What is my child learning?

​A couple of things to know, in general:

Concerning verbs and verb forms:

In middle school and beyond, students are usually taught the infinitive form of the verbs first and then they move on to all the various conjugations.  In elementary, we first teach the 3rd person singular form of the verbs.  This is the most immediately usable form.  Not only does it work for he/she sentences, it also works as a familiar command form and for the formal you (Usted).  This gives us the ability to make up lots and lots of stories where they are using the verbs in context and experiencing success.

By the time students reach 4th grade, they have had some practice with the 3rd person plural and will begin playing around with 1st person singular.  They also get quite a bit of practice with infinitive phrases.  5th grade students get more concentrated instruction and practice using 1st and 2nd person singular. What a fantastic foundation is being laid for their future language studies!

Concerning verb tense:

The present tense is the only tense taught and practiced in elementary. For example, the story might begin like this, only written in Spanish:  There is a boy.  The boy's name is Richard.  Richard has a very big family. The family lives in a very small house. 

Occasionally, students will be challenged to translate a story written in the past tense.  It will be a story that they have already acted out (in present tense form).  This just helps them see that the verb forms will be similar enough for them to figure out even if they have not been formally taught the past tense.

Concerning vocabulary:

Given the limited time we have together, the best thing we can do is to focus on the high-frequency Spanish words. Numerous studies have shown that "20% of the vocabulary roughly accounts for 80% of all communication in that language, give or take."  See the rest of this article at http://www.alwaysspanish.com/2013/03/easy-spanish-1000-words.html.  We try to teach students the words that will give them the most bang for their buck.  For example, we could teach students the word 'desayuna' (has breakfast), 'almuerza' (has lunch), and 'cena' (has supper), OR we could teach them the word 'come' (eats).  The word 'come' can be used for any eating occasion, even snack!  This is the most efficient use of our time together.