Good Spanish Curriculum for a Native Speaking Mom to teach

[ehommel]

Hi,
I'm so ashamed to be posting this...I'm a native speaker of Spanish and I'm going to start homeschooling my 8 yr old dd and 5 yr old ds. I've not taught them any Spanish and would like to incorporate it into our homeschooling curriculum. I don't know how to begin teaching them and would like to take advantage of my native speaking abilities to teach them. I need some guidance on how to do it and I feel a curriculum would help...I've tried just speaking to them in Spanish but they just get frustrated. If I can start them on a curriculum to give them vocabulary, then I could communicate with them better in Spanish. Any suggestions?

[USDGAL]

Hi, don't beat up on yourself. I had trouble teaching ds English last year and I am a native speaker. We live n Mexico, so he speaks Spanish very well and did not want to learn English. he s now speaking and reading it.

You could just start with teaching them random words, to spark their interest. Then you could try games in Spanish: loteria, Simon Says, what ever comes to mind. Also, songs are great! Eventually move in to cartoons and movies in Spanish, as well as Spanish audio books. They may complain at first, but you will be surprised how fast this begins to work.

You also should start speaking to them in Spanish. Maybe when asking them to do simple tasks. You may need to point to things and explain/translate at first, but children this age are sponges. I am not sure about curriculum available in the US, but I used Juguemos a ller, which s similar to Explode the code, and Mi Libro Magico (purple cover). These are books used here in the private schools.

Good luck.

Danielle

P.S. I no longer have the link, but you can do a search for SEP and the Mexican curriculum should come up for free. You could use the language arts stuff or at least get and idea.

[Mabelen]

Hi,
I'm so ashamed to be posting this...I'm a native speaker of Spanish and I'm going to start homeschooling my 8 yr old dd and 5 yr old ds. I've not taught them any Spanish and would like to incorporate it into our homeschooling curriculum. I don't know how to begin teaching them and would like to take advantage of my native speaking abilities to teach them. I need some guidance on how to do it and I feel a curriculum would help...I've tried just speaking to them in Spanish but they just get frustrated. If I can start them on a curriculum to give them vocabulary, then I could communicate with them better in Spanish. Any suggestions?

Don't feel bad, better late than never! I am also a native Spanish speaker but passing Spanish on to our children was something my dh and I had discussed before we even got married. My dh is not Spanish speaking but he was on board. We have followed the One Parent One Language approach, very strictly at first and then much more loosely. Both girls understand Spanish perfectly and speak it, but their English is definitely their native and stronger language. This is just background information so that you know I am not exactly where you are.

If I were you I would do what USDGAL suggested while also following your plan to have more of a guide. Salsa is a good and easy curriculum to do. I am pretty sure your 5 yo will love it, you can try it also with your 8 yo and see how she likes it. If she finds it too young, then it might be worth looking into something else... but right now I can't think of anything good for that age group. I hope you get more suggestions. I think at this point the most important thing is once you start to be consistent and not to get discouraged. Good luck!

[ArizonaGirl]

Have you looked at Calico Spanish? It is a bit pricey, but I think it is an excellent program if you have the discipline to do it.

I also like Getting Started With Spanish. Your children are young enough that they would need your help to do it, but it is a very simple approach that might spark their interest.

Of course, Rosetta Stone is good for conversational Spanish.

There are many good programs out there. Best wishes finding the approach that works for you.

[CleoQc]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. DH and I are both French speakers, but I'm fluent in English. We decided for a variety of personal reasons not to go with OPOL (although I highly recommend this approach otherwise, it just wasn't for us). So at 5yo, my kids didn't know a word of English (we live in a French area). I've started each child when s/he reached 5, not before that.

My main approach was to read books to them. I would read in English and translate whatever they didn't get. I translated everything at first, of course, but only after having read it aloud in English. When words were repeated I would say "oh you've seen that word before, right here. What did it meant here? " Slowly they built their vocabulary.

In parallel, I got them involved in an English-speaking activity. My son cried the first year he was in cubs. My daughter took it well.

By age 9, both were fluent in both languages.

Good luck to you!

[ehommel]

Wow! Thanks for all the encouragement and advice. That's what I love about this forum. I will definitely start speaking to them in Spanish...I read somewhere about labeling things around the house which would help build vocabulary. I will look into the programs you all discussed. Thanks again!

[shehmeth]

I echo the sentiment of many here - do not feel bad... The OPOL approach is very sound, but in our case it was just not "us".... What I've done with the kids since birth when it comes to English and Spanish is to speak to them in both languages - simultaneously... Yes it makes long conversations... But here is how we did it - when they were younger (non-verbal) we also use baby signs to communicate - so I would bring them a glass of water and say "Water" "Agua" - if they pointed at something (let's say a cow for sake of argument) I would say "Si, mira la vaca - que linda" "Oh yes, look at the cow how pretty it is" and so on... one right after the other… in the beginning I made a conscious efforts to not use the same language to start off – but rather to alternate, and that also became second nature…

It might sound confusing but is not (at least not to us, and what was has worked)- and talking like this became second nature to us (me and my husband) - once my first born started talking she would talk like that many times, but pretty soon (sooner with the 2nd and other) they realize and pick the word that gets the point quicker or faster... for example - my son will say "Hot! Hot!" instead of "Caliente! Caliente" - how ever he would say "Agua” instead of "water" and then eventually they find their middle ground....

By having done this, they understand both languages - they could have their preferences - and that is ok... I speak more than two languages- and I can tell you that when I'm all alone "in my own head" like my daughter say - the language in my mind does not happen to be my native tongue most of the time...

From understanding (& vocabulary) - we then work on reading, writing, grammar - more vocabulary and so on...

Disclaimer- Two things:
1) I have worked as an interpreter (for English & Spanish) both with written word and simultaneous translation – so it might have been easier for me t be able to quickly do this at first.. but my DH has never worked in that – and he was able to do it as well….
2) when I first moved to the States and I had a bit of an accent speaking English, I was a bit self-conscious, speaking about it with a schoolmate he told me "You have nothing to be ashamed for having a bit of an accent, even if it were the worst case scenario and you had a heavy one....- an accent is a sign that you are lucky enough to speak more than one language, and that is much more than many - so never be ashamed and wear your accent proud knowing you are in a very special group of people" - he himself, only spoke English and expressed how he would love it to be able to speak more than just English- I took those words to heart, and learned a couple more languages afterward - his words still inspire me today and that's the philosophy in our house... our goal is for them to be able to understand and be understood... If they have a bit of an accent or not when they speak, is ok - with practice the accent goes away (speaking from experience) ;-)

Wish you the best....

Kate

Best of luck.....

Kate

[cshell]

Have you checked out ....
Breaking the Spanish Barrier?

www.tobreak.com

It looks super!:iagree:
They are grammar books with audio cd....
The author writes his text with very encouraging words throughout!
He also told me to e-mail him any time with questions.....
Check it out!!!!
Blessings,
Christal

[matroyshka]

Have you checked out ....
Breaking the Spanish Barrier?

www.tobreak.com (http://www.tobreak.com)

It looks super!:iagree:
They are grammar books with audio cd....
The author writes his text with very encouraging words throughout!
He also told me to e-mail him any time with questions.....
Check it out!!!!


I agree that it looks like a fantastic curriculum, especially for a fluent teacher - we'll be starting Level 2 in a few weeks - but I wouldn't recommend it for kids as young as the OP's - I'd say grade 5 and up?

For those ages, I think Español para chicos y grandes level 1 is nice. Although I didn't like level 2. But speaking to them in Spanish is really the best of all when they're young - more powerful than any curriculum.

[cshell]

Yes...you are correct.
This may be too advanced for now....

But, she really should keep these books in her head for the near future!:001_smile:

[~FireFly~]

I've written all these down to check out myself for our ds11. The curriculum we used for our older two dss (now 18 & 20) was La Classe Divertida by the Gomache family I think I spelled htis correctly. Anyway, when our 18 yo went to high school they placed him in honors Spanish b/c he could speak, understand and write well in Spanish. La Classe...is fun and has lots of activities for the children, so they learn, but it's not mundane and boring. Not that these others suggested are, b/c they look interesting, but I know La Classe is not. They had a Level I and Level II geared for elementary and middle school, thought they were going to design a high school level as well.

Good luck with the one you choose and let us know :O)

~S

[ilikemyhomeschool]

Thanks for the post. I have the same problem with my kids. Thanks goodness for abuelita!