Have you ever felt a little stuck, when choosing curriculum?

For me, it depends on the subject. For science, history, and math, I chose my curriculum based on the recommendations of friends. Thankfully, we have been really happy with those recommendations, and have kept them the same all four years so far.

For the humanities subjects, which are more to my strengths, I chose the curriculum myself, and enjoyed the process!

Spanish, in theory, should have been included in that. I have loved Spanish ever since I first started learning it. As a 13-year old timid middle schooler, in my 8th grade Spanish class, I picked out my “Spanish name” (Violeta!), wrote it on every single paper I turned in, and was insatiable as we learned different lists of vocabulary, verb conjugations, and tidbits of Spanish culture.

After that very first middle school class, I continued learning Spanish in high school, and into college. I have used my Spanish on mission trips (two to Mexico, one to Guatemala), teaching practicums, informally at various jobs, and chose to double major in Spanish and Elementary Education, in college. I also studied abroad for a semester in Seville, Spain, married a native Spanish speaker, and lived in Guatemala for the first 10 months I was married.

My language experiences came to fruition with my first two formal teaching jobs upon graduation: teaching middle school Spanish, and, after that, Kindergarten Spanish Immersion–my favorite of all my teaching jobs.

With all of that Spanish experience, it may come as a surprise that I really struggled to teach Spanish to my own kids!

Teaching Spanish in Homeschool

You can look back to this series of posts, if you’d like to read more about this journey. The point is, it’s been much more difficult than I expected.

After several years of high expectations, piecemealing various things together, and trying about a million different methods with my kids, I decided to switch it up this year. I decided to purchase something open-and-go, instead of piecemealing everything together. So far, the results for both myself, and my kids, have been great.

I went with Llamitas Spanish this year, for all three kids. (You can read my review of the Preschool Binder I use with Beau, here, or the Level 1 Binder I use with Emmaline, here).

So far, I have really liked it. Everything is right there for me. As you may have seen in the other two posts, Llamitas Spanish is a company I have followed for years! I have always been impressed with their resources.

Pros & Cons to Spanish Curriculum

One tough thing, is that my eldest is already in 5th grade. He also has a background in Spanish–we spoke to him in Spanish a lot when he was little, and he also attended Spanish immersion kindergarten. He still understands about 75% of what is said, even if he can no longer produce much of the language organically. That is what I want to change, this year! I would love to improve his confidence with the language, and his ability to respond to questions, in Spanish (not just understand the questions).

After watching a few of the informational videos, I went with Level 3 Llamitas Spanish binder for him, this year. All in all, it is the perfect level for him. He knows enough to not get discouraged, but it is still challenging to where he is encountering new vocabulary, grammar rules and concepts in each lesson.

Again–if you aren’t sure which level to choose, each level has an in-depth video (here’s the one I watched for Level 3) to explain what is covered, and how to know if it is right for your child.

Llamitas Spanish also provides a placement test, as well as sample pages, for each level. They truly have thought of everything!

One specific thing that is both a pro, and a con, is that the curriculum is bilingual. Everything from the instructions, to the activities, to the mini books, are in both English and Spanish. For native English speakers, this is great, especially for the parent trying to facilitate the learning. But for the student, I sometimes wish the English wasn’t there for them to see! If the English is there, their brain will not have to work as hard, because they’ll already know what something means without decoding the Spanish. The human mind usually chooses the easier route-and in language instruction, you have to push against that!

Pushing Yourself in Foreign Language Learning

One of the most important lessons I learned, as I was learning a foreign language myself, was that discomfort is imperative for learning! As any person who speaks more than one language can attest, the most effective methods for teaching involve immersion.

You have to be immersed in a language, and, in a sense, be forced to use it authentically, for it to stick long-term. You could memorize all of the vocabulary lists, practice conjugating all of the verbs, and study all of the grammatical rules you want, but at the end of the day, this would still just be book knowledge. Being alone at the grocery store, having to ask for help finding several items, and then facilitating a conversation at checkout where you have to get directions to your next destination–now that is true language use!

I first learned this when I studied abroad in Seville, Spain, during college. I loved everything about it–living with a host family, walking to school each day (all of our classes were in Spanish), grabbing snacks at little bodegas, and interacting with the culture in general. One problem was, that my roommates and I were all from the U.S.! They were lovely, but of course, their first language, like mine, was English. It was difficult for us to “stay in Spanish mode” each evening as we would unwind after school. We spoke with our host family in Spanish, of course, but this was easy because they did not speak any English. Our Spanish use was obligatory. When left alone together though, of course we would resort to English! It was just easier.

We were eager students, and wanted to learn as much Spanish as possible. But language learning is tiring! I know many can relate to this story. Typically, only when the language is mandatory, are you practicing it 100% of the time. So, the more frequently you can get yourself (or your kids) into situations where they must speak the target language, the better!

Mimicking Immersion in Homeschool

The lesson I learned in Spain repeated itself several times in the years after. When my husband and I moved to Guatemala, I was put into many situations, often alone, where I would have to use my Spanish! I grew more in those micro-situations, than I ever did sitting in a classroom memorizing verbs. In real-life interactions, you get corrected in real time. In classroom interactions, you receive feedback later–maybe a missed question on a test, or a question mark next to a phrase you were trying to write in an essay. It simply is not the same!

My last professional endeavor with Spanish was my all-time favorite teaching job: Spanish Immersion kindergarten. This is exactly what it sounds like: all day long, as the teacher, I was required to speak only in Spanish to the kids. Barring an emergency, I had to stay in the target language. No matter how confused they may get, I was not supposed to speak English. At all!

I taught in that classroom just before having my first child. I loved every second of it. I was truly amazed at the kids’ ability to learn. Since it was kindergarten, they started out the year knowing zero Spanish. By the end of the year, all of them could understand about 80% of my speech, and many of them, 90-100%. It was phenomenal. My husband (a native speaker) came and visited my class in April, toward the end of the year–and he too, was blown away. There is no better way to learn than immersion!

Alright, so–where does that leave us homeschoolers?! How are we supposed to mimic an immersive experience, in our homeschool? How do we provide that level of language immersion, especially if we don’t speak a second language?

Let me tell you- this has been one of the toughest things to figure out, in my entire homeschooling journey. I do speak a second language proficiently–and I have had so many things flop in my homeschool language instruction!

Part of it, I had to let go. I have four kids now, who all have different needs, and I simply cannot maintain a target language all day. My goal, this year, is to use the Llamitas Curriculum, and do my very best. In the future, I also hope to bring them to Central America, or Spain, so that they can experience that for themselves and be pushed to produce Spanish in that obligatory-sort of way.

The truth is, in our current situation and where we live, there simply aren’t a lot of authentic opportunities where it is required. And I have to accept that!

The biggest reason I landed on Llamitas Spanish this year is because I was fatigued from trying to “do it all.” With Llamitas, everything is right there for me, and then open-and-go element is what I needed this year. I cannot wait to see all of the growth my kids experience, and I will definitely report back with some findings, this spring.

Until then-check out their website! Even if you don’t need a full Spanish curriculum this year, they have an amazing freebie resource library.

Happy teaching,

Cait