ABOUT US

Sonrisas Spanish was founded in 1996 by Blue and Brooks Lindner in Austin, TX after they combined their experience as bilingual/ESL elementary teachers and Blue's experience teaching at the Austin Waldorf School to begin teaching private Spanish classes in preschools and elementary schools. Their classes met the demand for elementary Spanish education so well that Sonrisas Spanish grew rapidly from 12 students at one school to more than 300 students at multiple schools in the Austin area.

The curriculum that Blue and Brooks created and used in their preschool and elementary Spanish classes proved to be highly successful. They found that children learn Spanish easily in an immersion environment that provides the opportunity for lots of interpersonal communication through age appropriate activities. The results were phenomenal—not only were the students learning to speak, read, and write Spanish, but they loved Spanish class and looked forward to it.

Noting a lack of Spanish curriculum at the early childhood level, Blue and Brooks decided to publish their curriculum so that other Spanish teachers could benefit from their effective approach to teaching Spanish to children. In 2002, they completed and published Sonrisas Spanish School: An Early Childhood Spanish Language Curriculum. Their first book rapidly spread to elementary school Spanish programs, preschool Spanish programs, and homeschool Spanish programs in all fifty states.

Energized by the success of their first curriculum, Blue and Brooks began creating and publishing more curriculum to offer a full Pre-K through elementary Spanish program so that teachers would no longer have to piece together curriculum from different sources. The Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum now includes three levels, a cultural supplement, a calendar time guide, resource CD's, and beautiful classroom posters to offer teachers a complete and effective Spanish program.

After teaching and creating curriculum for over 20 years, Blue and Brooks trademarked their Acquire, Develop, Learn® methodology which guides the way the different levels in the Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum work together and prepares students for higher level Spanish courses in middle and high school. The Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum is now used in thousands of schools across the country, and Brooks is a frequent presenter at regional language conferences.

Blue and Brooks Lindner live, teach, and make music in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. They have two children, Pitcher and Elsa.