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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Kids

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Kids

We at Languages4kidz think it’s important for kids to gain exposure to languages other than their own early on so they can gain a better awareness of the world and its inhabitants.

The past and present achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans are woven into the fabric of Hispanic and Latino culture. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month offers students, parents, and educators an opportunity to explore and learn about the rich history, vibrant cultures, and exciting contributions of the Hispanic and Latino American communities.

We invite you to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month even if your ancestors didn’t originate in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, or South America. Learning about other cultures helps children develop empathy and an inquisitive mind.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, here are eight fun ideas for kids to get involved in:

 

  1. Explore Hispanic and Latino artists

After learning about the works of various Hispanic and Latino painters including Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Diego Velazquez, and Francisco Goya, youngsters may put what they’ve learned into practice by creating their own Hispanic-inspired paintings.

Take a peek at Art with Krista ‘s website for some Hispanic Heritage Months art lesson ideas.

 

  1. Take kids on a virtual tour

Go around La Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo’s old home, a museum devoted to her life and work in Mexico City.

The history of Latinos and Latinas in the United States is highlighted by the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Latino.

 

  1. Celebrate by playing games with a Latin flavor

Playing Loteria, the Spanish variant of Bingo, is a lot of fun. Matching words (such as el oso, “the bear,” or la vaca, “the cow,” to their game board is a fun way to teach and practice vocabulary with kids.

Check out some other traditional games for children in “La Guia Infantil.”

 

  1. Discover the rich culture of Latin America and Hispanic festivities

Learn about Hispanic and Latino celebrations and traditions.

Celebrations create connection and fun everyone can enjoy. Plus, experiencing how a culture celebrates is a great way to learn.

Spend some time learning about the many traditions, holidays, and other celebrations practiced throughout Latin America and the Hispanic world.

Learn about how different countries celebrate birthdays.

Plan a birthday party. Make invitations, decorations, a cake, and Pinatas together with the kids.

Create flowers made with tissue paper to brighten the event. Tissue paper originated in Asia, and it was the Spanish colonizers to the Americas who brought it to the West to use in paper crafts. After then, indigenous people started making these flowers to use in church decorations.

Make Güiros. The most famous Puerto Rican musical instrument. Traditionally made from gourd, this percussion instrument sounds unique. They now come in many shapes and materials and are used to make music or decorate.

Create colorful Rainsticks. Rainsticks were believed to bring rain during dry seasons and were devised by the Mapuche people of Chile. Now they’re musical instruments.

Celebrate El Dia de la Raza (October 12) by watching a kids short video about Cristobal Colon y el Descubrimiento de America.

  1. Try the following Hispanic and Latin American dishes to bring some new countries to your table

For the following meals, you can start by having the kids make a list of the things you need.

Migas are kid-friendly and popular in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Texas. Families usually have the components. Scrambled eggs, tortilla chips, melty cheese, and pico de gallo make a delightful entrée.

Arepas, the ultimate sandwich, are fried corn cakes loaded with chicken, avocado, and more from Colombia and Venezuela. Tell kids “El día Mundial de la Arepa” is honored worldwide. Kids may enjoy making arepas filled with their favorite stuffing.

Try other recipes from ALLdoneMonkey’s website 

 

  1. Read books by Latin American and Spanish writers

There is a wealth of literature written by Hispanic and Latino authors for children of all ages. All of the picture books in our collection were created by women of Hispanic or Latin American descent. Both electronic and print versions are available now.

Watch Languages4kids founder and writer Graciela Castellanos read “Me gusta como soy.”

 

 

  1. Make plans for a movie night

Kid-friendly films that explore Hispanic and Latino culture are ideal for family movie nights.

“Encanto” is one of my favorites. This film is set in Colombia. Along with the mystical family Madrigal, your children will see Colombian fashion, architecture, animals, and gastronomy. Expect to pick up a few Spanish phrases along the way.

 

  1. Sing and dance throughout the day

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce children to Latino rhythms. There are numerous songs and dancing steps that children can learn and enjoy.

Some of my favorite songs for singing and dancing are:

La cucaracha by Reino Infantil

La pulga y el piojo by Serenata Guayanesa

La vida es un carnaval

By celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with kids, they can build respect and curiosity about other cultures, build respect for diversity, and deepen their understanding of others.

Enjoy celebrating with your kids Hispanic Heritage Month!

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Songs for kids – Languages4kidz – YouTube channel

Songs for kids in English in our YouTube channel

Check out our YouTube channel with songs for kids in English.

When exposing little ones to an additional language musical activities such as songs, nursery rhymes and finger plays are an excellent resource for introducing a particular theme, develop children’s understanding and continuously build up, practice and reinforce the vocabulary in a way that makes it easy for children to follow along.

Sing songs and carry out the corresponding actions to make it fun and engaging. Even though, children cannot understand everything that is said, they will be learning many words that will form the basis for the target language later in their lives.

I also suggest pairing a song with a picture book theme and singing it after reading aloud to them.

Each of our picture books includes a song at the end that children can learn and sing as they practice the English language.

Music is an excellent way to engage young children because it is a natural and enjoyable part of their everyday lives. It contributes to children’s progress and learning in many different areas and most importantly in the area of language development.

Languages4kidz musical products include familiar songs and melodies, finger plays and nursery rhymes that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Some have been adapted to foster the development of children’s skills in the target language. Others have been created to enlighten vocabulary that are an important part of children’s lives, such as people (family members, teachers, friends), objects (clothing, furniture, cars, bikes), daily rituals (brushing teeth, bedtime), and memorable events (holidays, going on a field trip).

Check out some of the songs in English in our YouTube channel. And if you want to download them to your mobile device in minutes visit our SHOP.

Here is a sample. Enjoy!!!

 

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Do you want to start up a new business? 

Do you want to start up your own business?

If YES is your answer keep reading…

We are almost at the end of our summer vacation!

With children soon going back to school, this is the best time for you to get ready to start up your own new business.

Many parents at this time of the year are turning into Google for ideas on how to juggle the everyday challenges they face when trying to balance work and business with children and home life. Although many corporations are making changes to accommodate the increasing demands of parents, it seems that there is still a long way to go.

If you are fluent in English and would like to start up your own business with a low investment, we encourage you to put your talents to work and get excited about sharing your skills with the children in your area. We invite you to be part of the significant rise of “parentpreneurs”, in particular, “mompreneurs” looking to launch their own ventures, with the aim of developing and growing a business around life at home.

Join Mi Primer Inglés®, an educational brand where the product is already developed and the systems and procedures have been written down for you to be up and running far more quickly than if you were starting from scratch and having to go through all of the development stages. We are not a franchise and with a small investment you can become an entrepreneur.

Mi Primer Inglés® will help you in successfully starting up and setting up your teaching business and may well allow you to achieve the flexibility you are seeking. However, building any business whilst caring for or sharing the care of children is a challenge. It requires a lot of time, attention, nurturing and resources to grow and thrive. That’s where the benefit of having an educational brand such as Mi Primer Inglés® behind you comes into play.

 

 

WHY MI PRIMER INGLÉS®?

Because we believe that…

  • In a more and more globalized modern world in which we live, this is an extremely important time for children to learn a new language. Aside from enhancing their educational experiences and their future careers, learning a new language is fun, it comes easy to little ones and it opens a whole new world to them full of new experiences, a new culture, and new friends.
  • The best time for acquiring an additional language is in the first 6 years of life. There is a “window of opportunity” that we must take advantage of.
  • Parents all over the world are more aware of the benefits of early language learning and want their little ones to be exposed to a new language early in life.
  • If you are one of many individuals out there who speak Spanish fluently, you are a “parentpreneur”, a university student, or a languages teacher, and would like to start-up your own business, this is the best time to start planning.

 

WHAT DOES MI PRIMER INGLÉS® OFFER YOU?

We offer you a complete program for teaching English to very young children.  Together with the resources for getting ready through a self-paced guidance – “The Basics for Starting-up your Own Business” and the “Home Kits” for children, you are set for a good start.

You and/or your employees can start teaching using whole language in context right away. Our no prep lesson plans save even experienced teachers a great amount of time that can be spent in getting families to sign up, teaching, marketing, hiring other teachers, or finding places to teach.

 

HOW DOES MI PRIMER INGLÉS® BENEFIT YOU, CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES?

Our easy-to-use thematic units based on age-appropriate experiences and activities foster a lifelong love for language learning and respect for other people and other cultures.

Mi Primer Inglés® gives children a leg up in their education and their lives.

For parents who value multilingualism – it is a natural fit.

For English-speaking homes, it helps keep the family’s cultural heritage alive.

For you, starting up your own business with Mi Primer Inglés® may be more than changing careers, it may be the opportunity to change your life.

 

Do you share our passion and values to make a difference in the lives of the children in your community as well as a healthy financial return? Consider joining Mi Primer Inglés® as an entrepreneur.

Owning your own My First Spanish business is a rewarding experience, both personally and financially. Becoming a Mi Primer Inglés® entrepreneur is simple—our owners are people just like you.

Start here and see if Mi Primer Inglés® is the right fit for you.

 

 

 

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7 tips for keeping the kids speaking English this summer!!!

Summer will soon be here and with it the end of the school year. For many families, that means their kids’ interaction with the English language slows down. So what can parents do to keep the English learning going this summer?

As an English teacher you may be asking yourself what can parents do to keep the English learning going this summer in ways that are fun and can actually  enhance chidren’s natural language abilities.

With a little English spread throughout the summer, kids will retain what they have learned and go back to their English classes more confident of their abilities.

The key to keeping up English during the summer is finding activities that fit  families’ schedules and are not too complicated.

Here are some tips for you to share with parents on spending the Summer creating precious memories with their little ones while practicing and expanding their English abilities.

These recommendations are for ALL families whether they travel or stay at home:

  1. Enjoy Summer with our Picture Books.

Provide a list of books for summer reading. Languages4kidz Bundles are a great place to start.

Invite parents to:

Cuddle up with their children and read books together under a tree, at the park, at the pool, before bedtime or at any time during the day. Reading is one of the best ways to strengthen children’s language skills. Books allow children to review vocabulary and learn new words and expressions. They can talk about the book and do fun activities related to the theme in the book, such as drawing, puzzles, matching cards, art projects. They can find these and more interactive activities for our books on Languages4kidz website. These activities are FREE.

2. Listen to songs and sing along is another way to add English to their summer. They can listen to songs in the car, on a trip, on their way to their grandparent’s house or while making dinner. Songs are always appealing to young learners and are an excellent way to reinforce what they are learning in their classes. There are plenty of apps and channels in YouTube with kids’ songs in English.

Check out or downloadable songs for kids HERE.

Listen to some samples:

Skinnamarinky

Head and shoulders

Eeency, weensy spider

5 little monkeys

3. Play “I Spy” in the car, at the park, at the supermarket or at home. “I spy with my little eye, something red.”  (A red car.)

4. Open the back door and go camping.

Grab their best camping tent from the garage and pop it open, or get crafty and create a teepee with the kids.

Have kids play some outdoor games while engaging in English:

  • Look at the clouds and find similarities to shapes or objects.  (That cloud looks like a bear. That one looks like a heart.)
  • Engage in a scavenger hunt to keep basic vocabulary fresh
  • Prepare some s’mores together following a recipe in English

5. Watch some movies together.

Kids movies, TV shows and short online videos can be useful to expose kids to the English language.

Disney films have the advantage of being familiar to many kids. They entertain the whole family, are good exposure for younger kids and provide lots of new language.

Short videos for engaging kids in art projects are excellent for vocabulary and for following instructions. With a few simple steps, kids will be on their way to a super fun learning activity.

We recommend the following:

Make a kite by Lets Family Spain and then enjoy flying it with your children

Make play dough with flour, water and salt by Play Doh Kitchen.

Make silly putty by Emmymade extras.

Make a fishing game with magnets, sticks, rings, cotton, floss, wiggly eyes and different colors of felt. When the pieces are ready “Go Fishing” and have fun.

6. Take children on a nature walk and help them collect summer flowers, sticks, rocks and leaves to then use in art and crafts projects. Give them a magnifying glass and encourage them to look for bugs. Review the vocabulary related.


7. Prepare some healthy snacks after reading “Recipes for a healthy snack”.  Pack them in a picnic basket with the Go Fish game you made together and enjoy a fabulous day at the park.


HAVE A GREAT SUMMER VACATION!!!

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Spring is in the air! – Spring Curriculum for kids

We all enjoy very much this time of the year!

Spring brings joy with longer and warmer days, beautiful new foliage on trees and shrubs and colorful flowers in gardens.

We love going for a walk and stroll around the streets and spend time at the parks with other families playing and having fun. Using all our senses during this time of the year is a blessing. To hear the birds singing, to see the flowers bloom, to smell the garden fragrances, to softly touch some baby animals and to taste the typical produce nature brings to us during this time of year is just wonderful! Spring is that special time of the year to get more active and willing to explore nature with our loved ones.

During Spring there are lots of holidays celebrated around the world:

Easter, Passover, April Fool’s Day, Earth Day, Arbor Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Cinco De Mayo.

If you want your child to grow loving the English language or if you are an English teacher, Spring is a great time to build up on children’s vocabulary with new words, Spring related books, songs and arts and crafts projects.

Mi Primer Inglés offers a variety of Picture Books, songs  and Curriculum Kits with thematic units related to Spring that are flexible and can be easily adapted to be used with children of different ages.

Take a look at these two English Curriculum Kits. They include a variety of materials in  digital format and can be used by anyone that teaches or wants to teach English to young children.

 

 

In Mi Primer Inglés 4 Toddlers 3 we talk about the things we do and celebrate during Spring and the changes we perceive in nature.  The first couple of lessons focus on reviewing vocabulary related to greetings and introductions as well as introducing children to weather related vocabulary. Then we continue with easy vocabulary, basic structures, expressions and actions related to the Spring season.   

We invite children to plant their own seeds, take care of them and watch them grow. We introduce them to the fascinating world of birds, bugs and butterflies.

Children have an opportunity to develop and enrich their English language skills through reading original picture books with beautiful illustrations, engaging activities, crafts and art projects, songs, rhymes and online games.  

 

 

In Mi Primer Inglés for Young Children 3 the first lessons focus on plants and how they experience growth and change throughout their lifetime. 

Then we give children an opportunity to explore caterpillars and butterflies, tadpoles and frogs and the changes they go through as they grow.  Activities in these lessons help children  learn about living things and life cycles.

During the remaining lessons in the curriculum children get to understand the basic needs of living organisms,  identify basic life cycles and learn about baby animals, their names and the things they are able to do as they grow.

Mi Primer Inglés 4 Toddlers 3 and Mi Primer Inglés 4 Young Children 3 include:

Teacher’s Guides with detailed lesson plans;

Themed songs, rhymes and finger plays;

3 Picture Books each;

Enrichment Activities Booklets, and

Online interactive activities with puzzle, memory cards, matching, coloring and more.

Follow this link to enjoy the activities online created fo “Spring is here”.

We have also created flashcards that you can download here.

I hope you like our Spring materials and that they inspire you to continue teaching English!

Remember,  ALL our materials are in digital format and can be downloaded to your device in minutes. You can get these materials and many more by entering our Shop.

 

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Celebrate March!!!

March is on its way! Let’s celebrate!

 

Throughout March and all year long:

Music in our schools month -The National Association for Music Education has chosen the month of March to be the time of year to focus on music education in schools all across the United States. Music, poetry, and the spoken word are very powerful tools for helping students learn and retain information. Much like language, the two share the superpower of building connections while uniting and bringing us together. Click for a few samples of songs for little ones.

 

 

National Women’s History Month – is a month-long event and each year a new theme is chosen. This year’s theme is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” – A tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.

 

March 01 – Carnival or Mardi Gras – Is an annual festival celebrated mostly in American and European communities with colorful parades, dancing in the street, costumes and masked balls.

 

March 02 – Read Across America – Is the nation’s largest celebration of reading. It was launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA). This year-round program’s theme calls for motivating every child and teen in every community to celebrate reading through different events, partnerships, and providing reading resources that are about everyone, for everyone. Check out our collection of books for Spring and enjoy reading with your little ones in English or Spanish.

 

March 08 – International Women’s Day – A celebration of women’s rights and their contributions to the history, culture and society in the world. I congratulate all my fellow colleagues who continuously preach by example. Those who create a myriad of activities to teach our little ones, ways to contribute and be kind and caring to others. May God bless them all!

 

March 14th – Albert Einstein’s Birthday – Born on March 14, 1879 and regarded as one of the greatest minds of all time. There is so much to learn about and from him.

 

March 17th – St. Patrick’s Day – Let’s celebrate by wearing green so as not to risk getting pinched! 

Check out our Pinterest Boards.

March 18 – Global recycling Day – A day for the world to come together and recognize the importance of recycling, preserving our primary resources and securing the future of our planet. Let’s take care of Mother Earth.

 

March 20th – The Arrival of Spring!!! Hopefully with lots of sun, nice weather and good things for all!!! Check out “La Primavera” a sweet poem in Spanish by Languages4kidz.

 

 

March 21st – World Poetry Day – A UNESCO day to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. Poems can be magical for children. There is a world of poetry out there to explore. You can choose between a clever, funny, or get inspired and write your own with the children. Here are 2 short poems, one in Spanish and the other in English that you can share with the kids.

Los zapatitos me aprietan,
Las medias me dan calor,
El beso que me dio mi madre,
Lo llevo en el corazón.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you!

 

May your March be wonderful!!!!

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Piensa en grande …  ¡2022 ya está aquí! 

 

 

 

Piensa en grande … 

¡2022 ya está aquí! 

 

Si quieres enseñar inglés a niños pequeños, ¡piensa en grande! 

¡Hoy es el momento adecuado para empezar a planificar! 

Si estás interesado/a en iniciar una pequeña empresa en la que se enseñen idiomas a niños muy pequeños, es posible que te estés haciendo muchas preguntas: 

¿Cuáles son las mejores opciones curriculares? 

¿Cómo aprenden los niños en edades tempranas? 

¿Cuáles son las actividades apropiadas para el desarrollo de los más pequeños? 

¿Qué tipo de actividades les gustan a los niños en edades comprendidas entre los 0 y 7 años? 

¿Cuántos niños debería tener por clase? 

¿Qué pasa si soy maestro/a de español en una situación de educación en casa? 

¿Qué pasa si soy un/a maestro/a de aula y solo quiero probar otros materiales para satisfacer las necesidades de mis alumnos? 

¿Y si quiero empezar en GRANDE? 

 Bueno, ¡empieza a planificar! 

 

Dependiendo de tu situación, nuestros Recursos Curriculares pueden ayudarte a comenzar bien. Te alentamos a que comiences a darles a los niños de tu comunidad el regalo de adquirir un idioma adicional desde una edad temprana. 

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You and your little one can learn English together 

Parents are the most important people in a child’s life. From the time they are born children learn most from their parents and/or caregivers, and it is in their company that they feel more comfortable.

 

It is the months from conception to the child’s third birthday that are pivotal to optimal brain development, and that’s before he/she even enters pre-K. 

 

I believe that the earlier we begin exposing children to a new language the better it is. 

 

The NEW Mi Primer Inglés for Babies and Mi Primer Inglés for Toddlers in digital format with audios for dialogues, songs, rhymes and fingerplays as well as read aloud of the picture books included may help you: 

 

  1. Expose your little one to the English language early in life; 
  2. Learn vocabulary and expressions in the English language that you can use from day 1. The vocabulary and expressions may be used in everyday activities and routines such as bathing time, eating time, play time, etc. 
  3. Engage with your child in the activities developed while practicing the language. 
  4. Immerse your little one in everyday activities that help develop the “whole child” to promote and foster his/her acquaintance of a new language. 
  5. Introduce your baby or your toddler to activities that stimulate them and help them develop. 
  6. Learn and sing to your child lullabies and typical children’s songs. 
  7. Learn and recite to them popular nursery rhymes. 
  8. Have fun with your child while acting out finger plays. 
  9. Read short, beautifully illustrated stories to them. 
  10. Provide sensory stimulation exercises to engage your child in the English language in a fun way. 

           

We believe that by using our digital materials with their babies, parents can learn the target language too, which ensures that the language will be practiced and reinforced every day at home; possibly even reaching other members of the family. 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep in mind that the first years of a child’s life are extremely important for their development. It is from the time they are born that the brain starts to build neural connections and when they begin to acquire language. Children will then learn to talk using only the sounds and words they pick up from their environment, most importantly from their parents and caregivers and if we expose them to two or more languages their brain will acquire the ability to recognize and speak in those languages later on.

 
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Presents – Regalos

Presents – Regalos

The Holiday Season is filled with traditions. They teach important lessons and help us communicate and pass on shared history and values to our little ones.

During the Holidays children receive presents from their families and friends during the Christmas Celebration, for Hannukah or for Kwanzaa around the world. In some countries children also receive presents from “El Niño Jesus”, St. Nicholas or Santa Claus, and from the Three Kings.

Presents can also help us develop lifelong habits in our children. Let’s use this Holiday Season as an opportunity to prioritize giving above receiving and encouraging children to donate toys and clothes to other children in need.

Make the preparations fun so children find joy in celebrating with you the act of giving to others. 

Cherish your family traditions, and don’t be afraid to create new traditions this Holiday Season.

Here are some ideas to celebrate!

  1. Invite children to help you wrap up presents. 

Child with present by Graciela Castellanos

Regalos illustration

 

2. Create a nativity scene with decorations and hands-on crafts. Using household items, basic craft supplies, or kid-friendly playsets, younger children can recreate the nativity scene and place various characters in their rightful places.

 

Belen by Carmen Castellanos

 

3. Plan a time to light your menorah or kinara candles together, or set up a time to simultaneously decorate or light up your Christmas trees.   

Kwanza celebration  

 

4. Encourage children to write a letter to Baby Jesus, the Thre Kings or Santa Claus.

Carta al Nino Jesus
Santa reading to children illustration by Graciela Castellanos

 

4. Sing together some Villancicos or Christmas Children’s songs.

 

Illustrations by Graciela Castellanos and Images by Pixabay

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Time for Back-to-school! Are you ready?

This will be an exciting new beginning for our kids and an opportunity to celebrate the learnings and experiences they will benefit from.

Let’s take the opportunity to put in place some back-to-school habits that children may have lost and give them the support they need to continue developing the core abilities all children need – curiosity, sociability, resilience, self-awareness, self-esteem, integrity, resourcefulness, open-mindedness, creativity, quality time, empathy and love.

As the lazy days of summer wane, we all need to get ready. Here are a few simple tips to help everyone kick-off the new school year with a great start, motivated and full of enthusiasm and optimism.

Ease into it by getting back to a sleeping and waking up routine. Setting up a regular bedtime and wake-up routine before school starts is a crucial step to prepare children being alert during classes and a practical way to cut down on first-days stress.

Pixabay Photo

Plan out your mornings and evenings. Some morning responsibilities children can start practicing might be to get dressed, eat breakfast, brush their teeth, put on their shoes and get their backpacks.

Before going to bed they may take a bath, brush their teeth, put on their pj’s, tuck in bed and listen to a story with mom or dad. Help your child make a list of their morning and evening responsibilities by drawing them together with you.

Reading to your baby

Make reading a routine. As part of their evening routine invite your little ones to choose a book before bedtime, whether before dinner or before bath time. Once they are on their pj’s cuddle up with them and enjoy reading the book they have chosen.

Get crafty. Make name tags for their backpacks. This is a simple and fun way to personalize children’s backpacks, as well as help them to identify them quickly and easily.

  • You will need: Cards (white or pale colored)
  • Pencil crayons/markers
  • Hole punch
  • Key ring attachments or ribbon
Pixabay Photo

First – draw an outline of the children’s names onto the cards (older kids can of course do this themselves). Make the letters big and chunky to give plenty of room to color them in.

Second – have the children color in their names. Older kids could try creating a different pattern in each letter!

Third – cut out the names leaving a small border all around, and at least an inch before the first letter (this is where you need to punch a hole). If you wish you can write address and contact details on the back of each name.

Fourth – laminate the name tags, re-punch the holes and use key rings or ribbon to attach the tags to the backpacks.

Plan ahead for healthy lunch boxes. Sit down with your kids to plan the lunches and snacks for the week. You may want to practice making these lunches and snacks together during the last days of summer.

Post the meal plan on your fridge at home, so kids know what to expect for lunch the next day and you’ll know what to grab at the grocery store.

Try to include a serving from each of the four food groups for lunch. That’s vegetables and fruit; grain products, dairy, and meat and alternatives. Meanwhile, snacks should include a serving from two food groups. Think about including some of these healthy foods:

  • Sandwich
  • Tortilla
  • Bagels
  • Cup of fruit and vegetables
  • Cheese
  • Homemade muffins
  • Yogurt
  • Cereal

Get creative, keep it simple and kid sized.

Check out for ideas in our Pinterest Board.

Flickr Creative Commons Picture
 
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Having fun!!!

Learning is easier if it is fun and to make it fun we need to provide children with a playful environment. The more fun the environment, the more a child will want to stay with it. We know children learn in a variety of ways but we all recognize that play is an important vehicle in the process.

Children learn a second language in a natural way, through play, songs, rhymes, movement, exploration, creativity, games, story books and fun activities in an environment that is playful. When exposing children to a new language use the language at all times paired with games. Invite them to play grocery store, make a snack or pretend to be an astronaut. Let them learn by doing. Use props, pictures and sounds to reinforce the new language in a playful way.

Use music and rhythm. Music is one way to use the whole brain. The songs, nursery rhymes and finger plays they learn in their childhood will always be remembered. Encourage children to dance and move to different rhythms. Movement activities such as dancing, bouncing, and jumping keep children engaged, and help them broaden their understanding of the new language and its culture. Let them use all their senses to absorb the language. By expressing with new words how things feel after touching them. By tasting and eating foods and saying the food name in the new language. By smelling hidden objects in a bag, and guessing what is inside.

 

You can turn everything that is out there into a learning experience. Encourage children to use the new language while counting oranges; comparing leaves; classifying different animals, food, or anything that interests them. Let them pretend to be different characters. Encourage them to act out and role play to strengthen their imagination, expression and creativity.

 

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Fall news

Fall is here!!!

This year’s Fall Season has become overwhelming with changes taking place in all areas of our lives. One of the most challenging in the educational area.

Technology has become essential in teaching and this has increased the need for new educational materials based on digital formats.

Our newest line of materials–which are now being published- for engaging little ones in English takes care of that.

Since January we have been working on converting all our resources to digital format so you can connect and teach young children in different contexts. These resources are available for IOS and Android on the Apple Books Store , on Google Play and on the Caribu App.

Following is an update of some of the resources created and that can be used as the core curriculum or as a supplement to any program:

Curriculum guides:

English for Babies 1-2-3

  

English for Toddlers 1-2-3

This new format has all the songs from each unit incorporated as well as the dialogs and read alouds. In this way, we make the guides more teacher friendly and also easier to use by parents who may need help and guidance when exposing their children to a new language. This is especially crucial for parents who have little or no background in the target language.

Pictures Books in English  for children from birth to 8 years of age.

Online interactive activities

Online interactive activities for each of our Picture Books to reinforce the acquaintance of children’s language skills in a fun and natural way.

We will continue to convert and publish the rest of our Curriculum Guides and the Enrichment activities Booklets for children as the year continues.

Likewise, we are looking forward to continue adding more digital features to all Languages4kidz materials based on your feedback.

Our main goal during these difficult times is to provide parents and teachers with resources that work well in ANY setting and therefore help very young children acquire an additional language early in life.