Structured curriculum or on your own?

[Maeve]

Hi - I looked through the topics, so I apologize if this is a repeat (I'm new!)

 

I am multi-lingual, my husband speaks only English.  His mother is Latina and we would like to teach the children Spanish, ages 5 and 3...he wants to learn with them.  Although I can speak Spanish relatively well (I would say when I was most in practice I was fluent...I could get back to fluent with some effort), it is not my native language and it's hard for me to keep up just speaking it with the kids all the time.  Unforunately, my MIL refuses to speak Spanish with our kids for reasons that have to do with advice from doctors 40 years ago about how "bad it is" for young children to learn two languages....

 

I'm trying to decide if I should buy a curriculum that we can follow, or if I should do it more on on my own.  I would combine songs, conversation scripts, vocabulary posted around the house, etc...I am comfortable speaking only in Spanish while giving lessons, and intend to do math in Spanish at least once a week, working up to a more bi-lingual education model.

 

In your experience do you think having a structured curriculum will help us, especially given that my husband wants to learn along with the kids?  I'm considering just buying Rosetta Stone but it feels wrong!  I feel like all you need to learn a language is a grammar book, a dictionary, and reading material in your target language.....but am I being overly ambitious if I think I can use that to teach a 3 year old, a 5 year old, and an adult man a language that isn't my native language??

 

Thanks for the advice!

[Rosie_0801]

I think, when it comes to language learning, you will end up buying and using almost everything you can get your hands on.

 

MEP maths has some levels in Spanish, if you haven't seen that before. Rosetta Stone tends not to get great reviews and I think most people would tell you that money could be better spent. Have you looked at Librivox? Do they have Spanish stories to download?

[Blessings2all]

I used La Clase Divertida with my kids when they were young and they loved it! 

[maize]

I find having a structured program to follow helps me keep the ball rolling. I am like you--fairly fluent but not a native speaker.

 

Getting Started with Spanish provides a nice gentle introduction that I think you could do orally with a five year old. There is a free Spanish language learning video series online, Salsa; I haven't used it but people seem to like it.

[bakpak]

I have a 5-yr-old and mostly just provide things that interest her. I haven't found a good curriculum that I like yet. Rosetta Stone would likely be good for your husband, and my child has enjoyed fiddling with it for years although I'm not sure how much longer that will last as it gets above Level 1. Her pronunciation is quite good and she's reading Spanish pretty well these days, around 1st grade level. She's also getting some nuances of grammar from RS that I haven't been teaching her otherwise. I've mostly just read to her in Spanish almost daily, listened to music, played games in Spanish and let her watch videos. We have a ton of books. At 3 & 5 you mostly need to keep it fun and relevant to their daily lives.  She loves the free Salsa videos from Georgia Public Broadcasting.  We don't do much TV or screen time, which means she totally enjoys any chance she gets to do something in Spanish that's screen-related.  My DD loved the WhistleFritz videos at age 3+.

 

Best of luck!