Preschools that teach spanish near me: Best Spanish-Immersion Preschools Near Me

4. Spanish Mama Preschool Curriculum

TIpS for Teaching a new Language to Kids

The most important thing is providing lots and lots of comprehensible input, in context. Comprehensible input is simply language they understand. You want to fill their little minds with Spanish, but not simply “flood” them with it. (That just gets processed as noise.)

What does this look like?

1. Go in with realistic expectations.

Remember that studying Spanish a few hours a week or less can’t compare to the experience of a bilingual child. That’s ok, though: every bit of Spanish your child picks up is a gift and so good for them!

2. Keep it Short

Obviously, toddlers and preschoolers have short attention spans. Switch up activities often and alternate calming and more active activities.

3. Move, Move, Move

Incorporate movement whenever possible. If you are learning animal names, act out the animals as you say them. Dance to the songs and work the wiggles into the learning.

4. Input Before Output

Just as a baby can understand you before they can speak, most kids will understand more Spanish than they can produce. That’s normal and okay! Don’t expect them to speak too early, unless they want to. 

At the beginning, ask questions that only require one word answers: Do you like apples or bananas? (“Bananas” or even pointing- which will later turn into “I like bananas.”) Is this apple red? (“Yes” or “No”– later they can learn to say “No, it’s green!”)

5. Visuals and Gestures

Children do best with lots of visuals and objects. You always want to stay comprehensible, using gestures and pictures to support the Spanish they’re hearing.

6. Review, Review, Review

Whenever you move onto a new lesson or topic, don’t forget to continually review what your kids or students already know and keep recycling old activities.

Repetition of words and phrases is key as well. You know how you used to study something for a test and forget it immediately after? We don’t want that. Hearing language in a variety of contexts is key to making it stick.

7. Keep it Fun

Kids learn best when it feels like play! Be silly and pour on the praise.

The next section has lots of practical ideas for making Spanish time fun.

5 Practical Activities for Preschool Spanish lessons

What’s the difference between teaching Spanish to a preschooler and an older student?

Young children learn a second language much the same way they learn their first: through songs, stories, talking, and playing.

Here are some of my favorite ways to teach toddlers and young children.

1. Songs

As mentioned above, I have a database of Spanish songs on YouTube organized by themes. Music is so simple and effective.

Greeting SongsNumbers SongsColors
SongsFamily
SongsNursery RhymesBody Parts Songs

2. Games

Preschooler love simple games, and you can keep their attention longer with a good game. Think Bingo, Memory, Simon Says, guessing games, etc.

Grab a printable list of my Preschool Spanish games here for all kids of fun ideas!

3. Real Objects and Pictures

Arm yourself with pictures, toys, or objects for every lesson. Young children love to touch and feel.

Remember that their comprehension comes before speaking. If they’re learning some foods, for example, you can practice with play food, where you name the food. They have to grab the correct one and pretend to eat it.

Adding in some puppets or stuffed animals into your lessons can help keep kids’ attention as well.

4. Incorporate Play

Especially if you’re working with toddlers, sitting down with them and talking about their play/narrating it can be very effective. Instead of just counting, get out the blocks and count while you make a tower.

If you have a child into vehicles, for example, you can sit down with a box a cars. Interact with them in Spanish (to the best of your ability), “Do you want a yellow car or a red car? Wow, this car is fast! Let’s line up 10 cars. One, two, three, four, five…

5. Stories

Stories are a perfect way to acquire language in context. If you teach the most high-frequency verbs (such as goes to, wants, says, likes), you are well on your way to good stories. You can make up your own or see my sample unit that includes comprehensible stories written and illustrated for you.

*If you have eager parents or children who want more, definitely encourage them to read books, change screen time to Spanish, and listen to music! It won’t hurt to hear a “flood of Spanish,” it just isn’t the most efficient way to make use of class time.

Example Preschool Spanish Routines

Here are some example set-ups to help you figure out what is best for your situation. Kids, schools, and families are so different that you’ll want to always be observing and making adjustments as needed.

30-Minute Lesson With a Group:

• Welcome and warm-up – 5 minutes.
  (Review greetings, do the Buenos Días song, or a another review.) 
• Mini-lesson – 5 – 10 minutes. 
  (Input: introduce new words, short story, teach a new song, etc.)
• Brain-break if needed –  2-3 minutes.
  (Song, act out words like run, jump, dance, etc.)
• Follow-up activity – 5-10 minutes. 
  (Game like Bingo, Go Fish, etc., craft, coloring, etc.)
• Wrap-up – 5 minutes.
  (Watch a video song, good-bye song, review song, or quick review game like Simon Says, etc. )

20-Minute Lesson at Home, 2x a Week:

• Welcome and warm-up – 5 minutes. 
  (Buenos Días song, quick review like numbers, colors, etc.).
• Mini-lesson – 5 – 10 minutes.
  (input: introduce new words, short story, read a book, etc.) 
• Follow-up activity – 5-10 minutes. 
  (game like Bingo, Go Fish, etc., craft, coloring, etc.)

I like to plan like this, with lots of activities in my back pocket. If something bombs or finishes early, I move right along to the next one.

Bottom line: know your students and do what works. if you have a group with longer attention spans, go for it! 

If you are telling a story and totally have their attention, don’t stop just because 5-10 minutes are up. If you’re playing a game and they’re begging for another round, why not?

If they are obsessed with “Where’s the Button?” or Bingo, finish every class with that as a treat.

Spanish Mama Preschool Curriculum

If you would like materials prepped for you, try out my Preschool Spanish curriculum. My units are story-based, provide lots of hands-on activities, game, and printables.

You’ll also get narrated videos and audio to help non-native speaking parents!

Los pollitos
(4 Units)A mi burro
(2 Units)Baby Shark Ocean UnitAll About Pets UnitThe Three Little PigsGoldilocks / the 3 Bears

Try out the first unit for free:

“Last year was my first year to teach students younger than 6th grade (I’ve done middle school and high school) and I had a homeschool group of kids ranging from 4 years old to 3rd grade! This material was meaningful to ALL of the ages and i was able to adapt some activities for the youngest when necessary. Eased my anxiety about how to teach younger ages because the lessons were so well organized and explained and I had PLENTY of material to use each lesson. Thank you!“

“My child was not able to enroll in a Spanish pre-school program so I (native Spanish speaker) used this to introduce him to academic pre-k concepts in Spanish. He had a smooth transition into a Spanish kindergarten.”

“This resource is beyond wonderful! My students loved the activities, I loved how easy it was to use and prepare, the parents loved the QR codes on the books. Just what was needed to make this crazy year a little more manageable!

Special Spanish Preschool Holiday Units

Many parents and teachers are looking beyond lists of isolated words to memorize. We want to teach real, living language!

At the same time, just turning on a Spanish song or TV show sounds like noise to beginners. It’s not enough to simply expose our kids to Spanish.

My preschool Spanish materials teach real language in context, so you can feel confident about teaching Spanish.  They rely heavily on hands-on activities, songs, games, and stories.

Spanish Preschool Classes | Spanish Immersion Workshop

You’re a parent who knows the importance of starting a second language in early childhood

This is the program for you!

SiW creates the perfect opportunity to help your child learn and speak Spanish naturally, through fun and complete immersion in the language.

Not sure if in-person is right for you? 

We also have virtual online programs!

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS →

Why SiW?

Full-Immersion Preschool Program

Full immersion preschool program—children learn and functionally use Spanish in the same way they learn their primary language, it’s the best language learning environment for children. Developed and run by Spanish Immersion Workshop—we always maintain the highest standards of excellence.

Get started right away

SiW has open/rolling enrollment, so you can get started right away! No need to wait for the beginning of a semester.  Enroll online now!

Note: full school-year enrollment is required for the Preschool  Program. If enrolling late, enrollment applies to the remainder of the school year and the difference in tuition will be prorated. Please see the Tuition and Payments page for details.

Flexible Schedules & Convenient Locations

With the option to enroll for any number or combination of days, making a schedule to fit your weekly routine is easy. Morning preschool session (9:30a-12:30p) daily Monday to Friday in our Dix Hills & Garden City locations—choose any one to five days per week to attend and easily create a preschool schedule that is best for you. Available in our Dix Hills and Garden City locations – 2 conveniently located and easy to get to locations.

Nationally recognized preschool curriculum

Featuring a balance of preschool skills and learning objectives, the curriculum supports children’s social, emotional and cognitive skill development.

Diapers Welcome!

The SiW Preschool program is designed for children ages 2 to 4 years of age—potty training is not required for enrollment! To enroll in a fall semester, your child must turn 2 years old by Oct. 1st.

Small Class Size & high level of personal attention

Each class is limited to 12 students—SiW classes will always feature an extremely low student-to-teacher ratio (no more than 6:1), so your child receives lots of loving care and attention.

Affordable Tuition

With 5 equal monthly payments per semester and prorated tuition for late enrollees, SiW Preschool tuition is simple and painless. Please visit our Tuition & Payments page for complete details.

Weekly Newsletter

Preschool parents receive a weekly email newsletter packed with information and pictures of what happened in class that week. You’ll love the chance to catch up with your child’s week at SiW.

Preschool Class Schedule

View Tuition Information

Get your Questions Answered or Schedule a Visit!

Have questions?

If you have any specific questions, simply complete the brief form below and include them in the comments sections, we’ll be happy to answer them for you.

Why not schedule a visit?

It’s the best way to learn about the program and answer all of your questions. Let us know in the comments section if you’d like to schedule a visit and we’ll set it up.

Visits last about an hour and are generally scheduled at 10:00 AM, Monday through Friday, this will give your child a chance to participate in the class while you observe the program in action — please include possible days/dates that are good for you, this will help in scheduling your visit.

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Preferred Location*
—Dix HillsGarden City

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Let us know how we can help and if you’d like to schedule a vist, please include possible days/dates that would be good for you to help us in scheduling your visit.

Spanish Preschool Photo Gallery

Open Education – Spanish for Beginners Part 1

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This course is the first part of the “Spanish for Beginners” series of courses, which will allow students to begin their acquaintance with the Spanish language, work out basic constructions and vocabulary at the A0-A1 level of the International Classification of Foreign Language Proficiency.

• About
• Format
• Course program
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Abilities
• Education results
• Formed competencies
• Education directions

About

The course is the first step of the Spanish for Beginners series of courses prepared by specialists from St Petersburg University and is intended for a wide range of students who want to start getting acquainted with the Spanish language and culture, as well as for those students who once started familiarity with Spanish and want to get back to learning.

The course consists of 4 modules, in which grammatical lexical material is sequentially collected, sufficient for application in the simplest situations of everyday communication in Spanish.

Each of the 4 modules consists of 3 sections:

• grammar;
• vocabulary – an audiovisual dictionary voiced by a native speaker and containing both vocabulary corresponding to the topic of the module and colloquial phrases;
• regional studies – visual listening with Russian subtitles, that is, a text in Spanish voiced by the native speaker, which is accompanied by an associative visual range;

In addition to the theoretical material, all modules are accompanied by animated dialogues in Spanish and assignments for practicing the studied material.

The first module of the course also contains an introductory lecture, which explains the place of the Spanish language in the system of world languages; the first module is also accompanied by a lecture on the basics of Spanish phonetics and reading rules.

Students are provided with constant online support on the forum to resolve any questions that arose during the course.

Format

Correspondence form of education (distance). Weekly classes will include watching thematic video lectures and completing test tasks with automated verification of results.

Course program

Module 1. Acquaintance

Module 2. Work. Education

Module 3. Countries and nationalities

Module 4. Meetings

Education results

The student will master the basic vocabulary and grammar of the Spanish language at the level A0 (Pre-Beginner) according to the international classification of foreign language proficiency.

Formed competencies

1. Possession of a culture of thinking, the ability to generalize, perceive information, set a goal and choose ways to achieve it (OK-3).

2. The ability to use the basic provisions and methods of social, humanitarian and economic sciences in solving social and professional problems (OK-8).

3. Ability to analyze socially significant problems and processes (GC-9).

4. The ability to solve standard tasks of the theologian’s professional activity on the basis of information and bibliographic culture using information and communication technologies and taking into account the basic requirements of information security (OPK-1).

5. The ability to select, systematize and analyze the material in accordance with the objects of the graduate’s professional activity (PC-8).

Education directions

45.00.00 Linguistics and Literary Studies

51.00.00 Cultural studies and socio-cultural projects


Knowledge

At the end of the course, the student should know:

• Basic Spanish grammar.

Skills

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Use basic grammar: form basic grammatical forms, make simple affirmative, exclamatory and interrogative sentences;
• Use vocabulary on given topics;
• Recognize spoken text on a familiar topic.

Abilities

At the end of the course, the student should be proficient in:

• the most common grammatical structures and vocabulary within the scope of the Pre-Beginner level;
• in oral and written language in the amount of the studied material;
• method of independent work to improve the skills of written language and oral speech.

St. Petersburg State University

Shablyuk Olga Valerievna


Position: Senior Lecturer of the Department of French

Alekseenko Denis Nikolaevich


Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences

Position: Senior Lecturer of the Department of French

Babaeva Anastasia Romanovna


Position: Assistant of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​in the field of International Relations

Certificate

It is possible to get a certificate for this course.

The cost of passing the procedures for assessing learning outcomes with personal identification – 1800 Р .

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Animated language – BBC News0002

November 15, 2014

Sign up for our ‘Context’ newsletter: it will help you understand the events.

I haven’t lived in Israel for eight years, but I visit often. Gradually, I began to pay attention to seemingly trivial things that elude the attention of local residents immersed in the daily routine.

For example, how Hebrew is spoken around. In any other country, it would seem extremely strange to be surprised that citizens speak the language of the country in which they live. But the Hebrew deserves every surprise. Living and developing Hebrew is as incredible and unpredictable a miracle as the very existence of Israel.

Revived language

No one spoke Hebrew at the beginning of the 20th century. They prayed on it, read it, sometimes they could use it for correspondence, but they did not speak. Dead language. He would have remained dead if not for one eccentric named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, oddly enough, a native of the former Russian Empire. Settling in Jerusalem, he made the revival of the Hebrew language his life’s work.

Of course, they made fun of him, mocked him, anathematized him. Most of all went to his own family. But the son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda became the first person for whom Hebrew was his native language. And today Hebrew is spoken by a country with a population of more than 8 million people. Israel is a place where the most crazy and reckless ideas are destined to become a reality.

Hebrew survived the battle for survival. In a state founded by repatriates (immigrants do not like the word here very much), it was extremely difficult. In the beginning it was an ideology, part of the idea of ​​Zionism and the revival of a national home for the Jews – Israelis must speak Hebrew.

Although orders during the 1948 War of Independence in the Israeli army were given in Yiddish, Russian and other languages, there was no time for linguistic subtleties. Since the founding of Israel, more than 3 million people from various countries have arrived in this country. Everyone brought with them their own cultural baggage and their own language. But Hebrew swallowed up everyone.

Is there life without Hebrew?

There is an opinion that one can live in Israel without Hebrew. Like, there are more than a million Russian speakers here: in banks and official institutions there will always be Russian-speaking clerks, as well as Russian-speaking waiters or sellers. You can live, but, to paraphrase an old Jewish anecdote, “but is that really life.”

Of course, if you came to Israel to sit out the dank Russian winter, then learning the language is an extra burden. Otherwise, the level of proficiency in Hebrew will determine whether a person will feel like a full-fledged Israeli or will always carry emigrant complexes in himself.

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Not everyone speaks the same language. There is a level of communication in the market and in the store, there is a level of understanding TV programs, a level that allows you to read the newspaper and understand the content. There is also the level of the Haaretz newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Israeli left-wing intelligentsia. Anyone who is able to master the literary supplement to this newspaper can safely be proud of his Hebrew.

When in 1996 seven deputies from the “Russian” party “Israel ba aliya” entered the Knesset, one of the leading Israeli newspapers devoted a special article to the level of Hebrew proficiency of each of the newly minted parliamentarians. Only two of them received the highest praise: “they speak like Israelis.”

Before boarding an El Al flight, you can’t avoid meticulous questions from security personnel. Seeing from my documents that I am not a native of the country, they periodically ask me when I arrived in Israel and where I began to learn Hebrew.

Taking pity on the young children, I do not share with them the story of the first Hebrew lessons in the basement of the school on Rubinshteina Street in Leningrad, where the Jewish community was then located. But at the preparatory department of the Hebrew University in Hebrew lessons, I was an excellent student. Having already entered the university in 1993, I smugly came to the first lecture, being sure that I had mastered Hebrew to perfection.

Professor Ze’ev Shterenhal, the luminary of Israeli political science, ascended the chair, his first sentence was the phrase: “The burden of freedom weighs on humanity.” I could only understand the suggestion. I wanted to run out of the audience in disgrace and never return there again. But it was inconvenient for me to go out during a lecture by such a famous professor, and I stayed.

Now I am finishing another book by my favorite Israeli writer Mishka Ben-David. He is a former Mossad officer and now a lecturer in literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – his Hebrew is incomparable. In this book, he describes the stay of his hero in St. Petersburg. For a long time I have not read such a beautiful and poetic description of the city of my childhood.

By the way, the name Hebrew University is just the result of a clumsy translation. The correct name is Hebrew University in Jerusalem (Hebrew University). It was the first institution of higher education in the world where teaching was conducted in Hebrew.

Subtlety of accents

Most of my peers who came to Israel 20-25 years ago still speak Hebrew with an accent. It seems to me that this contrasts strongly with the situation in North America or England, where it is not so easy to identify a native of the former USSR by accent. Israel is a country of emigrants, where the attitude towards the accent is more than tolerable, unlike Germany. Some natives of the former USSR even slightly flaunt their accent: they say, we speak with the same accent as the founding fathers of the state.

Of course, Israel is not England with its variety of accents and pronunciations. But even here the accent can say a lot about a person. Of course, the accent immediately betrays those who were not born in this country, and there are many of them here. The French accent is considered the most melodic, the Spanish accent is the most provocative, and the Russian and English accents are a favorite material for Israeli parodists. There is a characteristic accent among representatives of the Eastern communities and a clear pronunciation of the inhabitants of North Tel Aviv. A very special reprimand – from Israeli teachers, schoolchildren love to copy it.

Many “Russians” in Israel speak Israeli surzhik, an émigré mixture of Russian and Hebrew that mercilessly cuts the ear of anyone who speaks the two languages ​​well. If somewhere in Haifa or Ashdod you call a passer-by on the street and ask in Russian to explain to you how to get to the right address, they will explain everything to you, but you will have to ask again more than once or twice.

Of course, all of the above does not apply to the Russian-Israeli intelligentsia – here the inclusion of Hebrewisms in colloquial speech is considered unacceptable. And God forbid you accidentally say “mazgan” instead of air conditioning (the first word that all repatriates learn) – you will receive such a sidelong glance that no air conditioner will help you.

What about Russian?

According to an unwritten rule, Russian-speaking Israelis, left alone, immediately switch to Russian, even if it is a working meeting. However, I began to notice more and more often that there is a certain group of immigrants from the former USSR who are extremely reluctant to switch to Russian. It is difficult for me to say whether this is bravado or just an established habit of speaking Hebrew.

Among those who came to Israel in the 70s, everything was quite clear: people did not want to have anything to do with the country of origin, and it was not very prestigious to speak Russian then in Israel, so most of the children of repatriates of that wave cannot communicate by -Russian and two words.

The repatriates of the 1990s were in no hurry to part with their cultural heritage. Israel appeared Russian newspapers, theater, radio, and, later, its own Russian-language TV channel. But the dispute about what language to speak with their children and whether to teach them the Russian language has been going on in the Russian community of Israel for more than a year.

Children switch to Hebrew instantly and try to speak Hebrew at home as well. And here parents must have nerves of steel. There are families where children are forbidden to speak Hebrew at home, instilling in them the Russian language in this way. Other parents, on the other hand, refuse to force their children to speak Russian, leaving them free to choose. In any case, the profession of a Russian language tutor is still quite in demand in Israel.

A separate problem has arisen with children attending Russian-language kindergartens. Such kindergartens are quite popular in Israel, thanks to an extensive educational program and flexible opening hours. So it turns out that children born and raised in Israel, getting into the preparatory group, do not know a single word in Hebrew. True, after another two or three months, this problem no matter how it happened.

Integral Hebrew

Diaspora does not speak Hebrew, and this is another barrier in Israel’s communication with Jewish communities. Graduates of Jewish schools around the world can read prayers tolerably enough, but in everyday speech they will stumble at the level of ordering food in a restaurant.