Ever Thought Of Teaching Your Children Spanish?

When I was a child growing up in Kentucky, my parents had no reason for me to learn Spanish. Introducing me to a foreign language probably never crossed their minds until I hit high school where I was given the opportunity to take French or Spanish as an elective. I chose French because I thought it would be so much fun, and it was, but now as a Texas resident, I NEED to be able to speak Spanish and can’t.  I believe that it is VERY important that my children, ages 5 and 11 both learn to speak this language.

My oldest son was able to choose a number of electives for next year and I immediately registered him in the Spanish class and then helped him choose the other electives he’d like to take. Since the younger brother likes to do most everything the older one does, I have been searching “learn Spanish For kids” in hopes of finding something where my son and I could follow along with the oldest while he takes his Spanish class. I am truly looking forward to helping him with his Spanish assignments in hopes that I will pick up enough of the Spanish language to get by when I run into one of those “language barrier situations.”

I have been thinking about getting a kids Spanish DVD and came across a Spanish program that is designed specifically for ages 0-7.  It says the younger you start your children, the easier it will be for them to pick it up, which is great news, but do I really have time for a full time program?  Our lives are hectic and we are always on the run with sports  and after school activities.  I really want my youngest son and I to pick up a little Spanish, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it out and then read that it only takes 20 minutes a day.  Better yet, this program is available on a variety of media including CD’s, flashcards, books, mobile apps and games!  My husband has the iPhone and my youngest is always playing with it in the car and  we also have the iPad that is used on a daily basis at our house.  Twenty minutes would be a breeze to get under my son’s belt each day.  He could complete his 20 minute Spanish lesson in the car in the time that it takes to drop his brother off at his sports practices!  This definitely sounds like my type of program!

Isn’t it horrible that everyone is always so busy?  I never remember my family life feeling this hectic when I was growing up.  Life seemed laid back, but I also lived in a small town in the country instead of in my current large Texas town where most homes have two stories to enable the builders to “cram” more homes in smaller areas.

This program is called Kid Start Spanish.  It  appears to be simple, to the point and repetitive.  It is also a true immersion program, which means that this program uses only Spanish to teach children.  There’s no jumping back and forth between English and Spanish.  I know this works.  I had a neighbor that moved here from Columbia with NO understanding of the English language.  After a few weeks of sitting in front of the television, I could halfway hold a conversation with her!  I thought we’d never become friends and before I knew it, she was a pro at the English language.  She told me that she watched a lot of television in the English language before feeling comfortable enough to leave her home.

Here’s their site link if you’d like to check it out:  http://www.kidstartspanish.com  Summer is almost here and this would be a great activity for the kids.  Did you know that learning a new language can increase your IQ?