Spanish Champs has recently released a Level 2 curriculum. This program builds on the company’s first level of Spanish for kids, offering engaging activities based on the principles of language acquisition.
Progressive Language, Inc publishes the curriculum. In consultation with linguists from top universities, the company developed the PLI method and obtained a US patent for their unique language learning methodology.
The program emphasizes oral communication in Spanish for kids 4 through 10 years old. Some of the topics in Spanish Champs Level 2 include descriptions, family, animals, manners, home, daily routine, days of the week, action verbs, emotions and feelings, more numbers, and more colors.
Spanish Champs Level 2 retains the structure and key components of the first level. I wrote about the features of Level 1 in an earlier post.
In addition, the new material encourages more production appropriate to the level and makes classroom use even easier for teachers. The earlier review goes into detail about why Spanish Champs materials and activities are effective learning tools.
Find Spanish lesson plan resources and read more elementary Spanish curriculum reviews.
Lots of language
Spanish Champs introduces children to a significant amount of language. It is important to realize that the material covers an entire school year and Spanish Champs intends for you to repeat it. In addition, the curriculum supports the language with repetition in different formats.
Spanish Champs Stories
Narrative is one of the best ways to create context for children learning language. As kids follow a story, they hear important language and understand new words from the situation. Just as important, stories are fun. Spanish Champs incorporates stories into different activities, such as songs, readers theater, video and of course their story books. This creates repeated exposure in context.
Spanish Champs Songs
Melody and rhythm help kids produce Spanish that they would not be able to use spontaneously, so it is one of the best ways for children to learn new language. The Spanish Champs songs incorporate the new vocabulary and structures. In addition, the song book makes them easy to use by providing images, lyrics and translations. The songs are on the DVD with images from the song book, and there are also coloring pages of the the pictures.
Hands-on, Active Fun
The teacher’s guide includes instructions for many activities as a part of the lesson plans. These are hands-on activities that get kids moving and using Spanish. This active engagement with the language continues with coloring, both the coloring pages and the black and white flash cards and cards with actions to accompany songs.
Teachers Resources
This program provides significant support for teachers of Spanish for kids. The materials are well-organized , easy to use, and well-coordinated. This is important not just because it makes our lives easier, but because it ensures children get the exposure they need to learn.
The Level 2 Teacher’s Resources CD includes digital versions of the coloring and activity books for both Levels 1 and 2, so teachers can make as many copies of the coloring or activity sheets as they like. This is a useful resource and an excellent value.
I appreciate materials like the picture cards and coloring pages when teaching Spanish for kids because they can be adapted to many extra activities. It lets us add variety and stay focused at the same time.
Parent Letters
Spanish Champs considers parents to be partners in their child’s education. The parent letter provides them with all the vocabulary and suggests several activities. With this information, parents can play an active part in their child’s learning.
Spanish Champs offers a variety of packages for classroom or homeschool. For each level, there are three kits: Starter, Deluxe and Curriculum. There is also a Super Kit that includes a Level 1 and a Level 2 kit and offers a 25% discount over the individual items. You can find all the details on the Spanish Champs website.
