How to Teach Spanish to Kindergarten Children
Twenty-eight million people speak Spanish in the United States. It is the second most common language in the world, behind Chinese but ahead of English. Children are learning machines and absorb language like a sponge. Take advantage of this developmental stage and teach Spanish to your kindergarten children. Spanish education can be fun and engaging for the whole family.
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Things You'll Need
- Craft supplies
- Supermarket advertising circular
- Tape
- Camera
- Computer with printer
Instructions
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Teach Your Children Spanish with Arts and Crafts
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Build a Spanish vocabulary list that includes food, household items, activities, emotions, colors and so on.
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Use craft supplies to make Spanish labels for your household items.
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3
Cut pictures of foods from supermarket advertising circulars. Write Spanish names on the pictures and tape them to the refrigerator.
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Trace body outlines on easel paper. Color in the portraits and include Spanish words for the body parts.
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Take photos of your children playing different games or acting out different emotions. Make a photo album.
Translate Your Children's Favorite Stories
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Translate your children's favorite books into Spanish. Copy passages into a word-processing document and print.
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Cut out the passages and tape them below the English text in the books.
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Make your own books. Develop a story line (nursery rhymes, family outings, first day of school and so on), translate it and tape the passages onto blank pieces of paper.
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Let your children illustrate the pages with pictures that help them remember what the text is about. Bind the pages together with tape.
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Tips & Warnings
As you learn words from your labels, archive words you know in the photo album and make new signs. The album will become a dictionary; if you forget a word you put away, you can always find it.
Have Spanish-only family meals. Serve cuisine from Spanish-speaking countries (there are 44) and focus on the related vocabulary in the days leading up to the meal.
Observe Spanish holidays. Make appropriate decorations, cuisine and costumes. Take photos of your family events and store them in your Spanish album.
Don't expect miracles. Despite language diversity in the United States, American children live in an English-speaking environment. A few minutes of Spanish activities daily is no comparison to the English repetition they experience every day. Spanish comprehension will depend on your commitment to daily reinforcement, which promotes memorization.
