Over the past two years, I have used different Spanish curricula. I first started with Llamitas Spanish, and it is by far my favorite. It’s fun and rewarding to spend time thinking and talking in another language, and it’s even better to do it with my kids. My children and I are not fluent, but we have fun learning Spanish. In my opinion, enjoying the learning process is just as valuable as becoming fluent. If you enjoy learning a language, then you’ll keep at it.
Llamitas Spanish It is a thematic, open-and-go, Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum. It’s also my kids’ favorite Spanish curriculum too. Currently, I am not using Llamitas Spanish this year, but we still sing a few of the songs for review each day and read books from the reading list. Here are some of the reasons why Llamitas is my favorite curriculum, and why I cannot wait to use levels 2 and 3.
Easy to Use
Llamitas is an open-and-go curriculum. There are flashcards you can print out and decodables that need to be folded and stapled. Otherwise, there’s no planning. Everything is written in Spanish and in English. That means the parent who doesn’t know much or any Spanish can learn alongside with their child. There’s also no teacher book. The student book comes with directions for the parent to read aloud to the child. All of this makes teaching Spanish so much easier and far less intimidating.
Mostly Screen Free
I limit screen time in my house, but I’m glad to use it if it helps us learn. I like that the creator of Llamitas, Corrie Wiik, includes videos and songs that are found online. The videos help my kids understand the songs better.
Folk Songs and Artwork
One of my favorite parts of Llamitas are the Spanish folk songs. Some of the folk songs include Mi Burro; Asserín, Asserán; Juguemos en el Bosque and Mariposita. Each unit includes a few pieces of artwork from famous painters. Each piece of artwork has questions to ask that use the unit vocabulary words.
Cross-Content
Llamitas incorporates basic math into their lessons. This includes counting to 100, learning names of shapes, and adding and subtracting. Visuals accompany the addition and subtraction problems. The best part is that it all goes back the unit theme. The math work centers around the vocabulary words.
Not Woke
Some of the Spanish curricula that I have seen is woke and includes content that I don’t approve of. In level 1, the family unit is just about families. It doesn’t contain any LGTBQ content. It’s refreshing to know that it’s free from content that doesn’t need to be included in order to learn Spanish well.
Additional Activities
Llamitas also includes art projects and extra worksheet pages with each unit. The directions for the extra activities are online. That’s a plus because if you’re too busy to do the extras, then your children won’t ever know what they missed.
Booklist
Corrie has created a wonderful booklist for each unit that includes beginner and intermediate level picture books that go along with the unit study. I didn’t utilize the booklist a whole lot when I did level 1, but I really wish I had. Like, I said, I still use the songs for review with our current Spanish curriculum, but I will also be using the booklist as a resource for read alouds.
Motivating
Did you know that Corrie Wiik learned Spanish later in life? And yet she created a wonderful Spanish curriculum without being a native speaker! That made me feel so much better about teaching my children Spanish. I studied it in college and studied abroad, but I don’t consider myself fluent. Llamitas took away the fear of teaching a second language to my children. I don’t speak Spanish perfectly, but it’s not the end of the world. I try my best and have fun teaching and learning with my kids. Maybe you’ll try Llamitas Spanish. You won’t be disappointed!
Carly from deserthomeschooldays.com
