For teaching Spanish, I've had great luck with programs such as Peep
http://peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/vid_fishmuseum_es.html, also available on youtube (you might want to avoid googling "peep show"
). They used to show it on Discovery Kids, but have taken it off the air for some reason. It's a very simple and entertaining show which is key at this stage.
When teaching in any language, the important thing to keep in mind is that children pay attention to not just flash, colors, loud/funny noises, but they also have a need to understand what is going on. Children pay more attention when they can understand what's going on. Researchers studying Sesame Street found this out 30+ years ago (see my blog for more on the Sesame Street research)
http://www.readingamigo.com/blog/children-are-not-zombies and it will be very helpful when you are trying to select the most effective way to spend your time with your child. Ensuring that the child understands what is being communicated happens naturally when parents are talking to and interacting with their child. The child's engagement is not necessarily as easy to judge when you're talking about a TV program or other forms of teaching, this can lead to frustration in the child and (worse!) boredom. Programs such as Reading Amigo
http://www.readingamigo.com fit perfectly into this equation by helping Parents build a language foundation that the child will then use to understand more advanced vocabulary in the foreign language. This will have a snowball effect to help the child understand ever more complex concepts and enjoy their learning more and more.
Digg
