[jpl]

Has anyone had success with this? Our daughter is now 2 1/2 and we desperately want her to be exposed to Spanish. We do not need day care (and can't afford it) and we tried a tutor a couple of times a week but it was too little immersion and was also hard to afford. We watch videos sometimes but nothing replaces being immersed. We wish there was a spanish speaking pre-school around here but we can't find any.

Any creative solutions?

Thanks!!

[susy...patience]

There are some Sesame Street videos with Spanish I bought on Amazon---

Fiesta has some spanish worked in with English
There are also several episodes of Plaza Sesamo (the Spanish version of Sesame Street)


I also watch Sesame St. in English with my DD during week and on weekend watch Plaza Sesamo (described by foster family as her favorite show) on weekend. I found in on Spanish TV schedule on Sat and Sun morning. They also have Dora and other cartoons in Spanish--I find I pick up a few words that way too.

I also bought a Fisher Price CD of Spanish songs -- La Bamba is the first one & my DD loves the whole tape.

Finally there are some bilingual toys from LeapFrog and other places.

None of these will make your child a Spanish speaker but it is exposure.

[ana-mom]

We are doing a class on Saturdays at a local Spanish Immersion school.

We also use Boca Beth and Susy Dorn CDs and DVDs. Our girls really enjoy these. The Susy Dorn are all Spanish while the Boca Beth are English and Spanish. If you go to the websites you can listen to samples.

[netmon]

We found out that the local church has mass in Spanish once a week. We started going and the people there are very welcoming. There is a family that has really taken an interest in my daughter and now their almost 15 year old has started babysitting and comes over once a week to teach Maggie some Spanish. She plays with her in Spanish too. My daughter (4 years) loves it. Turns out that the parents in this family were both born in Guatemala City and they visit family there often. All this happened because I was just trying to expose Maggie to the language. If you can connect with the latino community in your area, you might find some really cool resources.

[lakin11]

Just popping in here, but if you have Direct TV, I know they offer a ton of kids programming in Spanish. Our kids love it...it doesn't matter that they don't understand everything. I also have a mother's helper from church...she's bilingual (about 12 yrs old). She speaks mostly Spanish to the kids. Not the best, but it works for now.

[mommytoEli]

what about a highschool student who speaks spanish...might cost less than an official tutor. or what about hiring the tutor to teach a small group of children and get some other families involved to defray the cost? we are also exposing our children to spanish. we used a tutor for our older children in the past, but for our younger kids we are watching plaza sesamo, playing games like spanish bingo, puzzles, and card games. we also have a spanish section in our home....it is stocked with spanish readers (well over 100...we got them very inexpensively through scholastic book order...if you know a teacher ask them to get you the club leo catalog....they'd probably love to order them for you bc then they get points for your order). this section of our home also houses the games and a spanish word wall. right now our littles are working on colors and the phrase "i like." we make sentences together like "i like the red apple." I am amazed at how much spanish my kids can pick up just from that alone! good luck! I know it can be frustrating...but start small and add on as you find more things.

[annaguat]

This has worked for us. Most of the regular videos you already own, like Disney, can be set to spanish including subtitle. My children at times can watch a video but it has to be set to Spanish. We do home education and there are many programs that you can do with your child. Power Glide is one. My Guatemalan son 19 1/2 and older Guatemalan DD 18 both speak and understand Spanish decently. The key is to be consistent, like think years. Also as your child gets older there might be opportunities to travel and stay in a Spanish speaking country through summer programs or other opportunities. My son did a missionary trip to Mexico and my daughter was able to visit Guatemala for a business trip we were on and when visiting the babies. She has also stayed with a Spanish speaking family. By the way I pretty much do not speak Spanish. Anna

[ej-momtobe]

There is a website that DH uses a lot with DS to work on Spanish. It is really designed for Spanish-speaking toddlers, learning their own language. DS LOVES it.

CVC. Mi mundo en palabras

There is also Storytime in Spanish at the library.

I just wanted to say that it is a struggle for a lot of us to expose our children to enough spanish, even with spanish speakers around. We are raising our son bilingual (DH only speaks spanish to him, we had spanish speaking nanny for 2 years, who spoke only spanish to him, and mostof theTV he watches is spanish.) And we still struggle getting him to speak spanish....its easier for him to speak english. We are thinking that a true family immersion for a month or so in a spanish speaking country is the only way to get him more comfortable speaking spanish.

[JillnChris]

We started attending a spanish/english story time at the library. They read books in spanish, sing songs, and there is a little playtime at the end. Eva is the same age as your daughter and she has started learning a little bit from the songs.
What about getting some spanish children's songs and learning them with her? We have a lot of spanish books that I read to her as wel. I know she won't be fluent because of this but at least it's something to get her started. There is a spanish emersion pre-school that does 3 week summer sessions. It is about a 45 min. drive for us but I'm gonna start this with her next summer.

[Withay]

I have a son who is deaf and needs to learn sign language. What I have done, and it helps me learn too, is to put a dvd in and let it play all day (in the playroom). One dvd per week. I use the Signing Time With Alex and Leah series.

If you are worried about leaving the dvd on all day because your little one will just sit and watch, don't. My two boys play and every once-in-awhile stand still and watch the dvd. The rest of the time they are busy playing. I see the dvd as I interact with the boys and when walking by the playroom (right next to the living room) so I am learning right along with them.

You might see if you can find a spanish tutorial series for kids that would work in this manner for you.

[akasohappy]

meeting people/families at spanish speaking mass and setting movies to spanish are great ideas!!!!

[Mommy K]

Spanish children's music is also a great tool. Cri-Cri-is our daughter's favorite-you can find cri-cri on youtube, and the video's help w/understanding.

[Guatemomtobe]

I use a lot of spanish music. My daughter loves Jose Luis Orozco and I have been playing them in the car for her since she came home at 10 1/2 months (I listened to them for months waiting for her to come home). I sing along with her. I have found that in the past several months, she sings right along with them. We also do the Baby Einstein in Spanish only even though she is really to old for them. I speak spanish to her as much as I can (not nearly enough) but I introduce a lot of vocabulary to her. She has now started asking me "how do you say it in Spanish" alot. Spanish books are also great. You can find a large variety of Spanish children's books on Amazon. My daughter is by no means a Spanish speaker (yet) but she is exposed and I do recognize when Spanish is being spoken. I took her to work with me the other day when she was sick and a coworker from Venezuela talked to her in Spanish and she is still comenting that Max speaks Spanish. I would like to sign her up for some classes but right now can't afford it. I think exposure is a big part when they are young and still building their neuron connections so that hopefully when they are older they can pick it up more easily.

Good luck!

[neuromri]

There is a language based program called Muzzy; it was developed by the BBC. It is a great program to teach a second language. Plus, it is really geared toward toddlers.