Schoolhouse. J.C. Narcy-Combes’s research on second language learning online shows that, “meaningful interaction will trigger learning processes,” which we know to be true anecdotally, and that, with intentional design, students can be taught to learn language effectively online. Carrier et. al. have more recently shown that educational technologies and online learning are rapidly transforming second language acquisition, and that intentional practice can create a highly effective digital experience.
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Because One Schoolhouse students have pathway options where they can practice in the target language at their own pace, get feedback from their teacher, interact with peers from around the country, and demonstrate their mastery through both traditional assessments and creative projects, students have the full complement of research-based learning activities in their online courses that you would expect to find in any independent school language program. Additionally, our language teachers have advanced degrees from American universities, are trained in both their language and the best pedagogical practices for delivering language online, teach in independent schools around the US, and many are AP readers.
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