Spanish For You Review

Spanish For You Review

Since I found out I was going to be a mother I wanted my children to practice learning another language from a very early age.  My two oldest children are five and four, and they’ve been getting some sort of foreign language lesson since they were two and one.  I have gotten books, computer programs and now as a member of Homeschool Mosaic Review team I have the opportunity to try the Spanish For You curriculum with them.  Honestly we’ve been so swamped with odd weather, spring colds and other things that I didn’t dig into this program right away.   When I did I was super excited to get started, I opened up my files and found lesson plans for grades 3 and up.  I was confused and figured I downloaded it wrong.  I looked again and was a bit sad when I realized that the program did in deed start with grade 3.  I though long and hard about what to do and so I decided to to go ahead with using it with my children at a very slow and steady pace.

We received the Fiestas Package for review.  In this package theme its all about celebrations.  I figured it would be a great way to teach them about some other cultures and new Spanish words from the basic ones they already know.  What I loved the most about this program is the downloadable audio files.  I don’t know how many times I’ve stated in the past that I love introducing a foreign language element to my children but it’s difficult to know if I am using the words correctly, is it the correct verb usage or even the pronunciation.  This was a huge difference in this program for me and one that made it a winner in my book.  It even has the native language translations for when your child is speaking the language more fluently.   This is also another big plus for me.  Debbie Annett the creator of this program must know from experience how frustrating it must have been to teach a foreign without some sort of guidance like this.  Kudos to Debbie for adding in this super bonus.

As it stand the program is designed to go for 24 weeks for grades 5-8 and 30 weeks for grades 3-4, since my children are no way near grade 3 we are going at a much slower pace but that’s also perfectly fine because one of the first things that Debbie talks about in the book is going at your own pace.  One of my favorite parts is the most commonly used words and phrases.  It was a great way for us to start up and get the kids comfortable.

Also the section with the colors and numbers were also another great way to start for us.  My kids already know some of the colors and numbers in Spanish so having it so handy in the first couple of pages really did make it easy for them.

I loved that the colors where in the actual color so at least the kids could identify with the English color if they couldn’t get a hold of the Spanish wording just yet.  It made it much easier for us and visual.

The numbers section was also great to have.  It’s easy to make flash cards to use for on the road and whenever want want to have a quick and easy lesson.

Our book also had some activities for us to do as we learn more Spanish and the instructions were so easy to follow.  You can also visit the Spanish For You Activities section on their website and download other free activity sheets.

Another great feature was in the lesson plan, it guides you to listen to the sentences and pretend to do what it says.  I love that their are audio files so your child is hearing the words spoken in Spanish so they can get a better understanding of what they are learning.  This is really important for me.

You can download free mini lessons from the SFY website.  As you can see they have quite a few options for you to try as well as trial audio.

There are also free worksheets to keep the lessons going and help your children learn more and more Spanish as time goes on.

The Spanish For You packages are very affordable and come in different sets.  You can get the full package for grades three through eight or get the smaller package if it’s more affordable at the time.  Head over to the website and check it out to see and learn more about this great tool for all parents.