Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids, Spanish Starter Set 1

Although Youngest is still getting a handle on correct English, his pronunciation has gotten much better, to the point that I was willing to consider introducing him to a "living" foreign language. When the opportunity to review the Spanish Starter Set 1 by Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids we were both interested to give it a go.

Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids' program is appropriate for beginning learners aged 3 (With parental oversight) and up. I think it is most suitable for children in the elementary years, but can be used by older individuals to gain a quick grasp of some basic Spanish, or possibly prepare for High School Spanish courses.

The program is based on the immersion-style videos that are the spine of the program. As reviewers, we were sent the complete Spanish Starter Set 1, which includes a DVD with the first three levels of video (along with workbooks, teacher/parent guides, flashcards and stickers for each level). The videos follow a family with three boys, who are our "immersion instructors." They are seen in familiar settings, and introduce words and phrases that are part of their daily life. There are other scenes interspersed throughout the main story that emphasize the particular word or phrase being learned, along with written cues for the words.

The Teacher/Parent guides give suggestions for scheduling lessons as well as extra activities that can be included in the learning time. We both enjoyed the stories and the personalities of the boys as we learned some basic words. The only minor issue I had with the DVD was knowing how far to watch for each lesson~ it appears that those may be more clearly defined in the online version of the videos, another alternative in which some people may be interested.

The workbooks are of such a high quality paper that my son didn't want to write in them, so we just did the exercises verbally. They are bright and colorful, with fun activities that enhance the learning from the video. One of the pages I found most useful included very helpful information that introduced the concept of noun genders in Spanish. This was obviously a totally new concept for my Youngest, but Spanish would seem to be one of the easier languages to learn this, as the "gender articles" typically relate to the ending of the word... fantastic!

There are some flashcards included which can be used for any number of games, including the Go Squish Cardgame, instructions for which are included in this Starter Set. We chose to do a variation on Concentration as a solitaire game for my guy. We also used them as basic flashcards to test his memory. I appreciate that there are "Key" cards included that give the number of each picture card along with the accompanying Spanish word/phrase card. Smart! (Because otherwise, I may have been confused by some of them, even though each photo is taken directly from the action of the video).

The final component included in this set is one that we personally have not used, and probably won't use as intended~ a set of vocabulary stickers. We just don't *do* stickers or labels on objects around the house here, but in another setting or home, I think they would definitely add to the "immersion" quality of the program.

So, how did we use the program?
We mostly followed the suggestions in the Teacher guide for lessons, making sure that we repeated the video portions, as a part of review. The times required varied a lot, from 10/15 minutes to 1/2 hour or 3/4 hour, which was actually a nice thing for us~ some days being more or less appropriate for shorter or longer lessons. There is a "Rapid Review" portion that can be used as a determining factor as to whether your child is ready to move to the next level or not~ Sort of a Video Flash Card with a race to see if they can say the Spanish word for each picture before it is flashed on the screen.

Youngest has started to use some of his Spanish in daily life which has been fun to see. He likes that it has been fairly easy to pick up some words and phrases without too much trouble, although he does have to work to remember other words. He thought all the puzzles in the workbook were fun, and the flash cards/card game was a lot of fun, but really challenged him.

I think that Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids is a wonderfully gentle introduction to Spanish that has gotten my son excited to be learning new words in a new language.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids
• Product:  Spanish Starter Set 1
• Ages: 3 years old (minimum) and up (Particularly through elementary, in my opinion) 
• Price: currently $140.25 for the physical products. There are also number of "online member" options available~ check the website for those! :) 

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Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Relax, Enjoy, Aspire, Learn (R.E.A.L. Spanish)

I recently received the downloadable version of Homeschool Spanish for review as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I received a downloaded Textbook, Activity Book, Answer Book, and Audio Files recorded by native Spanish Speakers.

This is a curriculum that uses a variety of options in order to teach Spanish to your children. However, this is not a "Set them loose, and off they go" sort of curriculum, it is much more teacher driven. Here is the "Weekly plan" from the text to give you an idea of how the curriculum is set up with additional notes on how we used it in that framework (There is a handy reproducible "planning guide" included in the book which makes it easy to keep track of what you're doing and where you're "going" each week)~

Weekly pattern of use of the material is the following:

1. Plan which vocabulary you will study and how you will present it using the Tips to the Home Educator section for each unit. Use the Audio if you need it. (Um... yep... needed it here!) Dr. Karyn Williamson-Coria, the author has provided loose guidelines on multiple ages, as far as how quickly or slowly one might choose to move, or how to integrate multiple ages into the learning. I basically used it with my 11 yo Middlest, but Eldest listened on the sidelines, so learned some vocabulary, and Littlest may pick things up, but he is not my focus at 4 years old. :)
2. Present the new vocabulary and have you and your child become familiar with the new words and sentences in the Vocabulary section. (We accomplished this by listening to the audio while looking at the vocabularly/phrases page. Because we were reading from the computer, it was fairly easy to pause the audio and repeat if necessary.)
3. Use the IDEA section to come up with fun and interesting activities to continue using the language throughout the day/week.  Have your child listen to the Audio to reinforce his/her listening and pronunciation skills. (Did the audio as mentioned above already~ our favorite sort of "Activity" tends to consist of using the vocabulary throughout the day as we remember, and singing songs, generally practicing in appropriate situations)
4. Practice writing the language with the ACTIVITY BOOK. (These pages were my "homework" for Middlest. At 11 years old, he found certain aspects of the work very challenging, and various activities would definitely be appropriate for an older student)
5. Set aside some time for CULTURE learning with the FREE CULTURE LINKS section found on our website. (We didn't have a LOT of time to spend on the culture, but there are some great links included~ you can easily check them out. There are definitely some sites that bear revisiting!)
6. Above all... Relax, Enjoy, Aspire and Learn Spanish!!! (R.E.A.L. Learning!)

I will say that at first I found the multiple files (text/activity/answer/audio) a little disjointed, and would really prefer to have a hard copy in hand (Seems like I always feel this way when presented with a new e-version of a curriculum), but I have gotten into the flow of how to use them, so it's working nicely now. (*note to self ~ don't give up on e-books~I generally get along with them fine after an "adjustment period")

Now for a quick set of pros and cons~
Pros~

• written by a highly qualified homeschool mom 
• many tips and techniques and ideas on how to engage a variety of personalities and ages 
• (auditory, visual and kinesthetic, all covered)
• interesting worksheets for the mid-older students

Cons~

• a little more teacher intensive, particularly for the younger ages (Although not my focus at this time)
• not much material in the "Activity book" for non-readers or early readers~ again, more teacher intensive for that age, but as I mentioned~ many ideas  in the "Text" for engaging the younger student
• occasionally background or "room sound" in some of the audios is distracting

Nitty Gritty~
The course could be taken very slowly (3 years or so) for early elementary, or used as a fairly intensive 1st year high school Spanish course. Either way you should end up with a decent conversational Spanish ability.

• Age~  adaptable for Elementary-Middle School (With a High School Supplement coming soon)
• Price~ $49.95 download, $89.95 hardcopy (Purchase here)
• Includes~ Text, Activity Book, Answer Book, and Audio Files
• Samples are available

There are also monthly drawings at the site for Spanish Language Related gifts, which is a fun addition!
For more reviews and opinions, please visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.


As always, I hope that this review is helpful to you as you choose where to best spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this/these item(s)/service for free as part of the TOS Crew Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."