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~Spanish area. This is a place where you’ll keep your Spanish resources. The area could just be one shelf on your bookcase or two or three baskets. You’ll need this Spanish area to help keep your materials organized and accessible. Having to constantly look for your Spanish books or cd’s can take the momentum out of your learning time excitement—and we don’t want that to happen. Also, when it’s time to put your Spanish materials away, your child will know exactly where to put them.

~Spanish language-learning time. This is a time set aside for learning, playing and having fun in Spanish. There are many suggestions for how to set a language-learning time. Some families set one day on the weekend as the time to speak only Spanish. Other families decide that during dinner time for that week, they’ll only speak Spanish. And yet, other families call a certain room in the house the Spanish room and any time they enter that room, they speak Spanish.

The above methods didn’t work for my family because my husband and I are not fluent Spanish speakers and it was difficult to speak only Spanish for a long period of time. In our house, our designated language-learning time is called Spanish Time! I believe that there should be a little Spanish exposure and learning every day. And we have Spanish Time for at least 15 minutes every day.

Over time, though, the 15 minutes can grow to 30 minutes and from 30 minutes to 45 minutes and so on. You don’t have to speak Spanish the whole hour, but there are many other things to do. Also, while I like to keep our Spanish Time set at the same time every day, you certainly do not have to. There’s room for flexibility. You could even do your Spanish time 2 or 3 times a week. The most important thing to keep in mind is BE CONSISTENT. You want your family’s Spanish time to be a part of the day that your child looks forward to.

~Optional resources for you to consider are Spanish-learning computer software and Spanish-learning programs. These resources will enhance and add variety to your family’s Spanish-learning adventure.

Okay, you have the books, shows, posters, music and you’ve set up a Spanish-learning time. You’re probably wondering, “What exactly do I do during our Spanish-learning time with all of these resources?” I’ll answer that question in my next post as I explain the remaining steps for teaching your child Spanish.

continued in next post