Individuals click here for Fluency Builder software.

This program enriches the elementary school years with abundant exposure to language and culture. Our main goal is to convey an attitude based on years of feedback from adults who say that our approach at the primary and secondary levels produced students who used the language in ordinary daily life. The attitude is an eagerness to enjoy adventures and friendships around the world in a smart way.

We now provide an assessment tool to track and motivate student progress. Our approach at the elementary level has never emphasized written assessments. It's hard to justify using them much in the limited time available. Our instruction does not require bilingual or extra personnel, and no certain number of lessons must be covered. Just do what your schedule allows. In truth, most elementary schools that offer foreign language are trying to make a difference with a dab. Schedules are too tight for highly sequenced instruction that meets all the standards. Most schools have time only for enrichment.

The 10-minute language videos build from lower elementary up while offering something for older students along the way. Our software targets both groups equally. The videos add strong international flavor to your curriculum because, while the main focus is on Spanish and the cultures in which Spanish is spoken, many lessons encourage the study of other languages and places. Our cultural content is new to most adults.

See individual syllabi for K-6 and a thumbnail gallery of the first batch of 100+ downloadable video lessons. Begin any month you please. Download the lessons to your server as we post them throughout the year. Use as little or much as you please during your annual subscription. Don't be overwhelmed by the quantity. This is a continuum of hundreds of lessons with various entry and departure points. It is one of several projects our team is involved in. The fee is kept low by the number of participants and the sales of our Fluency Builder software. You don't have to buy the Fluency Builder to get the videos, but the videos cannot replace it. Contact us to see sample handouts for language lessons and Cultural Insights.

Apple users play our videos in Quicktime with the free Flip4Mac plug-in.

Prices and orders. The annual fee for new video subscribers for the 09-10 year is $600 per building, and 17% off for orders placed by May 31. The Fluency Builder software is $18 or less per computer per year for schools. Our Funding Justication document may be helpful.

A video lesson subscription loans you an additional batch of 100+ lessons each year for the same flat setup/tech fee. For instance, 08-09 subscribers who renew for 09-10 will get 200+ lessons with no additional fee for the second batch. If you start in 09-10 and you want all 200+, you pay double but only for your starting year. For new subscribers, such a scenario looks like this for orders placed by May 31/after May 31:

2009-2010 - 200+ lessons - $1000/$1200
2010-2011 - 300+ lessons - $500/$600
2011-2012 - 400+ lessons - $500/$600 ... etc.

Thirty of each batch are Cultural Insights for grade 4 and up, and we consider them as important as language lessons. In addition, most cultural and many language lessons for lower elementary are useful to beginning older students. Use however many lessons you want, and then pick up from there the next year.

An individual or business may want to sponsor the instruction at a local school. The cost is tiny per capita, though we do not charge per capita. Half our subscribers already have a language program in place and are adding our instruction. The constant claim is that language study strengthens other performance areas.

Fluency Builders. This unusual and inexpensive computer software runs in Windows. It cultivates a manageable vocabulary for people in schools and families to use together. Schools download the software to their server and install it on individual computers. We have added significant updates.

Description and implementation. The video lessons are more contextualized than our Fluency Builder software, which is for mastering a restricted range of words and sentences. The 75 to 90 annual language videos include cultural segments, handouts, frequent performance activities, and periodic paper-and-pencil quizzes. The 30 annual Cultural Insights for grade 4 and up have handouts to use as quizzes, guides or springboards. Half our video lessons should be repeated at least once, and you can view more than one in a row.

Our instruction is intellectually and physically interactive, and schools use it in different ways. An extended day is not necessary. Students can work the lessons completely independently if you prefer. Over time, the lessons encourage learning multiple languages by including interviews and snippets related to French, Hindi, Mandarin, German, Portuguese, Greek, sign language, Latin and other languages. Cultural content is provided for every grade, and much of it relates to being world-smart in general. Some schools start using our lessons around midyear.

Lesson samples. The first batch of language lessons is mainly for getting lower elementary started, but nothing's wrong with upper elementary using them. The second batch will target experienced 2nd-graders and will be still more appropriate for higher grades. The third batch (2010-2011) will target experienced third grade and will be effective for experienced higher grades. And so on.

The instruction is based heavily on M T Russell's experience at all grade levels and the 1,500 K-6 live distance-learning sessions he conducted from Indianapolis Public Schools Television, always with one foot in the Spanish-speaking world, which his family is part of.

Sequence. Our video language sequence starts in the early grades while offering plenty for upper elementary along the way. Some schools include kindergarten for exposure. Most schools include grades 1-3 in the language lessons for the starting year, and many include higher grades. To do language right, you need to be patient and build from the early grades up, although you can start with two levels in 09-10 and use them both with upper elementary. The content advances each year. We cover typical content and more, with an eye to adding joy to learning. We will post a variety of lessons for viewing from home at no extra charge.

Prices, orders, implementation and more.