I'd like to welcome a new MommyMaestra sponsor! I'm sure most of you are already familiar with Whistlefritz, a language-learning program for children in preschool and early elementary.
Last year, I reviewed their program for homeschoolers. They've actually revamped that version by adding even more fantastic materials to it. The new one is called, The Educator's Spanish Collection, and it comes with:
- a 277-page Lesson Plan book
- Memory Matching Cards game
- LA GRAN COLECCIÓN, boxed set of:
- 5 videos (DVDs or digital downloads)
- 5 music albums (CDs or digital downloads) including their new Music CD, ¡BUENOS DÍAS!
What's really great about this program is its multimedia approach. Not only do the lessons provide hands-on learning, but the lessons include videos to enhance vocabulary learning, music to engage children in singing and dancing, and games.
Like the original, the Lesson Plan book is a scaffolding curriculum that contains 40 lessons each of which takes 30 - 40 minutes to complete. The spiral curriculum builds on previous lessons and allows children to master their Spanish by providing them with multiple opportunities to revisit previously taught concepts.
Some of the lessons are cross-curricular, teaching not only Spanish, but also science, art, and even physical education. (Because most of the focus on preschool concepts, I think this curriculum would work well as a preschool curriculum for Spanish-speaking children.)
Each lesson contains two sections. The first has...
- a description of each lesson
- the goal
- the objective
- vocabulary
- materials
- estimated time to teach
- The second section is on the activity itself and it has...
- the focus (and review)
- teacher input
- guided practice
- independent practice
- the closure
- and extension activities
Quite a lot of thought has gone into each lesson and I really appreciate the guided practice section because it is thorough and provides the teacher with exact text to help their students.
Although the text is written in English, Spanish text for all speaking scripts is included. But there is also a complete Spanish version available here, making this a good choice for immersion programs and/or homeschoolers.
As I ALWAYS say, download a sample of the program before you buy. And you can download sample plans and watch a video clip here.
