This Week in Espanol (Feb. 28th)

Estimados Padres,

This week in Spanish we focused on two opposite words- big and little. We also reviewed the Spanish word for "happy"- contento. We sang "If you're happy and you know it" in Spanish (Si tu estas contento). We reviewed some commands such as "clap," "stomp" and "shout hurray!"

Today I introduced the Spanish ABC song, which is called "El Abecedario." We will be singing it each week. The tune is different than the English ABC song and with the older children I discussed how there are extra letters in the Spanish ABCs.

We did a craft today with happy face stickers. The children had to sort them into the right column for grande (big) and pequeno (little). When they were done, I worked with them individually on their counting and also had them say the colors in Spanish.

Focus Words:

Contento (happy)
Grande (big) gron-day
Pequeno (little) pay-kane-yo
Estoy contento (I'm happy)

At Home Practice Idea:

Ask your child to name you animals that are "grande" (big).
Ask your child to name you animals that are "pequeno" (small/little).

*You could also hold up photos of animals or objects and ask "Es grande o pequeno?" (Is it big or little).

Next week (March 7th) will be our final class for the Winter Session. Payment of $72 will be due for the Spring Session. Checks can be made to "Best Amigos Preschool Spanish."

We will conclude the Spring with a Spanish recital in May. I will get you the dates of your school's recital as soon as I have confirmed with each school director.

Hasta la proxima semana!

Senora Mellor

This Week in Espanol (Feb. 21st)

Estimados Padres,

This week in Spanish we learned the Spanish word for happy (contento). Many of you know feliz, which also means happy but in our song that we sing with the CD the word "contento" is used, so we learned that word today.

We focused on the word "happy" but we also discussed the words for "sad" and "mad." The children made faces to match each emotion. We sang the song "If you're happy and you know it" in Spanish with music.

We also read a book "Ocho Monitos" or Eight Little Monkeys. It reviewed counting and number recognition, as well as repetition of phrases in Spanish (no mas monos= no more monkeys).

For our weekly counting, we counted to 13 in Spanish. I also incorporated colors as the topic arose (I let the children pick which colors they want and they have to tell me in Spanish).

Focus Words:

contento (happy)
monos (monkey)
no mas (no more)

Other Vocabulary:

triste (sad) tree-stay
enojado (mad) in-oh-ha-doe
once (eleven) on-say
doce (twelve) dose-say
trece (thirteen) trace-say

At Home Practice Idea:

Have your child make different faces for each emotion. Tell them to show you a "contento" face or "triste" face. You can also ask them to say the words as they make that face.

Hasta la proxima semana (Until next week)!

Senora Mellor
Best Amigos Preschool Spanish

Random Spanish Phrase of the Week

I am doing a new feature starting this week. Each week I will post a random Spanish phrase that you can incorporate at home with your child if you choose. Or it can just be a phrase that you learn for your own knowledge!

This week's phrase:

Sientate (see-in-tah-tay)

Sit Down

(emphasis on the "in" syllable)

This Week in Espanol (Feb. 7th)

Estimados Padres,

This week in Spanish we learned some Valentine's Vocabulary. We practiced counting with hearts and learned the word for "heart" in Spanish. The children counted sticky hearts and stuck them to the wall or table as they counted in Spanish. I asked them "Cuantas corazones," which means "How many hearts?"

We also began learning the song "I love you" from Barney in Spanish (see videos below). At the end of Spanish, each child had to give our puppet, Senor Mono, a heart and tell him I love you in Spanish.

Focus Words:

Heart- Corazon (core-ah-sown)
Hearts- Corazones (core-ah-sown-es)
I love you- Te Quiero (tay key- arrow)


I sent home an activity sheet with hearts that you can do with your child. They have to count the hearts. Encourage him/her to count in Spanish. Usually, if you start off with "uno" they will continue to count in Spanish. You can ask him/her "Cuantas corazones?" which means, "How many hearts"

Videos:

I have two videos for you this week. They are of the same song but one is from the TV show Barney and the other is of a little boy singing the song. You can play both for your child and see which he/she likes better. It is interesting- I have found that young children love watching other children sing and talk, even if the singing isn't the best!

Song Lyrics:

Te Quiero Yo y Tu a mi (I love you and you love me)
Somos una familia feliz (We are a happy family)
Con un fuerte brazo (With a great big hug)
Y un beso te dire (And a kiss I will give you)
(The last line varies depending on how you sing it)

Mi carino yo te doy (My love and care I give to you) *Barney says this
or
Mi carino te dire (My love I will give to you)*The little boy says this

At Home Activity: Tell your child I love you in Spanish! You can say it as much as you want- before leaving in the morning, before going to bed, etc. Ask him/her to say it back to you!

This Week in Espanol (Jan. 31st)

Estimados Padres,

Today we finished our self introduction unit. The children should now be able to introduce themselves in Spanish and answer the question "Como te llamas (What is your name)?"

Occasionally, preschool children have the tendency to repeat the question "Como te llamas" instead of answering by saying their name. The best resolution to this is practice! Ask them, "Como te llamas?" and if they are silent or repeat the question, tell them to say "Me llamo _______." Once they have it right, ask again 3-4 more times and praise them when they answer correctly.

We did a craft today- Me llamo masks. On the back part of the stick it says "Me llamo _____" and the child's name. They turned out great!

The children decorated them and we added wiggle eyes, a button nose and yarn for hair. I told them the body parts in Spanish and had them say the words several times. Although we are not officially learning body parts right now, it never hurts to incorporate more Spanish because sometimes they remember!

Each child also got to pick what color hair he/she wanted. We said the colors in Spanish and they had to tell me which color they wanted in Spanish.

You can practice the body parts with your child at home by asking him/her to point to the body part and you say it in Spanish. Start with one or two and when they have those down, move on to others. You can even play "Simon Says!"

Today's Focus Words:
Negro (Black)
Amarillo (Yellow) ah-ma-ree-yoe
Cafe (Brown) cah-fay
Eyes (Ojos) oh-hose
Nose (Nariz) na-reese
Pelo (Hair) pay-loe

January General Vocabulary: (words we used last week and this week- this list will grow)

Hola (Hello)
Adios (Good-bye)
Como te llamas? (What is your name) ko-mo-tay-ya-mus
Me llamo (My name is) may ya mow
Maestra (Teacher)
Mono (Monkey)
Espanol (Spanish)
Salta (Jump)
Silencio (Quiet)
Manos arriba (hands up)
Baila (dance) bye-lah
Hasta luego (see you later)
Listos? (ready)
Rojo (red)
Azul (blue)
Uno
Dos
Tres
Cuatro
Cinco
Seis
Siete
Ocho
Nueve
Diez

This Week in Espanol (Jan. 24th)

Estimados Padres (Dear Parents),

I apologize for not having this week's review up earlier. Normally I have it up by 2 p.m. or so but today I missed my usual mid-day break so I had to type it this evening.

Today we continued to review self-introduction and next week we will finish this unit with a craft. The children practiced introducing themselves to each other and to our class puppet, Senor Mono. They also practiced answering "What is your name" in Spanish and we sang our "Hola Como te Llamas" song (see previous updates for video). Each child got to take a turn playing the rhythm sticks and being the leader and answering "Como te llamas?"

I touched on colors more today. Although colors are not officially part of this unit, I try to incorporate them as the opportunity arises. For example, when picking out flags or rhythm sticks, I ask the children which color they want and they have to tell me in Spanish. When turning in class items, I usually call each item by color.

We also continued our weekly counting. This week we are still counting to ten. Most of the children can at least count to five; some to ten. Sometimes they miss numbers between 6-10, so we are working on solidifying their counting skills. I have written the numbers below so that you can practice with your child if you wish.

Finally, we did our freeze dance and the children had to reply to the commands, "Jump" "Hands up" "Dance" and "Stop!"

Today's Focus Words:

Listos? (Ready everyone)
Listos! (Ready!)
Uno 1
Dos 2
Tres 3 (trace)
Cuatro (cwah-troe)
Cinco (seen-co)
Seis (sace)
Siete (see-eh-tay)
Ocho (oh-choe)
Nueve (new-eh-vay)
Diez (dee-ehs)

January General Vocabulary: (words we used last week and this week- this list will grow)

Hola (Hello)
Adios (Good-bye)
Como te llamas? (What is your name)
Me llamo (My name is) may ya mow
Maestra (Teacher)
Mono (Monkey)
Espanol (Spanish)
Salta (Jump)
Silencio (Quiet)
Manos arriba (hands up)
Baila (dance) bye-lah
Hasta luego (see you later)
Listos? (ready)

This Week in Espanol (Jan. 17)

Click here to complete the parent survey

Estimados Padres,

This week in Spanish we continued to work on self introduction as our overall theme.

We reviewed saying "hello" in Spanish, as well as practiced answering "what is your name" in Spanish. This week I encouraged the children to answer in a complete sentence saying "my name is...." They spoke to our class monkey puppet in Spanish and at the end of the class were rewarded for good behavior by getting to feed him bananas!

I also touched on colors a bit at the beginning by letting them choose which color flag they wanted to hold while we sang our opening song. They got to choose from red, blue or yellow and had to tell me the color they wanted in Spanish.

They also danced to our commands song again and this time had three commands to listen for- "jump (from last week)," "hands up," and "dance!"

As they left class, they had to tell me "Adios, hasta luego" which is "Good-bye, see you later."

I encourage you to use any words from our list at home. You do not have to use them all; perhaps pick a word or phrase that you could work into your normal routine. For example, at breakfast you could ask your child, "Do you want platanos (bananas)?" You can hold up bananas and show him/her as you ask. If you have experience with Spanish, you may want to use a complete sentence and say "Quieres platanos (key-air-es pla-ta-nose)" (do you want bananas) and allow your child to answer with a "si" or "no."


Today's Focus Words:
Como te llamas- What is your name (koe-moe tay ya-mus)
Me llamo- My name is (may-ya-mow)
Platanos- Bananas (pla-tah-nose)

January General Vocabulary: (words we used last week and this week- this list will grow)

Hola (Hello)
Adios (Good-bye)
Como te llamas (What is your name)
Maestra (Teacher)
Mono (Monkey)
Espanol (Spanish)
Salta (Jump)
Silencio (Quiet)
Manos arriba (hands up)
Baila (dance) bye-lah
Hasta luego (see you later)

I have received payment from most parents; if you have not yet paid for the winter session, please drop a check at the front office made out to "Best Amigos" and also write your child's name on it. Gracias!

Finally, don't forget to fill out the parent survey (see link at top)! I will be drawing a name next Wednesday night and will announce the winner in next week's weekly update.

Hasta la proxima semana (Until next week)!

Senora Mellor
231-3514