No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive." -                     Mohandas K. Gandhi, 
                           Indian nationalist and spiritual leader

¡Bienvenidos!

Welcome to the
2008-2009 school year!

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to teach your child the language and cultures of the
Spanish speaking world.
I am looking forward to an exciting year with both our returning students and our new additions to the Good Hope School community.


I will be seeing each grade level twice a week for a period of forty minutes.  Spanish classes will be a combination of oral, listening, and written activities as well as
games and songs. 

Whenever possible, Spanish will be integrated with other subjects taught in your child's curriculum. 

Learning a second language is both an exciting and a challenging experience.

Repetition and practice are the keys to success; we encourage practice through enrichment and occasional homework assignments.
Our assignments give students hands-on materials to supplement and reinforce classroom instruction.

Our aim is to open the pathways of learning a second language, Spanish, in early childhood education. 

The Primary Grades Spanish curriculum introduces themes of colors, numbers, greetings, family,
body parts, animals,
shapes and school.

The Primary Grades  curriculum spirals these themes reviewing and reintroducing vocabulary in new, creative ways.

In Kindergarten, each student maintains their own "Libro del Alfabeto" - alphabet book. The children will hear the sounds of the Spanish alphabet and associate vocabulary that represent those sounds.
By the end of the year they will know their ABC's and begin to read
Spanish words.  

 Advice for Parents
of
Kids Learning Spanish  

Do not ask your child to “perform” Spanish in front of friends or relatives in the target language. Children rarely want to perform on cue, and demands to show off language ability can backfire.

Do not get caught up in a “competition” for language achievement. It is unrealistic to expect your young child to speak a second language fluently. It is usually a poor idea to hire a tutor for very young children. This language journey should be fun-filled with music, games and creativity (not conjugating verbs and grammar).

Do not expect your child to meet the benchmarks you set for yourself. Becoming fluent in a new language takes time and takes living the language. Every child learns and develops differently. Make sure your child enjoys language learning by avoiding pressure to excel quickly.

It takes about 600 hours of daily classroom experience to become "fluent" in a foreign language like Spanish for native English speakers. GHS students in the Lower School receive about 72 hours of classroom experience in the language.

Articles

Bilingual Kids Not Slowed by Second Tongue (2001)

Raising Bilingual Children: Common Parental Concerns and Current Research (2006)

 A Case for Early Language Learning (2006)

Neuroscientists Have Discovered Why Children Excel at Learning Languages (2003) 

  

Fun Spanish links to visit!

Test your Spanish!    
Have fun with Spanish!
                  Spanish Quizzes!                       
Spanish Games

 The Good Hope School