Hi, I'm new here. Right now I'm looking for a Spanish language arts curriculum or guide for 2nd grade. It is as a first language, English is our second language. I can't believe it's so hard to find something good! Is anyone in the same situation? Thanks!

I hope this post is appropriate here but I don't know where else to ask since homeschooling is our life. My kids and I (along with several other moms and homeschoolers) are volunteering, once a week, at an Indian school to help teach first graders how to read English. It's an English speaking school so I'm not sure I would really classify it as ESL, although many of their students' parents do not speak English. We have been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with groups of 1-4 students per volunteer. It's a phonics based program and fully scripted so the student volunteers can easily administer. But there is a disconnect between what the school is teaching and our phonics approach. It seems that many of the kids have just memorized words. So after speaking to the school, they received approval from the Indian education board to change their curriculum. Now we have a meeting with the head of English and the K-1 teachers on Dec 13 to discuss what curriculum to use and how we can work together. Somehow I was elected to lead this! My kids went to public school until after they were reading. Aside from me reading to and with them, I don't know how to teach reading. I don't know what curriculum works for a classroom setting (and for unlicensed teachers who English is a second language). This school is at risk for being closed if they cannot raise the reading level of these students. I'm not aware of another option for these kids if the school is closed. They are too cute and lovely to ignore. I have been researching all over the Internet. I know some of you are certified classroom teachers. I'm hoping you can help: what recommendations would you make for curriculum to teach children to read in a classroom setting? Something not too difficult. Do you recommend a phonics approach or something else? Thank you, thank you!

I signed up with my county to be a substitute teacher and substitute paraprofessional. Yesterday, I was assigned to sub for an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher at my kids high school. During homeroom I was briefed on my students by another ESL teacher. My class was made up of 17 high-school-age students; 15 Spanish speakers, one ?Mixtec? speaker, and one Farsi speaking young lady. The ESL teacher told me that the majority of them cannot read or write in their own language. The poor Mixtec and Farsi-speaking girls had no one to communicate with. He said they speak little to no English. The teacher had left lesson plans for me. My first task was instructing them to write in their journals. I don't speak Spanish so I had to demonstrate everything. I wrote, "This weekend I ______________.". Half of them wrote one or two very simple but complete sentences. Half did not participate. I moved on to my task of introducing the students to science vocabulary (canyon, shore etc.). I demonstrated cutting up strips of vocabulary words and gluing them into their journal (word bank). I then demonstrated gluing in the preprinted definitions. This was a big fail. Huge fail. I was relieved to hear the Bell ring as there was an increasing amount if chatting, jumping around and physical stuff going on. I was losing control over the class. After the class emptied out, the other ESL teacher asked me if I would come back today and fill in again. He was impressed that I was not afraid of the students and that I engaged them. I told him that my science vocabulary task was a failure and he said no worries. I don't think these ESL students are being served in our school. They are so behind. There doesn't seem to be a systematic approach to teaching them English. How are English-language skills acquired in a classroom where the teacher is the only one speaking it? You can't use flashcards with students that can't read the written form of their native language. These kids will age out of public schools at the age of 22. Can they catch up? There doesn't seem to be community support to assist in learning the language. It's discouraging and disturbing. Where will these kids be in 3 to 5 years? I can't stop thinking about these kids!