Teaching Tips for Language Learning

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For those of you that homeschool I thought I would take a moment to let you know about a series of posts I just finished on my other blog, Debbie's Spanish Learning. If you are in the process of teaching your kids another language you might find some helpful tips in these posts. I taught my two boys Spanish as I homeschooled them (Acutally, I am still teaching my youngest). Currently, I teach homeschoolers and some private school kids the language. In the series, I touch on how to use children's books, stickers, and even Story Cubes in language teaching. Here are a few of the graphics from the series to give you an idea of what I have covered. You can find all the posts here.

Hope to see you there!

Gift Ideas for Bilingual Kids

If you have bilingual kids in your life or if you are raising your own kids with more than one language, check out this post on my Spanish blog with ideas on what to get them this Christmas!

Gifts for Bilingual kids...

Teaching Spanish in Your Homeschool

Are you a homeschool mom that wants to introduce your kids to Spanish? Are you unsure where to start or how to go about it? For about two decades I have taught my own sons Spanish in our home and other homeschoolers. I started out as a high school Spanish teacher in the early nineties, but came home in 2001 to be with my boys. A few years after that I started an in-home business teaching other homeschool kids the language.

In 2013, I started the blog, Debbie's Spanish Learning, to collect all my resources and ideas for teaching the language to young kids. So if you are looking to teach Spanish in your home I would love to share with you all the resources available to you on my blog. Here is a quick look at some of the ideas you can use as you introduce Spanish to your children...

Join me over at Paradise Praises to see all the resources available to you if you would like to introduce Spanish to your kids.

Paper Folding Salvation Message {in Spanish}

For years, I taught children and youth at a local church. I so enjoyed my time working with young people and helping them develop a relationship with God. That is why I love my friend, Anne Marie, and her website. Future Flying Saucers is filled with Bible lessons for kids. She has lessons on salvation, lessons related to holidays (i.e. Christmas and Valentine's Day), and lessons from both the Old and New Testament. I particularly LOVE her lesson on Cain and Abel, an object lesson on how our sin affects others. Sometimes as human beings we think we live in a vacuum and our sin won't spill out onto others. That is never the case! Anne Marie's object lesson demonstrates how  our sin can destroy the lives of others.

Last fall I had the privilege of working with Anne Marie on one of her lessons. No, I didn't create the lesson. The ideas are hers, but I did help by translating into Spanish her paper-folding salvation message. This object lesson walks kids through what Christ did on the cross for us (a great message just in time for Easter!) and then leads kids to respond. So now her site contains an English version of the lesson and a Spanish one! If you work with kids in Spanish please check it out!  Here are the links to each version:

English Version

Spanish Version

Also, take a few moments to browse her site! You may find a lesson or two to use in the near future!

Hispanic Culture with Picture Books

I LOVE children's picture books. When my boys were younger it was the way I taught them using books based unit studies from Five in a Row and Homeschool Share. My boys are now teens, and picture books have fallen by the wayside for us. However, I teach Spanish to homeschoolers and public school kids in the afternoon and use a plethora of picture books to teach them. Homeschool Share has a blog, and they are featuring my post on teaching Hispanic culture with picture books. Not only do I share a list of picture books {all in English}, but there are also unit studies {free from Homeschool Share} to go with the books. 

To read the complete post, click here.

Top Ten Posts of 2013

It has been quite the year for me.  Because of personal circumstances, I have been able {at least in the second half of this year} to spend more time writing.  I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back on the most popular posts at The Architect and the Artist of 2013.

1. By far the post with the most views was All That Glitters are God's Gifts. Ann Voskamp came out with a Christmas/Advent book this past September entitled, The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. In the book she has 25 Advent readings and a link to download ornaments to hang on your tree for each reading.  My post was part life story and part tutorial on how to dress up the ornaments with glitter. It is incredible how many people have looked at this post!  But it may have something to do with Ann commenting about it on Facebook. It sure does help when the actual author of the book takes notice!!

UPDATE:  A friend of mine just told me that Ann featured my post on her blog last weekend! 

Such excitement!!! I am still shocked that she took notice of my post!!!

2. Casseroles for the Freezer from 31 Days of Freezer Meals was another popular post.  I have been doing freezer meals for a lot of years and decided in October to write about what works and what doesn't. There were actually several posts that were popular from that series.

3. Top Ten Freezer Meals

4. Freezer Smoothies

5. Packaging Food for the Freezer

6. Another extremely popular post was from my series called Wilderness Wanderings. The Holes That Make Us Whole speaks to how God uses those circumstances in our lives that are less than perfect to make us more whole.  One of the greatest puzzles of life is that it is in the wounds that we can find healing.

7. The post, Bible Studies for Women, was a post reviewing several of the Bible studies I have done over the years.  If you are looking for a new study check out this post.

8. Christmas Posts @ The Architect and the Artist has been another favorite over the past month.  This post lists several of my Christmas related posts from the blog over the years...Christ in Christmas, baking and crafting ideas.

9. Another extremely popular post was for Spanish teachers called Teaching Spanish Literature.  I do have several posts on this blog about teaching Spanish, but recently I started another blog to post all my Spanish ideas called Debbie's Spanish Learning.  For those that don't know, I am a certified Spanish teacher and give private and small group lessons in my home.

10. And one more post...this one on homeschooling.  Teaching British Literature is an overview of what I am doing with my oldest son who is a junior this year.

It has been an amazing year!  It is my hope and prayer that you find something here that is helpful to you or an encouragement to you!  Can't wait for 2014!

Linking up at...Amongst Lovely Things

My Spanish Blog

Do you teach Spanish?  Or do you homeschool and teach your kids Spanish?  If so, I have several posts here on this blog about teaching Spanish.  Recently, I started another blog to collect all my ideas that I do with my students as I teach them.  So if you are interested hop on over to Debbie's Spanish Learning for teaching ideas and resources that will enable you to teach Spanish in a fun and engaging way!

Adapting Board Games for Language Learning

For anyone that has followed my blog for any amount of time you know that I am a Spanish teacher.  I no longer teach in the public school system, but rather give private and small group lessons in my home.  I am always trying new activities to keep language learning interesting, not only for the students but also for me!  I can't tell you how many times I have taught the colors or verb conjugations over the years! So to keep myself interested (and for the students, too) I am always looking to do new activities like using games or children's books to teach. Slowly over time I have been collecting games that can be adapted to language learning.

Today my younger students and I played a game that I recently bought.  The rules are simple, but I modified them a bit to incorporate language learning. Elephant's Trunk is a great game to review a few colors, clothes, and some other vocabulary with preschoolers or younger elementary.  It can be adapted for other vocabulary simply by making picture cards of different items to put in the suitcases.

We basically followed the rules of the game except that I gave each player round discs with different clothing instead of giving them a set of discs with all the same clothing on it. That way they were using more of the vocabulary. We also didn't use the rule "consolation packing prize" that is listed in the instructions.

So basically you roll the die and if you get a color you can put one article of clothing in the trunk (suitcase) of that color.  I had my student tell me what they were doing in order to practice the Spanish. For example, "Pongo la camisa en la maleta azul." (I am putting the shirt in the blue suitcase.) There are some other rules that involve the elephant and the mouse that are located in the original instructions.  The object of the game is pack away all your clothing into the suitcases, but if you roll a mouse then you have to take the clothing that is in one of the suitcases.  That rule added a lot of interest to the game for the kids since a player could almost be winning and yet if they rolled a mouse they then had more clothing to get rid of. Here is a list of vocabulary that we used:

-la media*
-la camisa*
-la gorra*
-los pantalones cortos*
-el elefante
-el raton
-la maleta (suitcase)
-nada (when there is nothing in the suitcase to take out)
-A ti te toca. (It's your turn.)
-A mi me toca. (It's my turn.)
-Tira el dado. (Roll the die.)

*These words could be substituted for other vocabulary if you make small picture cards of the words you want to work on.  I am planning on doing this in the future.

This game was a hit today!  Even if you play it in English younger kids will love it!  The fact that there were little tin suitcases added to the game for the kids (a very tactile experience).

I have several other posts that you can look at for ideas to use in language learning:

Learning Numbers 1-20 (Elementary Level)

Teaching Spanish Literature (High School Level)

Using Board Games to teach Spanish

Learning Spanish with Children's Books

Learning Spanish with Children's Books {Part 2}

Resources for Teaching Spanish

So what great games have you used for language learning?  I would love to hear your ideas.

A New Start

In a few short days we start school again.  I love this time of year!  My boys may not be as excited though!  I am even more excited this year because I have really decluttered the house and gotten our supplies ready better than I ever have before.  My motivation comes from the fact that I have a heavier work load (I teach Spanish lessons in the afternoon after homeschooling the boys).  I wanted to make sure that all was ready to go not only for them, but also for my Spanish classes.

I cleaned out one of the shelves on our computer desk.  This was a BIG event for me!!!  That shelf had been home to all of our Five in a Row curriculum and books.  I couldn't bear to put them in storage even though we haven't used Five in a Row in a long time. Those books bring back so many memories. Call me sentimental!  But I finally did it and so glad that I did.  The shelf now has my school supplies, my planning calender, and some other miscellaneous items (stapler and hole punch).

I also have the boys' textbooks all ready to go.  My oldest's books on the left and the younger's on the right.  I have never been this organized!!!

Here is our plan for the year and the curriculum we will be using:

11th Grader

British Literature

Consumer Math using Math-U-See's Stewardship Math {I love that there is a devotional with this and that the focus is teaching the student how to deal with money appropriately.}

Chemistry {An outside class that he will be taking}

Economics and American Government using Notgrass

Health {Just using a basic textbook here by Prentice Hall}

Spanish III {Classes by me that he will be taking with another homeschooler.  This is what we will use to read REAL Spanish literature.}

Service Learning {He has already finished this by serving at a local camp all summer.}

7th Grader

Language Arts {IEW's Economics-Based Writing lessons, Spelling Power, Daily Grams, and various chapter books for reading}

Pre-Algebra {using Math-u-See and Hands-on Equations}

General Science {using Apologia}

Economics and Government {using Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? with the study guide and
Painless American Government }

Spanish {lessons by me}

Piano

We will do Bible together which will consist of memorizing verses, adding to our gratitude journals, and Bible reading (we are going to start with Psalms).

So are you ready to start school?  What's on your agenda?

Spanish Lapbook

 

 I have several resources/posts on my blog in regards to teaching Spanish to kids and high school students. As many of you know, I am certified to teach Spanish at the high school level, but for the past decade or so I have been giving private and small group lessons in my home to students.  Here is a smattering of other posts that I have done to aid in the teaching of Spanish:

Learning Numbers 1-20 (Elementary Level)

Teaching Spanish Literature (High School Level)

Using Board Games to teach Spanish

Learning Spanish with Children's Books

Learning Spanish with Children's Books {Part 2}

Resources for Teaching Spanish

But there is another resource that you might be interested in created by myself and another homeschool mom, Kelly.  It is a Spanish lapbook available through Homeschool Share and it is completely free! It includes a lot of the basics like numbers, clothes, colors, weather, etc.  There are vocabulary lists and lesson ideas to go along with the actual lapbook pieces.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Looking Back: Our Favorite Homeschool Curricula

We are by no means done with our homeschooling journey, but with my oldest we are getting to the end as he will be a junior in the fall.  Here is a look at some of the curricula that we have enjoyed and learned the most from...

Our homeschooling journey started with Five in a Row when the boys were in early elementary.  Of all the products that we have used this has been my favorite.  My fondest memories come from FIAR.  There were so many neat activities and precious learning experiences that we had. Basically, Five in a Row is a literature-based curriculum.  For one week you read the same picture book, like The Duchess Bakes a Cake
or How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World and pull a lesson from five different subjects based on the book.  Each week there are lessons in language arts, social studies, science, art, and applied math.  My boys gained so much knowledge about the world through these lessons.  The lessons are gentle, yet deep and are memories in the making!  Starting at 3rd or 4th grade we moved from FIAR to other programs for history (Biblioplan) and science (Apologia).  See below for information...

Another similar resource (that is FREE!) are the lessons and lapbooks at Homeschool Share. There are unit studies at Homeschool Share that are similar to Five in a Row.  There are also numerous lapbooks.  We used several units and lapbooks from here and loved all of them!

For math we used Math-U-See and Teaching Textbooks. We used Math-U-See in the younger years.  I loved the hands-on approach and the way of teaching place value.  This year my oldest will use their Stewardship program which deals with personal finance.  Honestly, though, for the high school years I prefer Teaching Textbooks.  This program can mainly be done on the computer. The beauty of it is that every single problem, yes, every single one is done step by step for the student.  So as your child is working through his or her lesson and misses a problem he/she can go back a review the problem. Teaching Textbooks also grades their work.  Since I am very weak in math I felt like this was the way to go when we got to higher levels.

Apologia has awesome programs for both elementary and high school levels. The elementary levels are engaging and fun.  There is also a notebook that you can buy to help review the concepts they have learned. The notebooks include crosswords and notebooking pages with mini-books. My youngest son did every single one of the elementary books and loved them!  The high school levels are rigorous and challenging.  I love that creationism is explored along with why evolution doesn't work based on what we know of the world.

Biblioplan is what we used at the elementary level for history. Biblioplan is a four year program which you can cycle through a couple of times if you homeschool all the way through. It incorporates "spines" (history texts) like Story of the World, Usborne history books, etc. and literature to read as you go through the centuries.  We didn't use the other aspects of the program except for doing maps. I love that we could use literature to cover history!

We used Notgrass for high school history (world and American).  I liked that there were review questions and quizzes and tests to keep my son focused on the material. Literature is also incorporated into the program (although we did literature separately). There is also a book with original documents and speeches that your student can read. Notgrass comes from a Christian perspective which I appreciated.

For writing we used Institute for Excellence in Writing. I loved this program because it teaches good outlining skills and how to dress up your writing.  This is basically the only writing program that we used.  The only problem?  After using it for several years with both boys we got kind of bored with the system.  However, even with that, this is the BEST program out there that I have seen for writing simply because it teaches how to make your writing interesting.

We used Progeny Press and Teaching the Classics from Center for Lit. for teaching literature.  Teaching the Classics is a manual for the parent that teaches how to discuss literature with your student.  Invaluable!!!  I love the list of questions that can be used for any book at the end of the manual.  We used Progeny Press for some of the books that we read.  These are literature guides that come from a Christian perspective. I loved using these when we came to books that have hard topics in them like To Kill a Mockingbird.

So what have you used in your homeschool?

Learning Numbers 1-20 (Book Recommendation)

Teaching numbers can be hard for the younger set.  Once they master up to twenty it gets easier. I recently used Un Alce, Veinte Ratones to review numbers 1-20 with one of my young Spanish students.  It worked out better than I had hoped!  Here's what I did:

First I read the story to her.  She was already familiar with the numbers and could count easily from one to twenty, but she is still working on identifying numbers that are out of order and just recognizing which numbers are what.  It's one thing to be able to count out loud.  It is another thing to be able to see a number and recognize what it is. So after reading the story to her I pulled out some number cards, put them in order and had her count 1 through 20 with the cards.

I then randomly picked a page and had her count the animals on that page.  She then had to look at the number on the page and find that same number on one of the number cards and hand it to me.

We did every page randomly until I had collected all the number cards from her.  I was amazed that she didn't get bored yet in the process she was counting over and over again and also working on recognizing the way numbers are written.

 

This book is also available in English under the title One Moose, Twenty Mice.  So if you home school your kids or your child is in school this would be a great book to work with them on recognizing their numbers and practicing counting!