I ♥ FLASHCARDS

I have been asked many times how I got my oldest son to speak Spanish so fluently, and the truth is, I never stopped speaking Spanish to him, even when he tries to talk to me in English. 

From a very early age I focused on enriching his vocabulary by reading to him and taking walks around our neighborhood pointing at different things, from trees and flowers, to cars that drove by, so he could learn colors. 

One other thing that I found of invaluable help (and incredibly affordable) were flashcards. I adore flashcards, they are just such a simple tool to help learn new words and expand vocabulary. I would always carry flashcards with me, in the car, in my purse, they were everywhere. There was something about those colorful flashcards that caught my little one’s attention; he seemed very interested in learning new words, and repeating them out loud. I would just flip card after card and he would tell me on his own. 

At the very beginning, I was mostly focused on teaching my son words, so I bough whatever cards I found on sale (sometimes from the Dollar Store), just making sure they had colorful pictures. As he grew, I focused on finding bilingual cards, so he could start letter recognition. I found very affordable ones at Mardel’s (2.99) and Amazon.com. I used a hole punch and a ring to keep them together and made them portable and mess-free. 

Hope you find this information helpful, you really don’t need a big budget to find useful tools to enrich your little one’s vocabulary, make it a game! 

Hasta Pronto!

A SUPER COOL WEEK WITH A NEW BOOK AND ACTIVITY

I know I've been a bit quiet lately, just been busy reading and spending quality time with my children. I am still reading to them in Spanish so that’s all that matters, right?
Well, last week we had two great reasons to read and do an activity with the kiddos. We celebrated Earth day on April 22nd and Book day on April 23rd, so I took these two festivities and turned them into a really fun afternoon.
I started by reading the children a book called: “La sorpresa del cumpleaños de Nico”. It tells the story of a boy that receives seeds as one of his birthday presents and takes joy in planting and watering them until they turn into beautiful sunflowers; great inspiration for earth’s day, right? So guess what we did after we finished reading our book? You guessed it: We planted seeds!
It was a great activity; it completed the meaning of the book and gave me a chance to tell my children how important plants are for our planet. The kids loved it, they placed seeds in a pot and covered them with dirt and watered them, now they take pride in keeping up with watering their new plants and waiting for them to germinate and grow into beautiful flowers.
Sometimes the simplest of things can turn into something great and meaningful, like a fun afternoon with activities, play and a good message. Let’s continue reading to our kids and fostering love for our planet.

Hasta Pronto!

Aprendiendo con Plaza Sésamo

The first time I introduced my children to any kind of television programming it was through a wonderful series of DVDs titled “Sesame Beginnings” that includes Spanish audio. Needless to say, both my children loved them!

Now, my 3 year old might be getting a little too old and a little too smart for Sesame Beginnings so I had to find other alternatives for him to continue to watch Sesame Street in Spanish. I was surprised to find the answer right in front of me, on a website that I use more often than I’d like to admit: amazon.com! I found a great series of episodes in Spanish called “Aprende con Sesame” (10 episodes) and “Las familias ven juntas” (6 episodes). Here’s the best part: They are FREE!!!! GRATIS!!!!

I couldn't believe my luck, since I own a kindle fire I downloaded them all to my device so I could take them with me everywhere. I not only love the fact that it’s free and in Spanish but also that it actually teaches something, from planning for an emergency to counting and saving money.

To add to the theme and learning experience, why not print a couple of coloring pages? You can get them for free at:  www.plazasesamo.com

Sit down, sing with Elmo, Rosita and all the Plaza Sésamo characters and then color a page or two with your child, I promise you´ll have fun!

Hasta Pronto!

Let's read in Spanish! ¡Leámos en Español!

I am an avid reader. I love the written word and luckily for me, so do my little ones. I have read to them ever since they were born. Have I mentioned that all I read to them is in Spanish? What? Are there any children’s books in Spanish out there? Actually, closer than you might think! 

I know we can find almost any book we want through amazon.com or any other online retailer but some local stores actually carry a very impressive selection of children’s books in Spanish.  I was able to find a whole section dedicated to children’s books in Spanish at both my local Target and Barnes and Noble. Some Half Price books stores carry them as well. At my local Target I was able to find some favorites of my children like “¿Dónde está el ombliguito?” and “Azul el sombrero, verde el sombrero” by Sandra Boynton (a favorite in my house).  

So, what are you waiting for? Make it an outing and take your little ones to pick out a book (or two!).

Hasta pronto!

Some of our favorites, you can see how much they've been loved

When God sent us snow, mami gave them Netflix...en Español

Mickey Mouse también habla Español! 

OK, I’m not going to lie, my children DO watch TV. I don’t have cable so there is only so much they can watch. What I do have is Netflix, and I love it! Here’s why: They have an audio and subtitles option that allows me to change the audio to Spanish, if it’s available for that title WOOHOO!!! When I discovered that feature I was out of this world happy, seriously.

Some of the great titles I have been able to find with Spanish audio are: Dumbo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Top Cat, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, really most Disney titles.  Also, NBC has Saturday morning cartoons that have the sap (second audio program) option, so you can get them in Spanish too. Aside from what I get from network TV and Netflix, I hardly ever buy a DVD or Blue-Ray that doesn't offer the option of Spanish audio.

Now, my husband doesn't speak as much Spanish as I do, so, how do I avoid making him feel left out? English subtitles! So even family movie night allows for all of us all to enjoy the show (I admit, nobody likes to read subtitles but it is all a joint effort to make sure our children are bilingual, so sacrifices are necessary)

Hope this little bit of info helps! Even when you are on a budget there are options for Children’s programming in Spanish. Now you can feel a little less guilty for letting your kiddos watch TV since they are reinforcing their Spanish, right? Sit down and enjoy, they might pick up a new word or two.

Hasta Pronto!

Please note: I have only tried this feature on 4 different devices: Nintendo Wii, Vizio smart TV, Kindle Fire and personal computer. I hope it works on yours too.

Why?

When asked about why do I teach my children Spanish being that we live in the United States, the answer is easy: why not?

There are very few things that I will be able to give my children that will last and benefit them as much as an education.  Before I became a stay at home mother, during my professional life, knowing Spanish was a great asset (it even offered me a pay differential in some places). From all the benefits I encountered all those years spent working outside the home, there was no doubt in my mind: My Kids were going to learn Spanish.

The road has been, and continues to be, difficult. Everything that surrounds us uses English, my husband speaks English, his parents do as well, most toys that they will play with sing the cutest songs, tell the letters, colors, numbers and shapes all in English! And I haven’t even gotten started with TV.

I know you might feel like giving up, it’s just so much easier that way, right? Don’t, please don’t give up! There are options, resources and yes, toys that can help reinforce what you are already doing: talking to your child in Spanish. I will continue posting about my discoveries, hoping I can help.

Hasta pronto!