Learning Numbers and Math Facts in Spanish

My boys can count to 20 in Spanish, but I can tell it is more by rote memorization because they have difficulty naming individual numbers. When they were learning skip counting in English we listened to a LeapFrog song that I downloaded from Amazon.com. It really helped them to have the song's rhythm in their heads as they completed their math assignments. Now that I would like to teach them to be more fluent in Spanish, I am looking for Spanish songs similar to the ones by LeapFrog.

I found several available for free on YouTube (search for Boca Beth) as well as for purchase as MP3s on various websites. However, the sound quality seemed pretty poor which would be confusing for children who are still working on correct pronunciation.

Here are some products that I have found:
1) Spanish Random Number CD from Creative Mathematics-- A great idea, but it is $10 plus shipping for something I already do for free at home. I'll consider getting it in a couple of months if my home efforts don't pan out.
2) Sara Jordan Bilingual Songs-- these are available from the publisher's website along with lyrics or as MP3 downloads from Amazon.com. We have enjoyed Sara Jordan's bilingual songs about food, weather, etc. on Volume 1. Their songs about numbers are spread across several albums so I chose to purchase individual songs for $.99 each on Amazon. We now have Contando Hasta 30/ Counting to 30; Contando Por Decenas/ Counting by 10s; Formas y Tomaños/ Shapes and Sizes; and Contar regresivamente/ Count backwards, which is also about subtraction for numbers under 6.
3) Songs for Teaching-- MP3 albums and lyrics for songs on a variety of subjects. They don't have many Spanish math songs that go beyond basic counting, but I thought this one was a cute and easy to understand song about counting to 10's. I had to buy the entire $10 album but it had a few other songs that the kids will really like.

I have looked in to other resources for helping children learn Spanish and will post about them later on. It basically comes down to time commitment and working with a parent; but these songs and other resources are a great way to reinforce the lessons we are already doing at home!

Mexican Flower Craft

We finished Lesson 11 in our Spanish curriculum, La Clase Divertida. We spend about two weeks per lesson and at the end of each is either a cooking activity, a puppet show with history lesson,  or a craft. This lesson contained a Mexican Flower craft which was both beautiful and simple. Señor Gamache shows the kids how to make the craft on the DVD so when they get the materials out they can follow the instructions more easily. I have never made a paper flower before, so I was pleased that Turtle could teach me based on his careful viewing of the DVD. Here is the finished product.

The theme of Level 1 is “Mexico,” with Mexican history, food, and crafts. La Clase Divertida is currently having a sale so I purchased both Levels 2 and received Level 3 for 50%. We should wrap up Lesson 15 of Level 1 in January and start Level 2 which studies Spanish culture in Europe. I visited Spain for a month while in college and look forward to pulling out my photo album to show the boys.

Back to school-- again!

After a week of vacation and then a week of caring for sick children, we are back to school. Both boys were excited to pull out their books and learn more. What a blessing!

I have a light school schedule planned for the Christmas season, with reading and math every day along with just one or two other subjects and lots of field trips and holiday activities.

My six year old son, we often call him "Turtle", is taking a break from My Father's World 1st grade. It has taught him all of the basics of reading but he needs more practice, so we are switching to Delightful Reading by Simply Charlotte Mason. It meets his needs perfectly-- he knows most of the words very well but it helps him apply some of the new concepts from MFW 1st (like -ight and -tion words).

We also got an excellent deal on La Clase Divertida Levels 2 and 3. We are almost finished with level 1 now and the kids just L-O-V-E it! It is one of two subjects that I never need to fuss/cajole/threaten them to work on. Even my one year old has learned a lot of Spanish by watching most episodes with his big brothers.

The other subject my oldest son can not get enough of is history. We use The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times. We started with the text book and eventually purchased the MP3 version as well. I read him the chapter once and then he listens to current and past chapters as he likes, learning more each time. Next year we will use My Father's World 2nd grade which includes American History, so The Story of the World will be for fun reading, whenever he wants to pull out his CDs and activity book.