I've really been meaning to teach my kids Spanish. We've purchased expensive software, set goals for learning, and own many resources to help them with the process. Unfortunately, between our busy classroom schedules and the fact that my kids don't need another 20 minutes on the computer or in a workbook, I had given up on the dream for a bit. Now that it's a new year, however, I've picked up my planner and am determined to bring Spanish back....
My experience with Spanish was two-fold: I took a year in high school and retained nothing. Then, I managed a busy fast food restaurant and learned enough conversational Spanish to practically live in any Spanish-speaking country! My experiences taught me that kids learn best in everyday situations where Spanish is just spoken -- not through the tiring process of conjugation and worksheets.
Lightning Fast Spanish for Kids and Families is a new book that embraces my philosophy of creating an understanding of basic Spanish terms that kids would be most likely to use. You don't need to know Spanish yourself to teach it; anyone can teach using this book. (You'll also end up learning quite a bit, too!)
The book just requires that you pick a situation in your home and read the accompanying text. Helping your kids pick out clothes for school, for example, would prompt you to ask questions in Spanish, hold up articles of clothing, review the colors, and state things in a conversational style. While it may be helpful to go over the lesson a few times alone before introducing it to the kids (just to get your pronunciation down), you don't need have anything memorized.
While the book is broken down into lessons, I don't think you need to do them in order. If you want to do the "What's for lunch?" conversation on a particular day, your children will only get that much more exposure. You can always come back and review previous lessons (and I think it's probably recommended.)
Lightning Fast Spanish for Kids and Families was written by a mom who has been in the trenches herself, understands the struggles commonly found with teaching Spanish, and respects your time. You can find this slim but essential book at Amazon.com for under $15!
*Review copy received. Opinions are 100% my own.
My experience with Spanish was two-fold: I took a year in high school and retained nothing. Then, I managed a busy fast food restaurant and learned enough conversational Spanish to practically live in any Spanish-speaking country! My experiences taught me that kids learn best in everyday situations where Spanish is just spoken -- not through the tiring process of conjugation and worksheets.
Lightning Fast Spanish for Kids and Families is a new book that embraces my philosophy of creating an understanding of basic Spanish terms that kids would be most likely to use. You don't need to know Spanish yourself to teach it; anyone can teach using this book. (You'll also end up learning quite a bit, too!)
The book just requires that you pick a situation in your home and read the accompanying text. Helping your kids pick out clothes for school, for example, would prompt you to ask questions in Spanish, hold up articles of clothing, review the colors, and state things in a conversational style. While it may be helpful to go over the lesson a few times alone before introducing it to the kids (just to get your pronunciation down), you don't need have anything memorized.
While the book is broken down into lessons, I don't think you need to do them in order. If you want to do the "What's for lunch?" conversation on a particular day, your children will only get that much more exposure. You can always come back and review previous lessons (and I think it's probably recommended.)
Lightning Fast Spanish for Kids and Families was written by a mom who has been in the trenches herself, understands the struggles commonly found with teaching Spanish, and respects your time. You can find this slim but essential book at Amazon.com for under $15!
*Review copy received. Opinions are 100% my own.
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