This blog is my attempt to document our busy but BLESSED lives raising and educating our children for His glory. A child of God, wife to one, and mom to 6 fabulous kids. We are in our 17th year of homeschooling using a Classical ~ Literature based approach.

Come along for the good, the bad & the ugly.



Showing posts with label Foreign Language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Language. Show all posts

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Spanish Immersion for kids with Whistlefritz ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a Complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations. Whistlefritz
Morning friends! Have you ever wanted to teach your young child Spanish or French? If so, I am sure you know that the easiest way to learn a modern foreign language when you are young is through day-to-day immersion. Live and breathe the language just as you learned your native tongue. Whistlefritz includes bilingual foreign language immersion music videos in their Educator's Spanish Collection.
Knowing that research shows the greatest language growth with learning a new language happens in early childhood, Whistlefritz was created by a Spanish speaking mom who wanted to teach her own children to speak Spanish. The Whistlefritz program is a fun mutli-sensory curriculum that uses videos with live speakers, music, and creative storylines. The Spanish is taught the same way that you learned your own native tongue, by using everyday words in context. With games, music, and dance your child will start to learn from live speakers in a playful and engaging process. 
We received the Educator’s Spanish Collection which is geared for kids aged 1-7 and I used the program with Micah, my 7-year-old 2nd grader. The Educator’s Spanish Collection includes:
 Lesson Plans book 
5 DVD videos 
3 Music CDs 
Matching Cards Game 
Translation Guides and extra Lesson Plans are available 
The Spanish program is taught in 40 lessons with an adorable little mouse named Fritzi who guides you through the program. The entire program includes: 
~ 40 scripted lesson plans that provide engaging and fun learning activities. Lessons are easy to use for parents even if you have little to no knowledge of the language. 
 ~ Videos that are short and sweet to keep the child’s attention. They feature native speakers and characters and provide catchy melodies. 
 ~ Music CD’s that offer a great selection of musical styles to get your child moving to the beat. Musical translation guides and a lyric sheet are also available on the website for each of the CD’s. 
~ Memory Matching Cards with approximately 50 illustrated cards for playing memory.
Using Whistlefritz with Micah is super easy! I simply schedule time during the week and follow the weekly calendar that has everything scheduled out for us. On Day 1 I follow the scripted lesson in the lesson plan book and then throughout the week we continue the immersion learning with the music, activities, and videos.

Micah is on the older end of this Spanish for kids curriculum but I like that he has already learned so much in such a short time. Even knowing just a little bit of Spanish is so helpful in his daily activities. I am a huge proponent of learning new languages and I plan to continue using this with Micah throughout the summer as he prepares to take his first official Latin course in the fall. Since older sister, Montana, is also learning Spanish using this curriculum gives both of them speaking opportunities with each other and myself as I know a bit of Spanish as well.
  Whistlefritz
Several of my CrewMates also had the opportunity to review this Spanish for kids program along with the Educator's French Collection. Be sure to click the banner below to read their thoughts.

Spanish for Kids
 
Company ~ Whistlefritz 
 Format ~ physical copy 
Price ~ $199.00 
Ages ~ 1-7 years old
Whistlefritz 

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 © 2008 - 2022 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

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Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Homeschool Spanish Academy Spring Sale



Have you started thinking about next school year? I know I have, just a little bit. Honestly my plans are in my head at this time. I won't actually start writing them down until early May. One thing that is for sure is that we will continue with Homeschool Spanish Academy for part of our Foreign language component.

Get 5% OFF your first HSA class package!

The flexibility that HSA provides for my busy gymnast is second to none. I can schedule her classes when it is convenient during her training schedule. During competition season we can tailor her learning time that best fits our schedule and all the while she is receiving world class Spanish instruction. Right now you can get 5% off your first order so it is the perfect time to give Homeschool Spanish Academy a try! Just click HERE to sign up.


*post contains affiliate links*

© 2008 - 2018 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.  

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Homeschool Spanish Academy: Taking classes with Google Hangouts ~ a review

***links in this post are affiliate links.***

Over the last few years that Madison has been using Homeschool Spanish Academy, she has met her teacher, Nora, on Skype for one-on-one lessons. This year, Mikayla and Madison are using the new meeting site on Google Hangouts.

Google Hangouts is very similar to Skype in there video conferencing. Logging into class is super easy because Homeschool Spanish Academy sends you a reminder email for your class the day/night before your class. Just in case you are a busy and forget, you also get an email one hour before class starts. I really love this feature!



Your reminder email has all the details of your upcoming class session including the start and end times along with your teacher information. This is especially helpful if you are utilizing multiple teachers for the course. If you are needing to cancel or reschedule your class there are links right in the email that enable you to do so quickly.

To take classes through Google Hangouts you need to download the program on your computers desktop. It is free and completely safe to do so. One of the best features I think is that you have the option to take your lessons with you on your phone or tablet by downloading the Google Hangouts app. The app is available on both Apple and Android devices so you are covered if you need/want portability.  While we have not tried this feature yet, I know once we hit the road traveling up and down I-95 for gymnastics meets we will be utilizing the mobile app option.

On the girls laptops to log into class they simply just click the click here button in the reminder email. Doing this opens the Google Hangouts where you press the join button. After doing that you are in the classroom where you wait for the teacher. It’s recommended that you log into the class no more than 5 minutes beforehand to wait for the teacher to join the session.

We are excited for all the options that Homeschool Spanish Academy offers while using Google Hangouts. Both of my girls are excelling in their lessons and learning to speak Spanish beautifully!


©2008 - 2017 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.




Thursday, August 18, 2016

Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids ~ a TOS review

Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review

These days it’s almost essential that you know another language. Maybe not fluently, but enough to communicate basically. In our family we choose to learn to speak Spanish after we learn Latin, normally around upper middle school, 8th grade. However, we had the opportunity to introduce Spanish in a fun and exciting way with the Starter Set 1 from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids.

Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids was founded by Kit Strauss who was looking for a quality program for her three sons. Her program offers children aged 3 and up and adults alike the chance to learn Spanish in a short period of time in a fun and exciting way through immersion videos. The videos provide a positive way to learn Spanish with a dose of good humor and laughs throughout without having to rely on painful memorization that doesn’t work for everyone.

The complete program was designed so that your students will:
 • succeed in discovering another language 
• become enthusiastic about learning Spanish 
• have positive feelings about Spanish
 • have a good experience that will last a lifetime!
Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review
We received the complete Starter Set 1 which includes: 
~ DVD videos for Levels 1-3 
~ Parent – Teacher Guides which include detailed lesson plans and fun, hands-on supplemental activities for reinforcement
 ~ Flashcards and card games for each level 
~ Workbooks for each level 
~ Stickers for each level 

***I want to mention right of the bat that we are currently on vacation and I mistakingly forgot to bring the camera cord to load my pictures. So bear with me for right now and I will upload our pictures early next week when we return home.*** 

Over the last several weeks I have used this program with my three youngest children aged 9,6, and 2. I have a background in Spanish, so this was a fun refresher for me.

The concept of the DVD portion of the program is that of an in-flight movie as you start your journey traveling from Washington, D.C. to Lima(flight 101), Peru on the first leg, then from Peru to Bogota, Columbia (flight 102), and finally from Columbia to San Jose, Costa Rica (flight 103).

The Teacher’s Guide includes everything you need to complete all three levels of flight in roughly 20 weeks. The detailed lesson plans tells you where to start and stop the DVD and which workbook pages to complete when.

Your in-flight entertainment is found in the student workbooks that includes helpful information on the geography and culture of the countries and are designed like a magazine for kids in 3rd grade and up. There is a corresponding workbook for each journey of the flight that includes several activities such as fill in the blank, matching exercises, crossword puzzles, and more. Helpful answer keys are included in the back of each book.

The included color-coded flashcards are great for drilling words or playing games and included both pictures and words. Also included in our set was a set of vocabulary stickers that could be stuck on different objects around the house. The kids especially liked this and helped them relate to the word and put it into context. The stickers are not so sticky that they don’t come off, so that is great for moving the stickers to multiple objects if necessary.

We have all thoroughly enjoyed using this program and working through Flight 101. Now that our school year has started I plan to continue working our way through the rest of the Flights until completion. Having a background in a foreign language helps tremendously in other areas of schooling and life in general. I love that this curriculum gives me the opportunity to provide that for my children at such a young age.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this program by clicking the banner below and reading their reviews.

Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review

Product ~ Starter Set 1 
Format ~ We received the Physical Product, digital product also available
Price ~ $140.25 
Ages ~ ages 3 - adult

Beginner Spanish Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids Review


 #hsreviews #foreignlanguage #homeschoolspanish

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