Hi Lisa,
Do you speak Spanish yourself? Of course the very best way for a child to learn any language (first, second, third) is in daily interactions. I speak Spanish as a second language and I am teaching my son. Sometimes I have been hesitant to speak to my son in Spanish as I didn’t want him to pick up my accent and non-native way of speaking. But finally, I realized that truly the best way for him to learn was for me to use the language with him. Who cares if he has an accent anyway. I figured if I don’t teach him he will still have an accent and he won’t learn the language.
Anyway, I say this because there is a program called Play and Learn Spanish that seems to help parents/caregivers have that daily interaction with the child even though you may not be fluent yourself. I haven’t used it so I can’t much recommend it, but at least the idea of it seems like a really good one. If I had less fluency I would definitely use it. Here is an excerpt from a review:
In each scenario there's a dialogue between a mother and child using everyday vocabulary. For instance in the dialogue about getting dressed (Ready for the Day):
Time to get dressed!
Let's look in the closet.
Let's see - pants, skirts, shirts, t-shirts...
What do you want to put on?
Do you want the red skirt?
...
Very good. Put in your arm.
Put in your other arm.
Put in your head. All done!
...
Wow, how nice you look!
If you are looking for a DVD I highly recommend whistlefritz Spanish for Kids. The entire thing is in Spanish, which in my opinion is great because the child will be exposed to the real language rather than individual words and short phrases. If you are not very fluent in Spanish yourself you may think it is overwhelming, but look at it from the perspective of the child. They are used to not understanding most of what they hear. It is not overwhelming to them and that is how they learn language, by being immersed in it. I think the makers of the video make it obvious what they are saying through images, gestures, and repetition. But, of course I already know what they are saying.
We also listen to music by Miss Rosi. She is a children’s singer from Peru (my husband is Peruvian). She has a CD on Amazon. We listen in the car and in between EVERY song my son says “¡Mas musica!” Silly guy. It is also great because it keeps him calm in the car. I have put some of her songs to video and have them on my youtube channel if you are interested:
www.youtube.com/mindymarissa Finally, I would recommend the book The Bilingual Edge which talks about how to raise a child bilingually weather or not you are bilingual.
Good luck and happy teaching!
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