Muzzy Spanish - How do I teach Spanish to my 5 year-old?

How do I teach Spanish to my 5 year-old?

My daughter and I have been learning some basic Spanish together by listening to a CD with lessons and songs. She loves it, and has shown quite an aptitude for it. I'm looking for experiences with more advanced programs such as Muzzy or other ideas on how best to teach her Spanish. We're learning it together, if that matters.

Public Comments

Try watching "Dora"
start with basics o as a amos ais an
Speak it in the home. Spanish at home English outside.
Watch Maya on Disney with her!
use it every day talk to her in Spanish and she will pick up and if you have any other friend say it in Spanish then in English
dora the explorer
see if you can find her a tutor that knows spanish or take her to the sylivan learning center where they teach students just about anything
The Muzzy is good. have her watch regular DVDs in Spanish. My girls watch DVDs in all languages offered.
my 3 yr old has learnes more with out my help at all just watching dora the explorer on nicolodeon .....hope that helps
That is great you are doing it together. Some schools have Elementry Spanish, or school provided tutors. Try recommending elementry spanish to your principal. But it sounds like she is doing great! Keep on doing what your doing!
You can buy her books and cartoons that are in spanish. That is a big helper.
use it in every day life,say it in spanish first then english second ,shell catch on fast
Spanish is much more complicated than you might expect, but your doughtier can start by watching "Dora the explorer" that's how my son learned some Spanish
i know this is stupid but my little cousin is three and has a wide vocab in spanish by reading spanish/english kids books and weirdly of all....DORA THE EXPLORER....also try kearning spanish ahead of her and talk it around the house she and you will get used to it....or get a tutor
Talk to your baby in Spanish that'll help they absorb everything they see or listen .. they learn so quick you'll be amazed !
Young children are more likely to be able to learn a second language than adults. Just keep on doing what you are doing. Make sure you do it together and practice together. Make sure she knows the meanings of the words in english before she learns the spanish word for it. Preschools nowdays are teaching spanish and sign language to toddlers. I think you are doing a good job and you are on the right track.
You best bet is to try and learn as much as you can, you know learn a little more then she knows. Children are easy to teach things to, whether it be Spanish, math, or just English reading. A great way to get them to pick it up is, when you say something in english repeat it in Spanish. Just in normal everyday conversation. Or do vice versa, say something in spanish and repeat it in english. Work new spanish and things that you learned from the cd the previous day, into your everyday conversation, that will help to teach her new things and also help her to remember the spanish she had previously learned. Be repetitive, that definitely always helps. Good Luck and I think it's great you are trying to broaden your languages.
well you would need to teach him a long time before he will get it
They have to hear it every day...the reason some kids get Spanish quick is that they have a nanny that is Latina..but if that is not the case, they need someone who speaks Spanish and will speak Spanish to them daily...after a while, they'll start to get it... the key is this...if you can learn it to the point that you are dreaming in Spanish...you are getting close....if you are actively translating in your head you aren't doing bad either...because you CAN translate in your head...but once you aren't translating and your mind is ready in Spanish..then your fluency is at the door..
Hello, Dore the explorer and also have you heard of this book, Spanish for kids and spanish for begineers its great they'll learn pretty fast and also use spanish cartoons as well take care
maybe u could buy those DVD's for children, like little cartoons and change the language to spanish, but u can put the subtitles in english or somethin. i'm not sure if they'll talk too fast, but u can try. or have her watch Dora the Explorer. and i think they might have those Leap Frop things that u can buy that might help kids with spanish. hope this helps :)
Dora the Explorer and Muzzy will help allot. You are doing great with the CD thing. Remember that the brains of children at that age are like a sponge and will absorb anything that they hear and retain it. You will have to keep it going or she will probably loose it when she gets older. That means you will probably have to keep yours going also so you can talk to her occasionally in Spanish. I commend you for trying to teach your daughter another language because she will be better off in the long run. Knowing 2 or more languages will help her get better paying jobs because employers out there are looking for people that can speak other languages. Keep up the good work.
Why are you insisting she learn spanish. Go live in a spanish speaking country if it's that important. This is America.
you can find in the public library a lot of spanish books for beginning readers, I'm native Spanish and my 2 kids too, my oldest son now can speak, write and read both languages, they are 4 and 7 years old. I´love to teach, i will help you if you want. take care.
Buy some books. There's a teacher supply store I go to that has a lot of books for teaching kids Spanish.
if she knows how to speak english try and teach her the you would and adult
Make your home a Spanish haven. Nowadays you can get almost anything online, there are some good aids that you can use to teach vocabulary, and Dora...well she's ok for starters but not enough. Amazon probably has dozens of books for kids in Spanish, and you could try Disney movies, but the ones produced in Mexico, if your dvd can handle them. Disney is soooo careful about the quality of their translations and dubbings that once they've watched the movie in English, switch to Spanish. If you know someone in Mexico, have them send you children's music, Tatiana is a favorite choice, in Monterrey there are Las Muñequitas Elizabeth, a group of entertainers that create material specially for children. You can also connect to www.multimedios.tv and check to see if their programming has somehow made it to your local area. Multimedios is Channel 12 in Monterrey México, and maybe check your cable company, sometimes they carry Mexican channels. You might wonder why Mexicans, because the Mexican neutral accent is easily understood, unlike the Spanish used in Miami, which is mainly of Cuban or Puerto Rican extraction. I don´t know where you live but try and contact the local Mexican community, they probably have some items on sale, check to see if your cable company has channels for latin america, the discovery kids is excellent, the best, and if you are able to watch the channel aimed for latin america, you can consider yourself extremely lucky. Discovery Networks has animal planet, I can watch it in either language, but my cable company handles the latin american channel, so you can switch to the dubbed version or the original audio. If you can browse for a while and find songs by Francisco Gabilondo Soler, also known as Cri-Cri, the little singing grasshopper. His beautiful music was created in the 1950's, all for children, again, the Mexican community can help you track his cd's and dvd's, or try http://www.cri-cri.net and download some of them, you will not be disappointed, there is information about where to buy the music, even karaoke versions, because the person who created the page admired this composer so much he apologizes for not having requested permission from his heirs. The sound quality is not exactly good, and he requests any mp3's you downloaded be deleted from your computer later. Esmas.com, belonging to media giant Televisa also has material that you could order online, Televisa is pushing hard to enter the American market, also try to get dvd's of a character known as El Chavo del Ocho, The kid from number 8, it's a funny comedy show from the seventies featuring a bunch of people that live in a Vecindad, or closed living complex, very popular in Mexico City. With this program you need not worry about profanity, violence or anything you might object having your child watch. Here we are in the 21'st century and we still watch reruns on several local and national channels. Traditional children´s songs are also recommended, what they call Rondas, like instead of singing Ring Around the Rosy, they sing Rosa Blanca está cubierta de Pilares de Oro y Plata....or A la Víbora, Víbora, de la mar, de la mar, por aquí pueden pasar...and so many others, while playing a simple game. Parental guidance and support is needed because unlike English, the Spanish R is RRROLLLED, you have letters like the Ñ and other ones so different from English. I really hope you can both learn Spanish, it's such a beautiful and rich one, and it makes me sad when so many Americans absolutely refuse to learn another language because they expect everybody else to learn theirs. Good Luck
I am very proud of you as mom for trying to make your daughter two languages at the same time, I assure you it will open doors for her in the future. As for the question, I think the best way to teach her Spanish is by talking to her in Spanish at home since you are also learning it and everytime you dont know how to say something try refering to a dictionary. Also get words from the dictionary and write them in post its and call them the "words for the day" and try using those new words throughout the day, and that way you will keep you vocabulary growing. good luck.
Turn her Disney movies, etc., to Spanish on her DVDs. Easy to do! If you can, get a Hispanic babysitter, and pay her extra to play games with her in Spanish.