I have had several readers ask for my impression of the Spanish Champs program, so I was thrilled when the company sent me the Level 1 materials to review. This engaging curriculum is for children 2 to 10 years old, with an emphasis on developing oral communication. The curriculum is a 32-week program that is intended to be repeated. A Level 2 curriculum is under development and will be available in the fall. Spanish Champs [...]
For the last few months I have had the pleasure of getting to know the Sonrisas Spanish School Preschool and Elementary Curriculum. This beautifully designed, standards-based elementary Spanish curriculum is recognized by language teachers as an effective, engaging program. For over 16 years it has been used throughout the country in schools, after-school programs and for home schooling. The Spanish curriculum is designed for preschool through third grade, but certainly could be used as the [...]
If you are looking into elementary school curricula, you should know that Spanish for You! has added additional lesson plans to their materials. Spanish for You! is a curriculum for grades 3-8 that can be used for self-study, home school, in classrooms or in after-school programs. It was created by a Spanish teacher as an affordable, easy-to-use program that engages children with the language and also teaches grammar basics. Check out the Spanish for You! [...]
In this guest post, Laura Anaya de Zuchovicki, founder of the Spanish curriculum Conversa Books, writes about her inspiration to teach Spanish and also prepare students as world citizens. Born and educated in Mexico, she draws on twelve years of experience teaching elementary and middle schools students in the United States. Some people say that in order to have a complete life you must have a child, write a book and leave your personal mark. [...]
In these songs from the Sing ‘n Speak Spanish curriculum, music and lyrics come together for fun, effective language learning. If you have a child who loves learning Spanish, or a classroom full of them, these songs are going to be a hit. The CDs are part of the curriculum, but they are also sold separately. There is a list of the song titles and the grammar points they deal with at the end of [...]
Spanish for You! is an elementary Spanish curriculum. If you are considering a curriculum, this is a good time to take a look at Spanish for You! because they are having a holiday sale. Everything is 25% off – just use the discount code “holidaysale.” You can read more about the curriculum in this post: Spanish Curriculum for Classroom or Home School. Use this link to visit the Spanish for You! site and take advantage [...]
Spanish books are the perfect gift for children learning the language! Sonrisas Spanish School is having a picture book sale just in time for Christmas. Sonrisas has an online book store with carefully selected Spanish stories to read with language learners. From December 1st-15th, all books in the store are 15% off. To take advantage of this great offer, visit the Sonrisas Book Store and use the discount code “booksale” in the shopping cart. Happy [...]
Sonrisas Spanish School publishes a preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum. The founders, Brooks and Blue Lindner, also have a blog full of ideas, inspiration and support for anyone teaching Spanish to children. Whether you are an experienced teacher, new to the profession, or a parent with a child learning Spanish, this is a wonderful resource. Use this link to reach the Sonrisas Spanish School Blog. These are a few of the reasons you will want [...]
The page, Ayudas Gráficas, has an great collection of printable graphic organizers in Spanish. Graphic organizers are an excellent tool to use with all learners, but they have particular advantages with children working to master a second language. – Graphic organizers are an effective way to assemble the vocabulary students need to write or talk about a topic. – As children organize information visually, they write key vocabulary and see the relationship to other terms. [...]
This set of power point presentations with Spanish vocabulary for first grade is from the website Programa de Doble Immersión de Primer Grado. You can find the link at end of this post. Some of the presentations have audio, while others just have text on the screen that you can read to your child. Most of the presentations use the vocabulary in context, with full sentences and pictures. There are a few exceptions, like Espantapájaros [...]
This article is by Debbie Annet, the author of Spanish for You!, a Spanish curriculum for grades 3-8. She offers insight into how children learn languages and a discount code on her curriculum. You CAN give the gift of language. Parent or teacher, Spanish speaker or not, you are able to accomplish more than just vocabulary learning with your elementary and middle school students. It just takes knowing a little about the language learning process [...]
This article is by Laura Anaya de Zuchovicki, author and founder of Conversa Books. A Mexican native, she has been teaching Spanish to elementary and middle-school students for over 10 years. As an expert in TPRS, she speaks to the exciting new technique of embedded readings. As a foreign language teacher, my priority has always been to provide my students with the ability to speak fluently. This is the reason why I’m always on the [...]