Program Overview

Designed as an immersive experience, this program fosters rapid Spanish language acquisition and strong literacy foundations in young children ages 4-7. Carefully aligned with Early Learning and Kindergarten curriculum standards, the program’s adaptable structure supports learners up to second grade.

Unlike traditional language acquisition programs that prioritize alphabet mastery before reading, this program empowers young children to begin reading almost immediately. By focusing on essential phonics and phonemic awareness skills from the outset, students rapidly develop decoding abilities, fostering confidence and a lifelong love of reading. Early reading success leads to increased vocabulary, improved comprehension, and stronger overall language development.

Drawing on 35 years of experience teaching Spanish to children ages 4-7, this program incorporates proven strategies and pedagogical approaches successfully tested in real classrooms. These methods prioritize student confidence, which we’ve found to be key to motivation and engagement, and success. By fostering a love of reading through enjoyable experiences, most children can confidently approach chapter books within three months.

Methodologies

The lessons integrate the following key pedagogical approaches:

Phonics and Phonological Awareness: The program leverages Spanish’s phonetic consistency to focus on phonics instruction, building phonemic awareness through activities like rhyming and blending, leading to efficient word decoding, reading, and spelling.

Comprehensible Input and Interaction: The program creates a language-rich environment with clear instructions, modeling, and interaction. Songs, visuals, and routines enhance engagement and retention.

Reading Comprehension: The program develops reading comprehension through pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading activities, helping students extract meaning, build vocabulary, and connect text to their experiences

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): The program boosts students’ self-esteem and confidence through quick decoding success and the enjoyment of building a personal library. Interactive elements like songs and prizes create a positive learning environment.

Scaffolding: The curriculum gradually introduces letter sounds and vocabulary, building on prior knowledge and increasing text complexity to support steady language development.

Academic Achievement: By leveraging students’ existing knowledge of consonant sounds and introducing multisyllabic words early, the program prepares students for reading in both Spanish and English.

Program Benefits

This program offers a multitude of benefits that contribute to the accelerated language acquisition and literacy development of young children.

• Engaging and Multifaceted Learning Experiences

Through a variety of instructional methods, including audio, visual, reading, writing, and interactive activities, the program captivates students’ attention and fosters comprehensive language development.

• Active Student Participation

The program’s emphasis on brief and varied activities encourages active student participation, creating a dynamic and motivating learning environment. By engaging students in hands-on activities, the program stimulates critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.

• Personalized Learning

Recognizing the diverse needs of young learners, the program offers opportunities for differentiated instruction. Teachers can utilize review and storybook lessons to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses, tailoring instruction accordingly. This personalized approach ensures that each child receives the appropriate level of support and challenge.

• Measurable Student Progress

The program incorporates regular evaluation points to track students’ language acquisition and literacy development. By using the provided evaluation sheets, teachers can monitor individual progress and identify areas for further support or enrichment. This data-driven approach enables teachers to make informed instructional decisions and celebrate students’ achievements.

• Fostering a Love of Reading

The program cultivates a lifelong love of reading by providing students with their own set of engaging storybooks. By encouraging independent reading practice at home, the program reinforces language learning and expands students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills. The culturally relevant themes of the stories connect with students’ lives, making the learning experience meaningful and enjoyable.

• Strengthening the Home-School Partnership

The program involves parents in their children’s language learning journey by providing them with guidance on how to support their child’s reading practice at home. By fosteringcollaboration between teachers and parents, the program maximizes