The pandemic gave us lemons for sure, but let’s make lemonade. You have preschoolers at home and wondering what you can do to promote learning. Well pandemic or no pandemic, preschoolers are with you all the time and looking for parents to drive the learning stimulation. So you do art, music, and some reading. Learning to write well in English is also a great idea because it is big part of school. One good way to do this is by writing essays with experts https://papertyper.net/. Doing essays helps you get better at English and also helps you think and talk better. It’s like practicing to express your ideas clearly and strongly. This skill will help you a lot as you grow up. So, even though things changed because of the pandemic, it also showed us how important it is to learn different skills, like writing essays, to do well in school and life. But let’s take a cue from most countries outside the US, where they require early age second language learning.
It’s proven. Teach Spanish to kids at an early age.
Children’s brains are like sponges, absorbing information much easier than before they mature. That is why learning a second language is much easier as a child. Adults already have fully formed habits of their native language, making learning another language more difficult. This is why it is so important to introduce a second language (L2) to children while they are younger.
The 2 items most important to language learning success
There are many ways young children can come to acquire their L2’s. Some children are fortunate enough to learn L2’s from their grandparents while their parents are at work. Grandparents teach second languages to their grandchildren as a way of preserving culture and tradition. But what if your grandparents aren’t able to pass on the language? Resources for second language learning are widely available (music, books, and videos). I’ve tried several of these and I’ve come to the conclusion that 2 things matter: 1) Get materials that are age appropriate and 2) Stick with it! Otherwise, your kids in Spanish class may eventually get an A in highschool Spanish without the passion or ability to speak Spanish.
Spanish4kiddos has super Spanish materials
For preschoolers, art and simplicity is key and I recommend Spanish4Kiddos is an online resource that hits the mark. They have really nice graphic illustrations and you can leaf through the books over and over with your kids. They say “Learning through play is the most fun”. Rather than offering bland workbooks and tests, Spanish4Kiddos implements science projects and experiments for a deeper level of understanding of the Spanish language. So remember point 2 above? You can keep going with progressive activities. I really admire when parents make this decision early and self promote bilingualism even when they don’t have a path for a language immersion school.
Preschool Spanish materials are grounded in research
The owner and founder of Spanish4Kiddos, Barbara Mascareno, is a native Spanish speaker from Argentina that believes education needs to put more emphasis on language and the culture behind it. She has an intense passion for teaching Spanish as she is always looking to combine technology and traditional learning for a more interactive and fun experience. Learning to speak Spanish has never been more innovative! Her program has helped numerous parents nationwide through the struggles of the new virtual learning experience.
Free Spanish materials
Barbara’s materials are simple and easy to use. They’re filled with bright colors and fun images perfect for grabbing your children’s attention and knowing they’re fully committed to learning Spanish. Spanish4Kiddos is offering these free materials to our users so check them out!
https://spanish4kiddos.com/free-spanish-sight-words-subscribe/
https://spanish4kiddos.com/spanish-nursery-rhymes-subscribe/
Spanish e-books available
For our young digital citizens, they have e-books too! Homeschool Spanish does not have to be bland and boring! The texts in the e-books include both Spanish and English. Their e-books also act as Spanish curriculum for homeschoolers. Parents can read alongside their children, forming a love for reading at a young age. Barbara believes that the best way for children to fully utilize these texts is for parents to engage with them. Then your child gets an appreciation for Spanish culture and increases their language skills in both English and Spanish.
Get Spanish books and Spanish classes for kids
Spanish4Kiddos materials are a great way for your children to get started at the preschool age and build their vocabularies. The unique material creates engagement with children, making Spanish a fun language to learn. Basic Spanish is a necessary building block for your children’s language development. The next step is to get them developing grammar and sentence structure. Sing and Speak Spanish offers live group and private classes to work on their speaking skills with our enthusiastic native speaking teachers. So it’s possible that with younger and older siblings, you’ll get benefits from both programs. Check out both sites here:
https://spanish4kiddos.com
https://singandspeakspanish.com
Has anyone got comments about these materials or suggestions on how you got your young ones to enjoy learning Spanish?