As a Spanish teacher and mother raising bilingual children, I am always searching for resources to support my children and students’ language abilities.  I was absolutely thrilled to be given the chance to review Whistlefritz’s newly released Educator’s Collection!  This comprehensive collection includes the Spanish for Kids DVD series, music CDs, a Spanish Immersion matching card game, and an extensive book that contains original Spanish lesson plans for kids and innovative activity pages.  The collection is indispensable for providing children and students with educational activities to further their knowledge and understanding of Spanish.

My children absolutely loved the captivating and enchanting DVDs!  These award-winning episodes are well made and fascinated my children!  They are their favorite DVDs, and my boys want to watch them repeatedly.  The immersion method, which is essential for the learning of a new language, is used.  I especially appreciate the consistent use of comprehensible input throughout the video.  The Spanish is clear and easy to understand, with the repetition of new words and phrases guaranteeing that children will learn while watching.  The songs in the videos encourage the children to participate and sing along, but for my boys the fun and loveable mouse Fritzi was the star of the show.

We very much enjoyed the up-beat songs on the CDs, which include some traditional Latin tunes as well as some new songs.  The award-winning singer and songwriter Jorge Anaya create music that is easy to learn and fun for singing and dancing along with.  A songbook is included which contains the lyrics and translation for the songs in the DVDs and on the CDs.  Music is one my family’s favorite ways to learn Spanish, and the Whistlefritz CDs are our favorites!

The memory matching cards game was great fun for the whole family!  My boys loved the cleverly illustrated action cards, and my five year old took great pride in reading the verbs under each drawing.  Playing together was a fun way to learn and review new words all while interacting in Spanish.

By far my favorite part of the educator’s collection is the compilation of Spanish lesson plans.  The activity-based curriculum will be invaluable for teaching both my sons and my students.  The content-based units and cross-curricular lesson plans provide excellent ideas for furthering the understanding and speaking abilities of the students in my classes.  I especially love the materials and worksheets that can be copied and used in the classroom and at home.

I highly recommend Whistlefritz’s Educator’s Collection for parents and teachers who are committed to raising bilingual children.  This multi-media collection provides interactive, hands-on language-learning activities, video, and music that will significantly enhance the learning in the classroom and in the home.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one complete educator’s collection to one winner — a value of $175! All you have to do is visit the Whistlefritz website and tell us how you would be using the Educator’s Spanish Collection. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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We review a lot of family-friendly apps that kids can discover on their own, but I’d like to share a useful one that is intended for therapists, teachers, and parents who want to help students of all ages with Spanish pronunciation. Spanish Artik from Smarty Ears is a thorough app whose structure is based on the science of phonemes, a linguistic term referring to the smallest units (sounds) of a language.

This app allows you to add multiple students and have them participate one at a time or alternate turns. The instructor or parent can select the particular phonemes (for example the two “r” sounds, r-trill and r-flap) for each student and the placement of those sounds within the word. The app then generates a list of words that meet the criteria. Once you begin practicing, each word shows up with a picture, and you can click to hear it pronounced and even record the student’s voice. Indicate whether the student pronounced the word correctly, and the app will keep track of the results, which can be emailed or printed.

With over 450 words and customizable settings including rotating images (for group use), this app is a long-term investment in keeping Spanish skills fresh. It would be an excellent refresher for a nonnative speaker like myself and a great way to record a child’s speech progress, but can also be used in a formal classroom setting.

If you know anything about phonemes or are interested in finding out how breaking down words can help with fluency, visit the Smarty Ears list of resources about language learning and technology.

Find Spanish Artik in iTunes

Available for iPhone and iPad

Recommendedfor speech therapists and parents

Price $19.99

For other Spanish apps from Smarty Ears, check out this page. Also find Smarty Ears on Facebook and Twitter.

I love to find educational activities that I can do with my children in Spanish.  Unfortunately, it can often be a challenge to find quality projects to do with my children.

I was very excited to discover Monarca Language.  This website is all you need to find craft projects, games, and worksheets that encourage the learning and speaking Spanish.  Organized into seasonal and thematic are printable worksheets, dominoes, and flashcards.  There are also craft projects, which include printable templates and play ideas.  I also appreciate the recommended books, music and a toy that help to further develop the theme.

I had a lot of fun touring the website, and my boys loved the games and craft projects.  The material is accessible on any browser and is available as downloadable PDF files.  These on-line learning resources will not disappoint parents of children from 2 to 6 years of age.

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away a 3-month Parent Membership to ONE winner! Just visit Monarca Language and leave us a comment telling us what you like best about this website. Make sure you use the Rafflecopter widget below so your entry will be valid.

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