The best way to learn Spanish (or any foreign language) is by immersion. And, that is how my daughter has been learning Spanish using the Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Spanish Starter Set 1 that we have had the opportunity to review.
The Set includes everything listed (and pictured) below:
- DVD with videos for Levels 1-3
- Three Teacher’s Guides (or parent guides, if this is for homeschool) which sets out a detailed lesson plan, with a suggested viewing schedule and a variety of fun, supplemental and hands on activities to choose from to reinforce the material taught in the videos.
- Flashcards and Card Games for Levels 1 to 3
- Workbooks for Levels 1-3
- Stickers for Levels 1-3
Homeschool Spanish
I mentioned at the beginning that this program uses an immersion method. The reason I said that, is because there is NO English in the videos. It is all Spanish. You learn what the kids in the video are talking about by repetition and context clues… Just as you would if it were a real life situation and you were thrust in to a scene with only Spanish speakers.
This is a great program to be used for your kids to learn Spanish at home. There were a few activities that would have been more easily accomplished in a school setting with more kids, though. That being said, there are more than enough activities on a daily basis, so you can just skip the ones that require multiple children.
Let’s back up just a sec… I mentioned activities, but I didn’t tell you where you would find those! They are in your Teacher’s Guide book.
The book labeled “Guide for Teachers and Parents” has all the information you need in order to facilitate learning the program.
The first 3 pages are “How to Get Started”. I would definitely recommend familiarizing yourself with those pages before you start the program with your kids. It explains the layout of the DVD’s, the goals of the program and a few tips on how to use it, as well as how to use the actual guide itself.
I love the Teacher’s Guide, because it gives me a daily lesson plan. I like it when a curriculum helps me out by laying out what to do each day.
The daily lessons are broken down into “Activities” Each day, you will watch a portion of the DVD. That is usually the first activity of the lesson.
The first section of the DVD is called “Basketballs Aren’t for Breakfast”. It takes you through breakfast with 3 brothers. You get to know the boys while watching. One can’t put his basketball down, another won’t stop reading, and the third one loves to eat. And you meet the two family dogs, as well. One is named Grande (big) and the other is Pequena (small)… I’m sure you can imagine the sizes of the dogs.
After you watch the portion of the DVD you are supposed to watch for the day, you move on to the other activities that you want to do. Beside the DVD, all other activities are optional.
Activities
One of the activities involves the stickers that come with the program. You can use the stickers to label the things around your house that go with the stickers. We didn’t utilize those because my daughter doesn’t read well and the other 2 are too old for the stickers.
A couple of the activities have to do with learning more about Peru, which is where the three brothers live.
There is a duck, duck, goose game that I think would be super fun if you were in a classroom setting, but we didn’t do it since we didn’t have enough people.
Once you have watched an entire segment of the video, there is a rapid review game. A picture is put on the screen and your child tries to yell out the Spanish word before the word appears on the screen.
There is also a workbook that comes with the program. Sometimes your activity is a page or two in the workbook. We did a few of those, but some required more reading than my daughter could keep up so we skipped those.
Co-op
I really think this would be a great program for a homeschool co-op, enrichment or tutorial program. We go to an enrichment/tutorial program on Mondays and I’m going to be showing them this program to do with the elementary aged kids. I think they would all need their own workbooks, but you would only need one set of the DVD’s. You can get the workbook in digital form, so maybe you could get that and just make copies?? I’m not sure about that, though. I will need to email the company and ask them about their copyright rules and what they would want us to do to provide the workbooks to a classroom.
It would be fun to do some of the activities in a classroom with multiple kids!
What we thought
I like the program. I think it is a great way to learn Spanish and seeing how it is used in every day life.
My daughter thought there were many parts that were funny. She especially likes it when the oldest brother eats a HUGE plate of huevos and pan (eggs and bread) and makes his belly big!!!
It does get a bit repetitive because you have to watch the same video multiple times. My daughter would ask how many times she has to watch it. That being said, she giggled each time and would talk about what they were doing, so I think she still liked it!
We will continue to use this program daily or maybe even use it at our homeschool enrichment!
Information at a glance:
What is it? Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Spanish Starter Set 1
For whom? Everyone, ages 3 and up, although my older kids (7th and 9th grade) found it too juvenile.
How much is it? $140.25
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