Up to this point, I’ve done a gentle lead in to Spanish. Mostly submersion method without formal lessons. When the review came up for Spanish for You!, I was intrigued. We chose to review the Fiestas themed lessons.
The curriculum packages come with a soft cover book or e-book, lesson plans for grades 3-4 (30 weeks), 5-6 (24 weeks), and 7-8 (24 weeks) (PDF), worksheets with answer keys for self-checking (PDF), audio files featuring the author for the whole book including bonus audio files with a native speaker (MP3), and flashcard/activity pictures (PDF). Plus, there are some wonderful resources on the website such as Curriculum Activities, Free Mini Lessons, Free Worksheets, a How to Use the Curriculum PDF, and a blog by the author, Debbie Annett.
The Spanish for You! lesson guides make this easy to use without prior planning. I follow the guides which tell me when to use the book, audio files, worksheets, and various other resources. It’s simple to use. I’m going to break this down a bit:
Grades 3-4 guide: I’m using this with Amber (7) and Jake (10). All of us are together as we follow the lesson guide, but for the worksheets, Jake is able to do them independently while occasionally asking me for clarification as needed. Since Amber is so young, I work on her worksheets beside her.
Grades 7-8 guide: I use this one with Christian (13) and Chrystiana (17). They are both doing this together while I oversee their progress. They are able to do this fairly independently.
I know I have two outside of the age margins, but pairing them this way allows for them to interact with the curriculum more fully. Not to say that this won’t work for a solo student. It will, but I’d recommend a parent doing the activities with the student to enrich the study more.
What’s neat about the curriculum is that many of the resources work with all grade levels. The main distinction is in the grade specific worksheets. This allows all four to do lots of activities together. As for practicing what they learn, we are using more and more Spanish in our everyday interactions. Even daddy is often greeted with hola, Padre. Gracious, por favor, de nada…so much is becoming common place. We have an interesting mix of English, Spanish, and sign language happening in the Silva home these days.
Click for a sample of Fiestas.
We all enjoy this curriculum. It’s been a wonderful fit for our family, and a great way to begin formal lessons. I love that my younger ones can continue growing with the curriculum as they move into the older guides. My older two can move into other packages, and on into more advanced spanish. I will say that even my oldest (at home) is enjoying what feels like a family project. She’s picking it up the fastest, and looking forward to getting deeper into Spanish and possibly another language before long.
There is a lot of review built into this package and from what I understand across the various packages. This allows for a solid grasp on what they are learning. They practice how to read, speak, and write spanish with this program. There are so many resources on the website which add to this curriculum, too. I believe it is a good, solid foundation to build upon.
Side note: I love the little drawings, and love even more that her daughter drew them for her. Debbie’s goal is to keep costs down, so her curriculum is affordable. She’s put a lot into her curriculum, and seems open and available if you have questions.
The Fiestas Grades 3-8 Package is available for $64.95 which I think is a great deal if you have kids of all ages or young kids who will cycle through the different grade levels. Or you can buy each grade range package individually for $39.95. Extra books cost $12.95 each.
You can find out more about the Spanish for You! curriculum by checking out the FAQ, About the curriculum page, or Facebook.
