Magic School Bus- All About Earth DVD GIVEAWAY!

As my kids get older, I still want them to watch movies in Spanish.  The problem: they aren't as interested in watching Dora and Diego dubbed in Spanish.

I love Spanish movies because I feel it gets them comfortable with different vocabulary and topics than they hear from me.  But, there are only so many topics on Dora or Thomas the Train.  Those are geared for preschoolers.

But, The Magic School Bus movies have been our solution.  When asked to review a new DVD by Magic School Bus, I jumped on it.

My kids, ages almost 9, 7, 5 and 2 all were mesmerized when they watched The Magic School Bus: All about Earth.  Learning science and Spanish at the same time is a big plus.  We are starting a unit on volcanoes, so what better way to introduce some of the Spanish vocabulary for volcanoes in a fun way.  It includes 3 fun episodes that can all be dubbed in Spanish.  Your kids will learn about seeds, volcanoes and air pressure!  I highly recommend this DVD!

We are giving away one DVD The Magic School Bus: All about Earth to one reader of this blog!


Here is your first mandatory entry:

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This contest ends June 24th, 2013 at 10PM Central Time and one winner will be randomly chosen by random.org.

Contest Rules- You can enter only up to five times for the contest by doing each one of the instructions above. Contest ends June 24th at 10 PM Central Time. The winner will be chosen randomly. Comments must provide a name, no completely anonymous. Only USA addresses, sorry. I will announce the winner by July 6th  and the winner must e-mail me within 72 hours. If you provide an e-mail, we will e-mail you.

Los Monstruos Spanish Class

I'm teaching a Spanish preschool class for my daughter.  I have been teaching greetings, animals and body parts.  She gets so excited about it.  It has been a lot of fun.  She helps decide what games to play, books to read and what crafts to do.  This last week, we had the theme of los monstruos to review parts of the body (especially the face).

Each class starts with Buenos Dias by Jose Luis Orozco.  Then, I ask each child their name and they respond with "Me llamo..."  We also reviewed all the animals we have learned by playing a simple animal bingo game.

We reviewed the "Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas y Pies"song.  I had them repeat the middle part "Ojos, orejas, boca and nariz" by singing that part like 8 times!  Each time we sang it differently.  They had to jump for each body part as they pointed, close their eyes, whisper, go on tippy toes, etc.

Next, I cute out a simple flannel board monster that went with some lyrics I made up to the tune of "Soy una Pizza" by Charlotte Diamond.  If you don't know the song, you can find it here.  I love how the children repeat each phrase in the song. Here are the lyrics that I made to go along with monsters:

Soy un monstruo
Con 4 ojos
2 orejas
y una boca
2 narices
y mucho pelo
Soy un monstruo
y grito "roar"

I passed out one part of the face to each student and they put it up when we sang that part.

Then, we read "Fuera de Aqui, Horroroso monstruo verde" (Go Away, Big Green Monster).  This one is an easy one to translate if you know Spanish.  I found a great printable here that I printed and sorted (it took a little while to put in order) for each child to take home.  You don't even need the book to use the printable.  The kids love saying, "Fuera de aqui....ojos"

I also found a great video that I showed to the kids.  The words are all in English, so I just muted the sound and said what it should be in Spanish.  The kids again enjoyed telling the different facial features to go away
 and watch that part disappear.


We finished by making monsters out of play dough.  I was happy that a couple of the kids remembered and said many of the parts of the face in Spanish as they were making theirs.

This is a 10 week class and I wish I could post every class here, but I have to focus on teaching my kiddos. I hope this is useful to someone!

Friends that Speak Spanish

It has been a challenge to keep speaking Spanish with my children.  As they get older, English is more accessible: more books are in English and all of their friends only speak English.  In our family, each time we have had a new baby, we usually abandon Spanish days to help our family adjust.  Sometimes, it has made me so sad and disappointed in myself that we have just become another family that does not speak Spanish to our children when my husband and I can and should speak to them in Spanish.  I have finally decided that life always has its trade-off's.  We have traded some time that could have been spent speaking Spanish with  amazing field trips with friends.  Also, as we homeschool, I have found it more important to learn in English most of the core subjects, instead of trying to teach them in Spanish.

As we have stopped speaking as much Spanish at home, I have not stopped looking for opportunities for my kids to practice speaking in Spanish.  I was at the park and found a sweet mom with her son.  I started to speak with her in Spanish and get to know her.  I was really impressed with her and I told her how I hoped to find someone to speak more Spanish with my kids.  She was very interested in helping me out.  I pay her to come play with my kids only in Spanish for an hour a week.  She brings books and games or they play with activities I have at home.  In the summer, she brought her Kindergarten son with her and told him to only speak Spanish.  It was amazing to see how much motivation my children had to learn and speak in Spanish since we have had these playdates. 

I strongly suggest trying to find someone that your kids can play with in Spanish.  It is hard to find the right situation.  We have had Spanish-speaking babysitters, but when we find a great one, they move away to go to college or become too busy.  It is also hard to find someone who will really only speak in Spanish. They may switch to English because it is hard for my kids to understand sometimes.  But, it is totally worth the effort to find someone.  It has been a blessing in our life and helped our family to continue learning Spanish.   

Dance Party! OzoKidz Review

I haven't had time to review or add to this blog!  Life is so busy right now.  

But, I had to share this fun new CD with you!  My kids and I (even my husband) think this is the best children's music around.  It doesn't really sound like children's music, it feels more like a dance party.  

It is by an acclaimed Latin Fusion Group, Ozomatli.  They are Grammy award winners and have traveled the world with their music.  But, now they are trying kid's music.  They really are fantastic.  Most of their songs are about playing and having fun, but they mix in some educational themes like Sun and Moon and how trees grow.  

Check out the free download of their song balloon fest here!

They have some Spanish words mixed into some of the songs and many of their beats are Latin inspired like cumbia and merengue.  It is way fun!  

Here is a list of the songs on the CD:

1. Trees
2. Moose On the Loose
3. We Are the Ozokidz
4. Germs
5. Like It’s Your Birthday
6. Exercise
7. Balloon Fest
8. Sun and Moon
9. Piraña
10. Let’s Go to the Movies
11. Skateboard
12. Water
13. Spelling
14. Changito

www.ozomatli.com/ozokidz

List Price:  $ 9.99 through Amazon.com (Can also purchase through iTunes)

Having Children Create Videos in Spanish!

One of the most memorable projects I ever did when I was younger was creating a video presenting all the information I had researched about an aardvark.  The process was so creative and fun.  I still remember those facts about aardvarks.

I recently came across some cute videos in Spanish. This could be done with students in a classroom or with your own children.  

It would be pretty simple to have children create their own videos (using iphones or whatever).  I'm sure they would love it and remember the vocabulary. We are going to try this!

¿Dónde está el oso?

Dónde está el oso

View more presentations from gingerannbeck.

This was a fun photo exercise for learning prepositions of place in Spanish.

Power Point for Teaching Prepositions of Place

Los zapatos de jocelín

View more presentations from gingerannbeck.

I wanted to make a Presentation for using these prepositions so we took pictures around the house and made a fun exercise.