So many of my fellow parents tell me, “Sure Beth, it’s easy for you to do this second language stuff because you lived in Chile and Mexico.  But for me and my family it’s hard … we keep defaulting to English even when we know we should practice our Spanish.”

I am here to tell you amigos and amigas that you CAN do this, and it can be fun, affordable, and part of your daily routine.  Watch this for just one minute then come back:

When those children entered the studio to film this bilingual music video for children only one of the 8 spoke any Spanish whatsoever (and as a child of Latino parents she did so very reluctantly & with no smiles at all).

Honestly – telling you the straight truth here – after only 6 hours in the studio filming this video every one of the kids (except the baby!) left spouting out words in Spanish with pride!  Were they fluent?  No way!  That takes between 5-8 years according to linguistic experts.

My point today is that this second language journey CAN BE FUN, CAN BE AFFORDABLE, and CAN BE ENJOYED DAILY (it should be to make it work).  Check out what we do differently to make this work.

Stay tuned this week to get some realistic tips on how, when, and why.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Recently on Amazon.com a new customer of my company chose to write a very negative review about the methodology we use here at Boca Beth.  She knew when she bought the My First Songs in Spanish bilingual music CD that the presentation of the songs are side-by-side English and Spanish lyrics.

The reason I know that she was VERY aware of our true bilingual presentation is that she attended a training by an early childhood professional, and she bought the CD right after the training.  Why she chose to publicly criticize me instead of calling me directly or e-mailing me or asking for a refund is a mystery to this day.  

I chose the bilingual method more than 20 years ago when I began teaching our first born son Spanish as his second language.  His Dad (my first husband) enjoyed a mom from Cuba and a father from Spain, so I presented both languages to my sons as much as I could in a side-by-side format.  When I would give them milk I would say, “Here’s your milk/tu leche.”  When we saw a dog I would say, “Perro/dog.”

Every person has a right to their opinion, and I respect this woman’s opinion on immersion as a method for introducing a new language to young children.  I, however, have chosen bilingual and just wish she had had the kindness in her heart to not post a very public negative comment which all of us know is never helpful to any business – big or small.

Here are some additional bilingual tools to help your family learn about telling time this week (all coming from other companies who agree with me that the bilingual method works best for the younger children ages birth-ten):

A fun site that gives you both the English and Spanish for telling time vocabulary.

My friends over at OnLineFreeSpanish.com always make learning both languages FUN!

Sara Jordan has been presenting English and Spanish in a side-by-side bilingual format for YEARS.  Here is a reproducible book for the older set (6-10) – enjoy!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

P.S. (What do YOU think?  Am I crazy thinking that a fellow teacher and fellow female should have picked up the phone and called me or at least penned an e-mail to me instead of  hurting not just me but my reputation with a very negative review?!?!  I would love to hear your thoughts.)

It’s true!  The Spanish alphabet is different from the English alphabet!  

But it’s not so different that you and your child can’t learn it with my Boca Beth song titled Rappin the Spanish Alphabet (available as a FREE You Tube video from Monday’s blog post or on our More Boca Beth bilingual music CD which is only $9 with the 40% savings code of JOLLY for Christmas / Hanukkah shopping fun!).

I thought I would help you with some additional visual learning today by suggesting some cool books for the Spanish alphabet:

This book titled The Alphabet / El alfabeto is fantastic and is presented in  board book style for toddlers and preschoolers who are learning to read.      Experts agree that children CAN learn their native and a new language in  print by using tools such as this book with someone interacting with the  child during the reading time.

I realize it says it’s out of stock on Amazon, but you can find it other places (and check out the price of only Used at $1.22!!!!)

Next up is this easy-to-use, interactive coloring picture book to help children learn the Spanish language and its alphabet.  It’s in stock and can be purchased for only $1.90 NEW!!!  I have found with Amazon.com that I bundle together a bunch of products and save on shipping from the same vendor so watch who are buying from and try to buy from them all of your items.

Lastly, keeping in step with technology, is a Kindle edition of what seems to be a very cool ABC Bilingual Learning Book.    For only $5 you download this animal themed learning game tool, and witness your child learning the alphabet in both English and Spanish from what they say!

There you have it amigas and amigos!  A fun literacy-based wrap up to help YOU introduce the Spanish alphabet to your young children (and YOU might learn it right along with them!).

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

This week we will have fun with young children learning Spanish and English via our Hello, How Are You? / Hola, ¿Cómo estás? song.

Check out this fun video featuring three English-speaking gals learning Spanish the FUN way – with music:

Here are the lyrics to this song:

¿Cómo estás?/How Are You?
(Sung to the melody of “Skip To My Lou”)

¿Hola, cómo estás?
¿Hola, cómo estás?
¿Hola, cómo estás?
¿Cómo estás hoy?

Hello, how are you?
Hello, how are you?
Hello, how are you?
How are you today?

¡Muy bien gracias mi buen amigo!
¡Muy bien gracias mi buen amigo!
¡Muy bien gracias mi buen amigo!
¡Muy bien hoy!

Very fine thank you my good friend!
Very fine thank you my good friend!
Very fine thank you my good friend!
Very fine today!

Here is the suggested circle time activity to do hand-in-hand with this song:

If possible, have each child get a BOCA puppet passed out to them and explain that BOCA loves to do “dos cosas/two things.” He loves to sing/canta and dance/baila. I also explain that BOCA has excellent behavior and that he never bites or hits or touches another puppet friend. Have the children put BOCA on their hands and interact with their friends respecting space and enjoying the fun of puppeteering.

See you later this week for more Boca Beth bilingual fun for kids of all ages – babies, toddlers and preschoolers love our bilingual beats.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

P.S.  (This is the last day to save 40% on any size order over at www.BocaBeth.com using code word TREAT.  Remember – we always offer FREE shipping!  SHOP TODAY and SAVE BIG!)

  I haven’t met a child yet who doesn’t love some kind of animal – some species – some furry little fellow!

This week’s song and lesson fun is from my Boca Beth bilingual music line-up is The Animal Song / La canción de animales.  I wrote this song to the melody/ the beat of The Bear Went Over the Mountain and, although it’s a bit slow moving, it does the trick in introducing both Spanish vocabulary words and English vocabulary words to little kids.

  Go here for the lyrics for this children’s bilingual song!  (Song #8)

  Go here for the suggested circle time activity fun for this Boca Beth song!

  Over at EnchantedLearning.com you will find this fun book for the children to make with animals from the farm.  I have been a subscriber of EnchantedLearning.com over the years, and it’s worth every penny!  You can print this book off their site for free, but being a member costs very little, and you get so much more!

Tomorrow we will share a fun lesson plan with corn cobs and paint – what fun!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Learn more animals names via this fun video from Clever Little Peas! :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVu8PheArXA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGsvRJ8gP9U

I loved shooting this video in the studio with the children you see helping bring Spanish and English together with music fun.

This week’s bilingual fun will center around this Boca Beth song I wrote called Kiss is a beso / Beso es un Kiss off our first CD that is titled My First Songs in Spanish / Mis primeras canciones en ingles

Suggested circle time activity for this song is as follows:   Use BOCA the puppet to give kisses/besos to the children as you move from child to child giving kisses (then move into “hugs/abrazos” for more learning). Remember that some children do not enjoy being ‘kissed’ on the face so you need to read them well and have BOCA kiss their shoulder or their foot or their shoe or sometimes simply blow the child a beso/a kiss.   Many children don’t get much affection at home and need the contact, the touch, the ‘warm fuzzies’ this song provides.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

P.S. (Stay tuned as we will be giving away the Boca Beth DVD that has this music video (and 7 others on it) later this week right here at my blog!)

Let’s keep on this theme of colors using my Veo colores / I See Colors song as the basis for this week’s bilingual education fun!

Remember playing the shell game where you place a shell under three cups and mix them up trying to keep your eye on which cup has the shell under it?

Here’s my Boca Beth bilingual cup game that helps reinforce the colors we sing about in our bilingual children’s song:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7qyN3GJg-M

Ready for a few other free resources that will help you introduce the color words to young children in Spanish and English?

This is from our suggested circle time activity ideas area on my Boca Beth web site to help bring the song to life in your home or your classroom:

Use visual aides that show the seven (7) colors. I have found really nice ones that have an animal associated with the color over at www.LakeshoreLearning.com

This makes the song even more interesting if you can match the color with the animal name and elaborate on it a little more during the music. Allow the children to hold the props as they say the color word correctly in both Spanish and English without shouting (guide them in saying “Please, don’t shout/Por favor, no grita”). The children begin to get competitive during this song in order to be one of the chosen ones to hold a prop, but if you stick to your rule of no shouting – they will catch on that you mean it and will stop the unnecessary noise.

Another cute thing to do with this song is to buy some small color links that the children build a small color link as the song progresses. You will only be able to go through to white (no black or brown color links last time I checked!). It’s just another fun way to teach the second language with hands on manipulatives.  Found the color links over at www.DiscountSchoolSupply.com

See the vocabulary words of the colors in English and Spanish – READ them, HEAR them, SAY them!  That will help for long term retention in addition to singing about them!  Follow this link to my Boca Beth FREE audio clips.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Feeling lucky?  Enter one of the two Boca Beth Giveaways going on at blogs my amigas share just as I share.  HURRY and enter today… time is running out at 1+1+1=1 to win our Boca Beth Beginner Backpack worth $50.  And then hop on over to Jansen Family Adventures blog to win our I Like Animals DVD and bilingual coloring/activity book at this link.

This week on NBC’s TODAY show they are ramping up their Education Nation features and spending a significant amount of time each morning focusing on the state of our Nation’s Education System ~ where it’s broken, how Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation has helped to uncover some of the issues, what’s being done to fix our broken public school system and so much more. 

This week I will continue to share my fun bilingual education method of bringing Spanish and English together for young children ages birth – eight via my Boca Beth bilingual kids songs.  Our fun song this week is I See Colors / Veo colores featured in this video below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fkpzAO9x1Y

Want the words to this song (or – as an adult – need to see the words in black and white?)?  Here is the link to the lyrics off my web site (look for the 4th song down).

I use this book often to reinforce the concepts taught in my bilingual song that introduces seven colors in English and Spanish.  It’s available on Amazon.com for $4.01 used (it’s just their shipping that will get you unless you work around it).

Later this week … more bilingual fun stuff for you and your children from me, Boca Beth!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

This week we have been focusing on counting in Spanish and English – more bilingual fun from my Boca Beth Program.  (Make sure you read both posts from earlier this week for lots of GREAT ideas on how to introduce both English and Spanish when counting with young children.)

Enjoy this immersion song – meaning only in Spanish – that helps your child practice his/her Spanish numbers forwards and backwards counting style!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ydJr1Is8xI

Did you use some of our ideas this week to help young children learn to count in Spanish and English?

If so, comment below about it or send me an e-mail at BocaBeth@msn.com with a picture of what you did, a video clip of what you did or simply a detailed explanation, and I will send YOU a FREE gift from my Boca Beth Program and bilingual children’s product line.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Want a suggested circle time activity to use with preschoolers and early elementary school-aged children for use during counting fun?  Here you are amigas and amigos:

Ask the children if they remember how to count from 1 to 10 in English. Count together using your fingers for visual aides. Then ask if anyone knows how to count from uno a diez (or desde diez) in Spanish and count together again. Have each child take a musical instrument, tell them we will be counting from 1 to 10 in Español e Inglés/Spanish and English, dancing in a circle/circulo and have them follow you, the teacher, around in a dancing circle to sing the song. When it comes time in the song after ten or diez I ask the children to “STOP” “PARA” and make noise/hace ruido until the words begin again. We always have this song as our 2nd one each language session for the same reasons as before.

Would you like some FREE audio clips to hear, read and repeat the numbers in Spanish and English?  Go here to my FREE audio clips section of my web site for helping YOU introduce a second language to your little ones!

Our friends over at OnLineFreeSpanish.com have lots & lots of lesson fun associated with counting in Spanish.  Go to their site - it’s free to use.

I suggest you make a counting book after listening to our Boca Beth bilingual song for kids titled Me gusta contar/I Like to Count!  It’s easy to do and will help to reinforce the language learning fun!

Go to this link for a bilingual coloring page that shows the numbers one – five or uno-cinco. 

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

P.S.  (Make a bilingual book with your child, snap a photo, e-mail the photo to me at BocaBeth@msn.com, and I will mail you a Boca Beth children’s t-shirt for your efforts!  Hurry!  We want to see YOUR bilingual books!)