Spanish for Children FAQ

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Q: What age is Spanish for Children intended for?
Q: Why teach Spanish in elementary school?
Q: What makes Spanish for Children different from other curriculum?
Q: What is on the Spanish for Children DVD?
Q: Can a student study Spanish and Latin at the same time?

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Q: What age is Spanish for Children intended for?

A: Spanish for Children is designed to be used beginning in grades 3-6. When complete, it will be a three year series.

Q: Why teach Spanish in elementary school?

A: Students in upper elementary are considered to be in the grammar stage of the trivium, which is the model of a K-12 classical education. Students in the grammar stage are excellent at memorization, and love to learn new things. They are extremely gifted at learning a new language.

Q: What makes Spanish for Children different from other curriculum?

A: The SFC books are primarily grammar textbooks, with students learning to use the vocabulary they memorize mainly as a function of learning sentence structure. Most Spanish curricula have a vocabulary-first approach, where students are asked to memorize vocabulary, and then given examples of how it is used, with a minimum of explanation. Students then practice repeating sentences and phrases using formulas given by the book. This is a much more "conversational" or “immersion” approach, and students learn grammar little-by-little as they go along, mostly by deducing it from examples or brief explanations.

Our goal with the SFC series is to teach students "why." We focus on the rules that govern the language and spend a large amount of time comparing Spanish and English grammar. In many ways the series doesn't teach just Spanish, it teaches how to go about learning a language in general. This is different from the "scenario-focused" approach of many other textbooks, where students learn vocabulary that relates to specific subjects, and then learn to discuss those subjects. While students using SFC do memorize vocabulary each week, using groups of related words to talk about various subjects and scenarios is "the icing on the cake"--the "cake" being an understanding of the patterns of the Spanish language, knowing which words belong where and why.

Q: What is on the Spanish for Children DVD?

A: The Spanish for Children DVD set features 32 weekly lessons to correspond with the Primer. An immersion type intro to the week’s vocabulary opens the lessons by displaying images of the words while they are being chanted by author Julia Kraut and her Spanish students. Julia goes on to teach a weekly grammar lesson. Stay on the lookout for some fun with Spanish puppets as well!

Q: Can a student study Spanish and Latin at the same time?

A: Because we offer several language courses for the same age range, we often have parents and teachers asking if it is wise to study both at the same time. This is a very personal decision, and there are different answers for different families depending on many factors. We do certainly have families that study both languages, and they have chosen to make that one of their most important priorities, especially in the time they devote to it. We applaud and support this, and they are doing well! For some families and students though, just choosing one language is a better choice, and families can choose the language to study based on their priorities, interest, and even location. To think that there would be no confusion between the languages when learning both would probably be misguided. At the same time, this is your child’s best time to learn! It is your decision, and we support both choices. Studying any language at the elementary level is a fantastic decision!