Tips for Adding Spanish to Your Homeschool Co-Op
A homeschool co-op is a group of multiple families who come together to create a concise, comprehensive learning experience for their children. This is a great education option for parents with inconsistent or otherwise busy daily schedules.
Plus, co-ops offer parents the chance to fine-tune their children’s education how they see fit. Introducing new subjects to the co-op might be intimidating, but it can open up new doors for parents and students alike. Read the list below to find the best tips for adding Spanish to your homeschool co-op.
Break Down the Benefits
Although not every parent is privy to the benefits of learning new languages at a young age, that doesn’t make those benefits any less impactful. So, when pitching Spanish courses to the other parents, be sure to break down the social doors it opens by helping English-speaking students connect with Spanish-speaking children of the same age.
If children hone their Spanish skills after the initial course, they can use that language to their benefit when looking for jobs. Knowing another language such as Spanish is a skill that sets certain job applicants apart from the rest. Suffice it to say, ensuring you can stand out to employers is ideal, especially in particularly competitive industries.
Gather Your Resources
One of the best tips for adding Spanish to your homeschool co-op is finding the perfect curriculum. When the co-op officially decides to introduce Spanish to the schedule, you must put together the right curriculum. Thankfully, parents can find great resources that assist with teaching Spanish to elementary students easily.
If none of the parents are familiar with teaching Spanish, high-quality curriculums from reputable providers are invaluable. Through a well-built curriculum aimed at your children’s grade level, Spanish classes will be just as engaging as they are advantageous.
Learn the Right Tricks
Beyond traditional teaching methods, parents can take advantage of additional methods that teachers commonly use in class. For example, Total Physical Response (TPR) involves teaching several Spanish vocabulary words and encouraging students to create an action they associate with those words.
If your vocab word is snake/la serpiente, students might move their arms in a slithering motion to mimic the creature’s movement. Tricks like these help students engage with and retain the new phrases or words they’re learning. Another great method is “Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling” (TPRS). Through TPRS, teachers use TPR and their vocabulary of choice to construct relevant stories. More specifically, teachers provide the basic story structure while the students fill in the blanks using their new vocab. Afterward, the children read a book pertaining to the day’s lesson, diversifying their education in a fun, effective way.