My child came home and said that the Spanish teacher speaks all Spanish in class and that he doesn't understand anything! How do I handle this?
Your child was correct about the use of Spanish in the Spanish classroom. And it is very normal for your child to feel both surprised and perhaps confused and even a bit overwhelmed. Please be assured that I understand that most students in my classes do not speak Spanish and I do not expect them to understand everything that I say. I have a step-by-step plan for teaching them the language that they will need to do what I expect them to do at the end of each unit. And we practice and practice...and practice some more. To teach the relevant language, I use visual cues, gestures, pantomime, etc. to elicit understanding. I continually check understanding to make sure that the new language is being understood. I teach the students to listen for cognates--words that are similar in both languages (clase=class, profesor=professor, temperatura=temperature, familia=family, etc.). There are hundreds and hundreds of these words that the children can recognize. Please reassure your child that this feeling of strangeness will wear off over time and that they will feel more and more comfortable with the sound of the language and will understand more and more of what I am saying. Please feel free to check my curriculum plan for each unit that is located on the FILES page on this website (SIDE MENU BAR). Also, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or concerns.Back to Top
Your child was correct about the use of Spanish in the Spanish classroom. And it is very normal for your child to feel both surprised and perhaps confused and even a bit overwhelmed. Please be assured that I understand that most students in my classes do not speak Spanish and I do not expect them to understand everything that I say. I have a step-by-step plan for teaching them the language that they will need to do what I expect them to do at the end of each unit. And we practice and practice...and practice some more. To teach the relevant language, I use visual cues, gestures, pantomime, etc. to elicit understanding. I continually check understanding to make sure that the new language is being understood. I teach the students to listen for cognates--words that are similar in both languages (clase=class, profesor=professor, temperatura=temperature, familia=family, etc.). There are hundreds and hundreds of these words that the children can recognize. Please reassure your child that this feeling of strangeness will wear off over time and that they will feel more and more comfortable with the sound of the language and will understand more and more of what I am saying. Please feel free to check my curriculum plan for each unit that is located on the FILES page on this website (SIDE MENU BAR). Also, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or concerns.
My child never seems to have any homework in Spanish!
Although you might not see paper and pencil worksheets, there is always work to do at home in Spanish. Please encourage your child to download the review sheets and vocabulary lists in the FILES section of this class page to supplement and correct notes that have been taken in class. Also, please get to know the QUIA web page for your child's class and ask your child for their QUIA username and password. (You can also get these from me.) At the QUIA site are many practice activities in different game formats that your child can use to practice the same vocabulary that we are using in class. When you log into your child's account, you can also view quizzes with detailed feedback of correct or incorrect answers. In addition to viewing the quizzes, you can see which practice activities your child has been working on and for how long. Every week I update the assignments on this page to reflect the vocabulary that the students need to work on. The QUIA class page for your child can be accessed by clicking on the grade level (in the left side bar). That will take you to the page where you can click on a smiley face icon that will take you to the activity page for your child's class.Back to Top
Although you might not see paper and pencil worksheets, there is always work to do at home in Spanish. Please encourage your child to download the review sheets and vocabulary lists in the FILES section of this class page to supplement and correct notes that have been taken in class. Also, please get to know the QUIA web page for your child's class and ask your child for their QUIA username and password. (You can also get these from me.) At the QUIA site are many practice activities in different game formats that your child can use to practice the same vocabulary that we are using in class. When you log into your child's account, you can also view quizzes with detailed feedback of correct or incorrect answers. In addition to viewing the quizzes, you can see which practice activities your child has been working on and for how long. Every week I update the assignments on this page to reflect the vocabulary that the students need to work on. The QUIA class page for your child can be accessed by clicking on the grade level (in the left side bar). That will take you to the page where you can click on a smiley face icon that will take you to the activity page for your child's class.