Whistlefritz: A Spanish Immersion Program Review

Sometimes my battle with deadlines makes me dread writing reviews, but I'm regularly pulled right out of that funk when I'm reminded of the fantastic products I get to try with my family!  The latest product we get to review is the Educator's Spanish Collection from Whistlefritz.   Whistlefritz produces Spanish and French Immersion Programs specifically designed for early elementary students.  They have built their programs on the understanding that learning a new language is easiest at a young age and is most effective when they are immersed in it, much like we all learn our native language.  With all of my children under the age of 7, this is a great program for them.

The Spanish Educator's Collection includes a teacher's manual of Spanish Lesson Plans for Kids, 5 DVDs, 3 CDs and Spanish Matching Cards.  The manual contains 40 lessons that integrate all subjects into learning Spanish providing a reciprocal reinforcement relationship.  Each lesson builds on the one before, but in most cases can be used alone, depending on the student's prior knowledge.  The DVDs are full of engaging skits, music and dance covering all major topics that the Lesson Plans touch on like numbers, colors, seasons, etc.  CDs are full of fun music that reinforces the language areas the others introduce.  We love to use CDs in the car allowing the language to go with us even when we're not in the middle of a lesson.  Finally, the Spanish Matching Cards provide just another way to interact with the language alone or with other students.

They were combining coloring with numbers and colors in Spanish.

What We Thought:

As usual the kids loved the DVDs and asked to watch them over and over.  Since they are entirely in Spanish, they really are beneficial for a student's grasp of the language.  They correspond with particular lessons and are a great add on, but they do very well as a lesson all their own sometimes.  On Whistlefritz's website you can download free lesson plans that correspond directly to the videos (not repeats of those in the book) if you would like to create lessons surrounding just the video.  

We were able to use all of these materials for 4-5 weeks so we went through various lessons that were a good match for both of the kids educational level.  However, depending on the circumstance and needs, you could stretch this program out to an entire school year, coordinating all kinds of things with the Spanish topics from each lesson.  It provides a wonderful base for Spanish vocabulary, but if spread over a school year would certainly spring board into even more!

The lesson plans themselves are very easy to use and adapt to your needs.  The objective is always very clear and everything you need is listed or explained.  There are even several alternative or additional activities that make the entire program so versatile.  The lessons plans are contained in a softbound book with corresponding printable material.  One thing that I would love to see added is the consumable material available in pdf so that it would be more easily printed, rather than just copying from the thick book.  We printed just fine for our lessons, but a pdf would enhance quality and convenience.  The card game is a great anytime activity to pass time and reinforce vocabulary and my 3 year old especially loved getting those out.

After spending some time with all of this material, I feel really confident in recommending this as a comprehensive language program that young kids will love!

Follow Whistlefritz on Social Media: 

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/whistlefritz  Tag:   @whistlefritz   
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/whistlefritz    Tag:   @Whistlefritz   
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/whistlefritz   

Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids: A Spanish Program Review

It's not news that learning other languages is so good for your brain and your perspective on the world.  Plus, Spanish is the most common second language in our area and so of course I jumped at the chance to review the Spanish Starter Set 1 from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids.  As parents we easily underestimate not only our children's ability to learn things, but what may or may not be interesting to them! I honestly expected my kids to watch the videos once, maybe twice and then move their interest to other things.  After several weeks, they still ask for it periodically and try to use words on their own.  It's adorable!
Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids is the creation of Kit Strauss and "the culmination of years of studying and experimenting with the most positive and successful ways to learn Spanish."  The program is intended for children as young as 3 years old, but can be a fun way for adults to learn as well.  My children, who are 3 and 5, both remained engaged and enjoyed practicing words they had heard from the videos.  The Starter Set 1 that we received (as seen in the picture below) included:

• DVD with videos for Levels 1-3
• Three Parent-Teacher Guides which sets out a detailed lesson plan, with a suggested viewing schedule and a variety of fun, supplemental and hands on activities to choose from to reinforce the material taught in the videos.
• Flashcards and Card Games for Levels 1 to 3
• Workbooks for Levels 1-3
• Stickers for Levels 1-3

The Teacher's Guide is very helpful in understanding the program's intent and design which really sets the parent/teacher up to maximize the benefits the students receive.  It also breaks the content down into lessons complete with a word list corresponding to each video and activities.  The workbooks are intended for 3rd grade and up so we didn't use them during our review period, but they'll be stored for later use when my son is older.  The stickers are a wonderful tool, especially once your kids are reading, to reinforce the names of things around the house.  The Go Squish Cardgame is another great way for the kids practice the words they are hearing.  Since my children are younger, we spent most of our time watching videos and then practiced with the 'Rapid Review' section at the end of each video remembering Spanish words.  
Why We Loved It: Maybe my children are different than most, but the videos completely engaged them while being completely in Spanish (except for the intros, I think).  Even though you are immersed in the language, the ideas were very concise and clear. They begged to watch them multiple times without me prompting them.  The videos were not bland in any way, but also not crowded with unfamiliar cultural images or references.  That's not to say that it didn't look or sound authentic, just that it appeared to be regular kids doing familiar/regular things, but in Spanish. And whenever they start spouting off words - even words that aren't real words - they have a much better accent than I could ever teach them!  We found it to be a great program that doesn't require a lot of drab repetition and engaging for my young children directly from the start.

We reviewed the Starter Set 1 (which is Levels 1-3), but they have several other levels and other products as well that you might be interested in.  Feel free to explore what they have to offer here.  Keep up with Foreign Languages For Kids By Kids on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForeignLanguagesForKidsByKids