Choosing a math and a reading curricula when homeschooling can be tough, but choosing a foreign language curriculum can seem even more daunting. As someone who enjoys looking through curricula, especially Spanish curricula, I am happy to recommend Whistlefritz as a good choice for younger children who are just beginning to study a foreign language. It’s a multi-sensory, immersive language learning curriculum that is lots of fun for young language learners.
Whistlefritz sent me a copy of the Spanish Educators Collection. We paused our regular Spanish lessons (Flip Flop Spanish) and did lesson 9, which is all the kitchen, la cocina. After trying a lesson, I found that this curriculum is ideal for….
- For younger children (under 8 or so)
- Parents who want to help teach a foreign language, but need a resource to provide lots of audio input.
- Families that want engaging videos help children learn vocabulary, and hands-on activities.
- Those who want to get a taste for learning a foreign language
What Does Whistlefritz Cover?
There are forty lessons that include topics like colors, the human body, seasons, family, furniture and rooms in a house, food, and a lot more. It teaches all the basic words that you would need in an introductory Spanish course.
How Are the Lessons Set Up?
The lessons are scripted and very easy to follow. Looking at the next lesson ahead of time is recommended since there are often materials that are needed, and some pages that need to be photocopied. The length of a lesson is about 30-40 minutes.
Each lesson starts with review. Afterward, vocabulary is taught and students practice speaking the target words. Lastly, there’s a closure where the skills are reviewed. I loved the extension activities at the end of each lesson because they are playful and interactive. Some lessons have videos to watch. Some have books to read like Margaret Wise Brown’s Buenas noches, luna. Others have a song to learn.
My children have already learned this content through other Spanish curricula, but if I were to use it, I would make each lesson last a few days in order to really make sure vocabulary has sunk in (rewatching videos, rereading books, and doing the extension activities).
Whistlefritz Videos
The videos feature a native speaker who speaks Latin American Spanish. She speaks slowly and clearly, and in complete sentences. She doesn’t speak in English to explain anything. It’s just Spanish. This is important because being immersed in the language is the best way to learn. Her pace is good. It’s not too slow making you feel like dumb, but it’s not too fast either. There are also children in the videos with whom she speaks. I really appreciated that because it allows my children to hear a conversation. Most of the time, the children respond with simple answers, but it’s still helpful to hear questions in Spanish.
There are also fun songs that help children (and parents) learn the vocabulary words. The videos repeat the vocabulary a lot. Children will hear the vocabulary words in questions, statements, and in songs. The videos are in many of the lessons, but not all of them. They are available online or you can purchase them as DVDs.
My six year old liked the videos and was glued to the screen. My oldest, who is eight year old, was less interested. The videos are geared for younger kids, so ideally they are great for kids around four to seven years old. Everyone’s kids are different though.
Whistlefritz Homeschool Guide
Whistlefritz provides a free home educator’s guide. I found it very helpful because it recommended that the lessons last a year. You have permission to go slow and have fun! For example, you could do lesson one on a Monday and rewatch the videos, listen the songs, and do the extension activities during the rest of the week.
Last Thoughts
Teaching Spanish to your kids when you don’t know Spanish sounds hard, but there are so many great resources like Whistlefritz that make it doable. Once you realize that you can teach and learn a second language with your child, you’ll feel like coolest mom in the world. And after you do something hard like l teaching your kids Spanish, I think you will feel very proud of yourself.
Carly from DesertHomeschoolDays.com
