Our country is rapidly becoming bilingual and our children are being left behind. Children learn a second language best befor the age of eleven.
September 22, 2005 (Press Release) --
Fiesta Friends - Mommy Teach me Spanish!
Jeanne Keene M.Ed.
"Mommy, teach me Spanish!” How would you respond to your three year old son’s demand when you don’t speak a word of Spanish? This was my situation with my young son Jackson, who started to read at age two and by the age of three was reading on a third grade level. We found out that our son was a “language coder” who learned to read without phonics.
A local professor of Gifted Education recommended we teach him a second language. Clearly, our country is rapidly becoming bilingual, and that I wanted him to learn Spanish.
I was also excited when I read the many studies proving that when young children are exposed to a second language, their cognitive abilities improve, their math skills go up, and test scores show improvement even later in their school careers.
My husband and I both had Spanish in school, but that had been almost twenty years ago. I tried to hire a Spanish teacher from our local schools, but they wanted no part of tutoring a three year old. We bought the videos on the market – but they were either for babies or did not appeal to my child. Immersion methods were proven to work, but if one parent does not speak the language, it proves to be frustrating for parent and child.
How could I stimulate my child’s mind, improve his over-all learning, and prepare him for the future? I might not know Spanish, but I was armed with a Masters in Education and the strong desire to help my child. From these beginnings, I developed our method of learning Spanish together centered on a child’s daily routine with his family. Our bedtime, mealtime, bathtime and other daily routines we revamped with exciting new names for the everyday objects in our home. I was learning with my child -- we were discovering the world around us a second time!
Over much time, my fluency began to improve. Other Moms saw what I was doing , and at the same time, our local Hispanic population began to boom. I started teaching classes in a “Mommy and Me” style format. In our small southern town, many people doubted our classes would have enough participants. But our classes exploded. Many parents complained that they wished that I could go home with them. The idea for a video series was born, one that would incorporate all the elements of home and daily life with Mom and introduce Spanish in a fun-filled, musical way!
Yes, the simple words, “Mommy, teach me Spanish” changed our home forever. My life, motherhood, and career took a mind expanding new turn – two years ago I would have never believed I would be an Executive Producer of an Educational video series designed especially for Moms across the country. This October, Fiesta Friends – Mommy, Teach Me Spanish will introduce its first fun and easy video, “Tengo Hambre-I am Hungry” centers around mealtime and the kitchen. The second video will be released in December and is entitled, “Tengo Sueno- I am tired” and centers on the bedtime routine and a child’s bedroom. Combining a unique mix of music, children ranging from 12 months to 12 years, adorable puppets and an ethnic mix relative to the diversity in our culture!
For more information on Fiesta Friends Videos and products, go to: www.fiestafriends.com
Jeanne Keene M.Ed.
"Mommy, teach me Spanish!” How would you respond to your three year old son’s demand when you don’t speak a word of Spanish? This was my situation with my young son Jackson, who started to read at age two and by the age of three was reading on a third grade level. We found out that our son was a “language coder” who learned to read without phonics.
A local professor of Gifted Education recommended we teach him a second language. Clearly, our country is rapidly becoming bilingual, and that I wanted him to learn Spanish.
I was also excited when I read the many studies proving that when young children are exposed to a second language, their cognitive abilities improve, their math skills go up, and test scores show improvement even later in their school careers.
My husband and I both had Spanish in school, but that had been almost twenty years ago. I tried to hire a Spanish teacher from our local schools, but they wanted no part of tutoring a three year old. We bought the videos on the market – but they were either for babies or did not appeal to my child. Immersion methods were proven to work, but if one parent does not speak the language, it proves to be frustrating for parent and child.
How could I stimulate my child’s mind, improve his over-all learning, and prepare him for the future? I might not know Spanish, but I was armed with a Masters in Education and the strong desire to help my child. From these beginnings, I developed our method of learning Spanish together centered on a child’s daily routine with his family. Our bedtime, mealtime, bathtime and other daily routines we revamped with exciting new names for the everyday objects in our home. I was learning with my child -- we were discovering the world around us a second time!
Over much time, my fluency began to improve. Other Moms saw what I was doing , and at the same time, our local Hispanic population began to boom. I started teaching classes in a “Mommy and Me” style format. In our small southern town, many people doubted our classes would have enough participants. But our classes exploded. Many parents complained that they wished that I could go home with them. The idea for a video series was born, one that would incorporate all the elements of home and daily life with Mom and introduce Spanish in a fun-filled, musical way!
Yes, the simple words, “Mommy, teach me Spanish” changed our home forever. My life, motherhood, and career took a mind expanding new turn – two years ago I would have never believed I would be an Executive Producer of an Educational video series designed especially for Moms across the country. This October, Fiesta Friends – Mommy, Teach Me Spanish will introduce its first fun and easy video, “Tengo Hambre-I am Hungry” centers around mealtime and the kitchen. The second video will be released in December and is entitled, “Tengo Sueno- I am tired” and centers on the bedtime routine and a child’s bedroom. Combining a unique mix of music, children ranging from 12 months to 12 years, adorable puppets and an ethnic mix relative to the diversity in our culture!
For more information on Fiesta Friends Videos and products, go to: www.fiestafriends.com
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