[granolamommie]

<p>Ok- so I am super nervous.  I pulled my dd out of a bilingual school to homeschool.  I am super nervous but for a lot of reasons I think this is important.  I want my kids to speak spanish and I do speak spanish.  However, I don't know why I don't just take the jump to start speaking it.  Any suggestions on how to introduce it? Or how to transition into speaking this in our home?</p>

 

[Emaye]

<p>How fluent of a Spanish speaker are you?  What about the kids?  Just wondering how comfortable both you and the kids are in the language.  I think the levels of fluency in your family determines how deep you jump in and how you introduce it.  If your kids are just starting out, then you may have to speak both English and Spanish in the house slowly replacing the English words with Spanish words they know.  Then you could gradually go to full, simple, Spanish sentences.  Otherwise, if your kids' understanding of your communication is too limited, they will begin to get frustrated with you and the language. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Do your children watch TV?  I'd go full on Spanish on TV, if I were you.  My children watch stuff in other languages and they don't seem to mind.  Unlike in their communication with a parent, a full on understanding of the language is not essential to enjoy entertainment TV.  Bilingual books, apps, computer games should help too.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Good luck with your homeschooling journey <span id="user_yui_3_10_0_1_1372828926175_1390"><img alt="smile.gif" id="user_yui_3_10_0_1_1372828926175_1389" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/smile.gif"></span></p>

 

[granolamommie]

<p>Thanks.  I used to be absolutely fluent- but haven't been able to use it for several years so now it is more I can hold a conversation.  I am trying to refresh- my idea was to look up what activities we are doing in spanish that day- cleaning, crafts, baking, swimming, etc, and refresh some vocab about that.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I like the idea of playing spanish cartoons/movies and books.  I will keep my eye out for some.  They do watch pocoyo in spanish sometimes.  I could youtube sesame street in spanish too. Thanks!</p>

 

[demeter888]

<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>granolamommie</strong> <a href="/community/t/1385996/teaching-spanish#post_17394393"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a><br><br><p>Ok- so I am super nervous.  I pulled my dd out of a bilingual school to homeschool.  I am super nervous but for a lot of reasons I think this is important.  I want my kids to speak spanish and I do speak spanish.  However, I don't know why I don't just take the jump to start speaking it.  Any suggestions on how to introduce it? Or how to transition into speaking this in our home?</p>
</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p>Does your fam like music much?  For me, music is key.  I taught myself Spanish from listening to Spanish music.  And not just Spanish: French and Portuguese and Hindi too.  There is sooo much good Latin music out there of so many kinds.  Let me know your favorite English speaking musicians and I'll try to suggest something similar, but Spanish speaking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once you get back fluency, you can get your kids into age-appropriate songs and lessons.</p>

 

[granolamommie]

<p>Well I already love Juanes.  And Shakira.  But I hadn't thought of letting the kids listen.  Those were songs I listened to so many years ago.  I bet I could buy some Spanish kids songs too - a cd - and that would help.  Thanks!!</p>

 

[demeter888]

<p>Tengo</p>
<p>Tengo la camisa negra!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Great song to learn by. I grew up in an extremely musical household of hippies and was only exposed to adult music and still absorbed it all really well as a kid.  Good luck!</p>

 

[granolamommie]

<p>When my ex fiancé and I broke up (he was from El Salvador and how I became fluent- his mom didn't speak English)  I used Mala Gente to get me through!! lol  I used to have his cd but I don't know where it is  now</p>

 

[Sarah Goertzen]

Hi Granolamommie, it looks like you've received a lot of great advice already! I'll just add a couple new ideas:

First, if your kids still have friends from the bilingual school, I'd recommend doing what you can to keep those relationships going so your kids can practice speaking Spanish with other native speakers, especially peers (this is important because it will be more fun for them, they'll see how important it is to be able to speak Spanish, and will learn the expressions used by people their age). Another way for your kids to interact with Spanish-speaking peers is to have your kids join sports teams or other extra-curriculars where Spanish-speakers are present.

Whenever you go to a Hispanic restaurant, encourage your kids to order in Spanish

If you can, spend some time in a Spanish-speaking community- either a local community, or vacation in a Spanish-speaking country as a family. Here is a cool family immersion program in Costa Rica if you're interested: https://commongroundinternational.com/spanish-immersion/family-spanish-immersion/

Lastly, find ways to volunteer as a family in Spanish-speaking contexts. For example, my sister always helps out with a local organization called Share-A-Gift that gives out presents at Christmastime and interacts with all the Spanish-speakers that attend.

Hope these ideas are helpful!

 

[blue_meets_green]

[SIZE=+0]I speak fluent Spanish and when I started out teaching Spanish to my children, we used the same approach that we took with teaching English reading and writing.

[/SIZE][SIZE=+0]We watched Spanish children's programs, made Spanish word labels for objects in our home, used flash cards with a weekly vocabulary, played Spanish bingo and other games. I tried as much as possible to immerse my children with conversational Spanish[/SIZE] aslo.

Nowadays, there are several apps that can help with learning Spanish words. Babble has an APP for learning languages. I hope this helps.