Hola! I took 2 years of Spanish in High School.
Other than being able to ask directions to the bathroom, I’m pretty sure my
Spanish speaking skills are fairly nonexistent. The sad fact is that both of my parents also
speak Spanish. In fact, my dad is somewhat of a linguist. I’m lucky to remember
my name some days.
I have
always wanted Josiah’s experiences to be a bit broader than my own. Which means
I eventually would like him to be able to go beyond asking for the nearest
lavatory in Spanish. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can provide a
variety of experiences to help him achieve this.
I had the
opportunity to review a fun product called See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish
from Flip Flop Learning. Flip Flop Learning is a company
that has created fun resources for learning French and Spanish.
What I Received
See It and Say It
Flip Flop Spanish is a 2-year Spanish program. This program uses audial, tactile,
and visual learning styles to help you and your child learn Spanish. The
recommended age for this product is broad. Your 3-year-old can use it along
with your 90-year-old great Grandma. Which means that the options are endless.
Even this tired momma (who falls somewhere in between 3 and 90) can brush up on
her Spanish speaking skills. There are
suggestions by Señora Gose (the author of this wonderful program) for providing extra
challenges for older students.
The program
contains 45 lessons. The beauty of these lessons is that they can be repeated
as needed. I love how it all works. Each lesson lasts one week. You only do
Spanish 3 days a week. On the 1st day, the student follows a CD
track. The 2nd the student repeats the CD track. On the 3rd day, I
am on deck (as the teacher) and I simply read through the script for that
lesson. I liked being able to take some time with Josiah and reinforce what he
had been learning. Each lesson should
only take about 10 or 15 minutes. Anybody can do 10 or 15 minutes!
When you
receive your box from Flip Flop Learning in the mail, you will find in it some neat
stuff.
A manual
with lesson plans
4 CD’s
(audio)
Flash cards
with pictures (3 sets)
1 white
board paddle
1 dry erase
marker
I loved this
insert in the box. Easy Peasy!
Starting
right out of the gate, the student is introduced to vocabulary words and begins
to use simple sentences. There are games included as well to help the student practice
their Spanish vocabulary skills. The
Flash Cards and CDs provide an interactive learning experience. This is a wonderfully
unique way to learn a foreign language.
How We Used
It
Josiah was
convinced he knew Spanish already. I tried to explain to him that just because
he can speak in a freakishly convincing Spanish accent does not mean he can
actually speak Spanish.
Aren’t kids
funny?
I love the
pace of this program. As I explained above, 1 lesson takes place over 3 days.
I want to
walk you through a typical lesson. This
particular lesson was Lesson 5 (or cinco).
Before
Josiah started this particular lesson (which was on Day 1), I gathered the flash
cards he would need. There are 3 sets of
flash cards. They are divided by 3 different colors…verde, azul and rojo (do
you know your colors in Spanish?) and they are all numbered. On one side of the
card is a picture of a phrase or vocabulary word. On the other side is the word
in Spanish along with the English translation. I absolutely love this method.
As you might know, Josiah is dyslexic. The reinforcement of the picture made
things so much easier for him.
The words
for the lesson were:
aqui-here
la cabeza – the head
me duele – (it) hurts me
el brazo – the arm
el estómago
– the stomach
la mano – the hand
Josiah set up his CD player to the appropriate track (he would use
tracks 14-16) on this day. And then he simply pushed play. As Señora Gose taught he followed her instructions by
pointing to the appropriate card. I took this picture during Track 14. Looks like somebody needs to dust her TV!
Track 15 was
additional practice.
Track 16 showed
Josiah how to build sentences.
Remember that this is Day 1. Day 2 will take him through the paces
again and on Day 3 I will take over for Señora
Gose and repeat the same lesson.
At the end
of this lesson it is suggested that the student play charades while listening
to the sentences they just learned.
“Me duele la cabeza.” My head hurts. Can you tell that someone can be just a tad bit dramatic?
“Me duele el estómago.” My stomach hurts. No. He's not dramatic at all.
“Me duele aquí.” It hurts here. A little "true to life." Poor guy. He's got a tooth coming in. Now he can talk about it Spanish.
Josiah and I
can now go to any Spanish speaking country and complain about a headache. Which
is good because both of us suffer from just a little hypochondria.
I wanted to show you another cool activity using the whiteboard paddle
that comes with the program. This game is called ¡Paleta! (paddle).
The student plays Pictionary uses the nouns they have learned. ¡Paleta!
wasn’t part of this particular lesson, but we thought it would be fun to play.
Josiah is trying to stump me with “la mano.” I’m craftier than he thinks. He
failed to put away the flash card with “la mano” clearly written on it. I tried
not to look. I promise. Anybody else thinks this picture looks like a
whiteboard paddle with eyebrows?
Josiah wanted to play Show and Tell with a few of his favorite flash
cards.
Here he is holding the “el gato” card. Which means “the cat.” This card
was a big hit. The cat happens to look one of the cats who live at Josiah’s Ama
and Papa’s farm.I'm not so sure what the crazy face is for. I think someone is showing off for the camera.
Another card. Another cat. You can tell somebody likes cats.
Josiah and I obviously did a little flash card investigating. Here is
my favorite.
You guessed it. El cuarto de baño?
We love this program. I love the fact that it incorporates a good
mixture learning styles. Not only that, but it’s just fun. And (which is a
biggie for us at this season of life) I don’t have to carve out huge chunks of
time. I also love that I can use See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish for the next 2
years. Consistency is the name of the game. This program is a great fit for
Josiah and for our family. It’s easy to
use and well planned out.
Another plus is that this program is not just for homeschoolers. This
would be a great addition to any family’s learning experiences.
You can purchase
See It and Say It Spanish for $99.95. That’s not too bad for 2 years of a foreign
language.
TOS Crew Members everywhere reviewed this product. You can check more
reviewed here, por favor.
Adios!
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