Easy Spanish Lessons for the Whole Family
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A couple of weeks ago, Josh told me that he liked all the meals I’d fixed for supper the previous week. No, it wasn’t because I’m such a fantastic cook. He liked them because they made easy leftover meals for taking to work.
I still took it as the compliment it was though because all the meals were also simple to prepare and stuff that the whole family likes to eat.
Easy and effective. Those are my kind of meals.
I like easy and effective in my homeschool curriculum, too. Pick-up-and-go curriculum that my kids enjoy, that works well for them, and requires little prep work for me is the very best kind. That’s why I’ve been so happy with the Flip Flop Spanish curriculum.
What Is Flip Flop Spanish Curriculum?
Flip Flop Spanish is an easy-to-use, two-year Spanish curriculum designed for the whole family to learn together, from your preschooler to your high schooler – and you.
It comes with everything you need to start using it right out of the box. The only things you’ll need to add are a binder and a few index cards.
I also had some acrylic playing card storage boxes that I found extremely handy, but a couple of rubber bands or plastic sandwich bags would work just as well.
When you open the box, you’ll find:
- The curriculum manual, 3-hole punched and ready to go into a binder with a front and back cover and spine insert
- 3 sets of flashcards
- 4 audio CD’s containing all the lessons
- A dry erase paddle and marker for practice and games
- Card-holder notebook pages for sentence-building
It is a homeschool curriculum/organizer junkie’s dream. I mean, seriously? Two full years of curriculum and (almost) everything you need to do it fits in one binder? What’s not to love about that?
(The only things that don’t fit in the binder are the flashcards. However, if you store them in a 3-hole-punched pencil pouch, you could store them in the binder, too.)
How Do You Use Flip Flop Spanish?
Flip Flop Spanish is so easy to use. I started by going through a lesson by myself to see how it worked. Then, I had Megan go through the lesson on her own. She finished and said, “That’s it?”
Yes, that’s it. The lessons are simple, interactive, and short – perfect for all ages. Each lesson is designed to take a week to complete, going through the same lesson at least three times before moving to the next. On the third time through, you don’t use the CD but interact with your student face-to-face.
If you’re learning with only an older student, you can do two lessons at a time. Older kids and adults could do the lessons entirely independently (though it’s beneficial to have a practice buddy) using the curriculum guide and CD lessons. It’s recommended to spend at least three days a week on Spanish lessons.
The CDs feature a different track for each section of the lessons, which makes it simple to stop for younger kids with shorter attention spans and pick up where you left off.
What Does a Flip Flop Spanish Lesson Look Like?
For each lesson, there is a list of flashcards to pull out. Each flashcard has a picture on the front. The back lists the Spanish word and pronunciation, along with the English word. The cards are placed picture side up. As you listen to the CD, each word is introduced in English and Spanish.
The cards are also numbered, so it’s easy to find the ones you need to pull out for each lesson.
Students are asked to touch the correct card when they hear its Spanish word. Because you’re only hearing the Spanish word and looking at the picture, the lessons teach your brain to think in Spanish.
After practicing the words, students use the cards to build sentences in Spanish. Older students are encouraged to keep a notebook and write out two or more of the sentences they build with the cards. This allows them to practice speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish and familiarizes them with Spanish grammar.
There are different activities peppered throughout the curriculum, such as Spanish Pictionary, hide-and-seek, and crossword puzzles. There is plenty of review – and even break weeks! – built into the curriculum.
Plus, there are invitations to email Señora Gose, the creator of the curriculum, if you have questions or get stuck. She really wants students to succeed with Spanish!
See? Even la gata likes Flip Flop Spanish.
So, if you’re looking for a Spanish curriculum that’s easy to use and fun for all ages, check out Flip Flop Spanish. We can’t wait to dig into it more next school year! Be sure to check out some of their fun extras like a perpetual Spanish activity calendar and Spanish-English labels for objects around your home.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
Hi Kris, can you comment on how this curriculum worked after using it for a year? I’m always gung ho(!) about spanish at the beginning, and so far we haven’t lasted more than 2 months on anything (yikes).