todas cosas espanol

I have been trying to raise my beautiful baby, Olivia Beckett, bilingual since the time she was born.  This has posed quite a challenge being that neither my husband nor I are fluent Spanish speakers. Actually, if we are being totally honest - we don't know much past 'hola,' 'coma estas,' and the verb 'fumar' from our rebellious high school days.

I am shocked that in our multicultural world it is so difficult to find language programs from children. I have done what I can - hired only Spanish speaking babysitters (I love you Maria and Shayla), have her watch cartoons on the Spanish channel, use what little Spanish I know.  I have even signed up for my own weekly Spanish class and so in honor of those who share my struggle (Shayla, Miguel) in trying to raise bilingual children in a monolingual home and as a way to inspire my newly found amigos that I share each Tuesday night with as we painstakingly try to remember how to conjugate verbs (nuestro maestra es muy paciente - how'd I do Iwona?) I wanted to add a page where I can share what few resources I have come across in trying to learn a new language. And if they, you, I still feel completely incompetent, I suggest a reading of the short story "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris (hysterical).

Me Talk Pretty One Day 

Resources 

1)  "Travel the world with lawyer Raquel Rodríguez as she solves a mystery for a dying man. Watch the complete Destinos series, practice your Spanish, and find new resources for learning and teaching Spanish."Destinos Series with accompanying quizzes/games

2) Quizlet - Great resource suggested by my friend Lori for making flashcard - Quizlet

3) Spanishdict - Great resource with a translator, phrasebook, free word of the day, flashcards and more Spanishdict

For the kids

1) Camp Fantastico - A one week camp held this June at Lakeland Community College Main Campus in Kirtland. Camp Fantastico

2) iPhone app for kids ($2.99)  Feed Me Spanish- http://www.kidsgobilingual.com/free-iphone-app-kids-spanish/

3) iPhone app Flash Spanish (free)  Spanish vocabulary for food, animals, letters, transportation, numbers, colors, body parts, play, music - http://www.eflashapps.com/apps-on-itunes-appstore.html

4) Cleveland Spanish Academy -  http://www.clevelandspanishacademy.com/

5) Camp Globo (Stow area) -  http://www.campglobo.com/#!contact/c1z0x

6) Great website for Spanish games for children - http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_for_children

7) Apparently the Y offers a class, but not until age 6: Spanish Classes at the Y

8) http://primeraescuela.com/

9) Liv picked up a book from the library, Bebe goes to the beach, and it just happened to be rhyming bilingual book! Yay! Check out the author's website at susanelya.com