EK and K children will be taking a course in Spanish using the Sonrisas Spanish School curriculum. The curriculum is based on the methods by which young children acquire their first language. Each class focuses on giving your child fun experiences in the target language. Through music, art, literature, poetry, games, and drama, your child will participate in various activities while using Spanish and, thus, pick up the language very naturally without academic pressure.

After completing every lesson, I will send home art projects that your child created in class. These projects will provide you with an idea of what was covered each week in Spanish class. I recommend starting a Spanish folder and box where you keep all of your child’s art projects. You may have opportunities, even years from now, to review projects with your child and strengthen his or her Spanish skills.

In order to utilize the art project as a means for Spanish review at home, it is important to remember that although your child will have internalized the vocabulary, more than likely he or she will not be able to translate the words to English for you. Spanish review at home should reflect the style of learning your child experiences in Spanish class; that is, a context should be given for using Spanish vocabulary meaningfully. Obviously, this is not easy for a non-Spanish-speaking parent, but it can be done through the context of the art project. For example, if you ask your child “How do you say ‘red’ in Spanish?,” you may be met with a blank face. If, on the other hand, you point to your child’s art project and ask “¿De qué color es?,” your child may not hesitate to say “rojo”, or even “red,” indicating that he understands the Spanish question.

Finally, a short note about how children acquire a second language may be helpful to you. When an infant comes into this world, he or she immediately starts to acquire language, but words usually don’t emerge until the second or sometimes third year of life. This is because language must first be internalized before it can be spoken. A second language is no different. If a child is not ready to talk about his Spanish class in Spanish, forcing the issue may cause anxiety. If your child refuses to say anything to you in Spanish, this does not mean your child is not learning. Sometimes it takes weeks or even months for a child to find his voice in Spanish. Please be patient. The voice will come!

Your interest and involvement in Spanish class can greatly enhance your child’s language acquisition. If you take an interest in what your child is doing in Spanish class, then inevitably he or she will value the experience all the more.

To encourage and develop a student's ability to communicate, activities are based on meaningful and communicative contexts. In addition, many of the activities call for communicative interaction among students, either in pairs or in small groups. Though students may learn or listen to an interaction as an example of how the vocabulary or grammar is used in real life, they are not required to memorize or repeat a dialogue. Instead, they are encouraged to select their own language.

Whether or not you know Spanish, you can do many things at home and with the school to encourage children's interest in learning Spanish. Some suggestions are:

• Help the child see Spanish words in newspapers and magazines or on labels on different products.
• Purchase books and CDs at the child's level.
• Encourage the child to speak Spanish at home.
• Make sure to let the child know that you are happy about his or her progress.
• Try to give the child opportunities for participating in some aspect of the Spanish speaking culture at museums, on trips, television programs, etc.

I am delighted that middle school students will be taking Spanish on a daily basis. This is positive for becoming proficient listeners, speakers, readers and writers in Spanish. The system we will be using this year is specifically designed for middle school Spanish learners. It jumpstarts students into Spanish and is a confidence-builder that gradually prepares them to succeed in the language learning process. Most importantly, it fosters the understanding and use of messages with no translation.

Through stories, dialogs, role-plays, games and cartoons that integrate a variety of Spanish expressions, students will be encouraged to interpret, respond, retell and rewrite their own versions. Grammar analysis is done within the context of stories prompting students to internalize the language in chunks rather than word by word memorization. The program focuses on developing students’ communicative skills by continually encouraging them to exchange meaningful messages more so than only applying learned grammar rules in drills and exercises.

To help students reach this communicative goal, the Middle School Spanish program reinforces previously learned material by recombining the language. What they learn is recycled in different ways to ensure language is internalized successfully and accurately. It is a very dynamic program that motivates learners to respond verbally and physically.
Whether or not you know Spanish, you can do many things at home and with the school to encourage your child’s interest in learning Spanish. Some suggestions are:

• Help him or her see Spanish words in newspapers and magazines or on labels on different products.
• Encourage him or her to speak Spanish at home.
• Purchase books and CDs at the child’s level.
• Make sure to let the child know that you are happy about his or her progress.
• Try to give him or her opportunities for participating in some aspect of the Spanish speaking culture at museums, on trips, television programs, etc.
• Encourage them to borrow Spanish books from the classroom.
• Talk about experiences in foreign cultures and about opportunities for careers with foreign language backgrounds.