Spanish for Kids

¡Hola!

My name is Ana Lomba and I am from Madrid, Spain.

In 1999 I founded a Spanish immersion program for teaching Spanish for kids (toddlers and preschoolers) located in Princeton, New Jersey.

Today I am a Parents’ Choice Award-winning author of several books and resources in both French and Spanish for kids and younger children.

I present workshops nationally for teachers and for parents, and I occupy leadership positions in several language organizations to help advance early language education in the USA.

This is where I am today, but as I said, my beginnings were not easy. I don’t mind admitting it: My first day teaching Spanish to children was a catastrophe!

My previous experience included seven years of teaching Spanish to undergraduates at Binghamton University and at Princeton University, while completing advanced degrees in Spanish and Latin American literature. I had also taught Spanish to children in a private Princeton middle school for a year.

Somehow I thought that the fact that I was a native speaker from Madrid, full of credentials from great universities, and mother of two young bilingual kids (three now) was all I needed to teach Spanish to children. It would be easy, right?

Wrong!

My first class was a parent-child group. I had organized it over a two-month period, posting ads in stores and relying on word of mouth.

Well, to make the story short I never saw that group of parents and children again. I don’t blame them: I knew how to teach older students, but I had no idea how to teach young children Spanish.

Where could I find the information I needed to get started with Spanish for Kids?

I visited local preschools (none of them offered Spanish at that time), subscribed to foreign language and early childhood organizations, attended their conferences, participated in language teachers Internet groups, and bought tons of things from catalogs and the Internet.

I kept buying things telling to myself “I may use this one day.”

Many times I bought products attracted solely by the titles, only to find out they were poor translations of American games and other activities that didn’t make any sense in Spanish. Moreover, many books didn’t adapt rhymes, didn’t change the expressions for Spanish equivalents, or even care to use proper spelling and grammar! (And this is a problem that continues until today!)

My basement is full of stuff I don’t even know I have anymore…

And unfortunately money is not the only thing I wasted so unwisely: priceless years came and went looking for appropriate learning targets based on my students’ young age, as well as an effective method and curriculum to achieve these targets!

I finally realized that I had to start from scratch and develop my own program and materials. I could use a song here or a story there, but I needed to think how I was going to integrate all the elements in a long-term program.

My “Spanish for kids” mission required a new approach – a new structure.

Creating this structure took years of trial and error, testing and adapting theories in my classes.

You see, while there are many teaching methodologies and text manuals to teach Spanish to older students (languages in this country have been traditionally taught in high school and college), the opposite is true about methodologies specific to young children.

Although some elements of second language teaching techniques for older students could be used to teach young children, most could not. And here I was at a loss. That’s what led me to create my own Easy Immersion methodology.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and started to mix my evolving knowledge of stages of language development in early childhood with my knowledge of foreign language teaching methodologies for older students.

I was fortunate to know many traditional Spanish games and songs for kids from my own childhood. However, most are not suitable to use with beginning students. Therefore, I also created many games and songs to target the specific needs of young children learning Spanish as a second language.

I also adapted traditional stories and created new ones to be used as skits in my storytelling sessions-my teaching style is theatrical. I wrote many songs and rhymes to be used with the stories as well.

That’s why I can help you: you don’t need to reinvent the wheel!

I have sorted through the latest information and research to offer you what I find most relevant and useful for early childhood Spanish teachers. All of this advice plus dozens of practical tips and sample activities are included in my Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide.

Alone, it would take you years and thousands of dollars in workshops, materials, curriculum planning, business counseling, and hands-on classroom practice to develop a successful program.

Save priceless time and frustration by purchasing the Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide!

The Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide provides a comprehensive view of my Spanish immersion program for kids ages 2 to 8.

In it, l will guide you through the latest theories and trends in language education (including my Easy Immersion methodology). You will:

• Learn how to effortlessly immerse your students in Spanish. Teaching the colors, numbers and days of the week in Spanish is not teaching a language-it’s not the same to learn to recite than to speak. With the techniques I’ll show you, your students will be on their way to acquiring whole language from day one.
• Discover the different types of activities that young kids can’t get enough of, so they’ll love being in class, absorb information quickly, and learn without thinking.
• Find out how to create, use and expand activities for your preschool Spanish lesson plans. In specific I’ll show you:
  • Tips to create more efficient, “dialogue-rich” activities, speeding the process toward meaningful, everyday communication. You don’t need to be a language expert to learn these priceless tips.
  • Practical strategies to integrate literacy into your curriculum. Building a strong literacy in Spanish, for kids, is an important success factor on the way to strong bilingualism.
  • Keys for identifying language-learner friendly traditional Spanish songs, rhymes and games. You will learn how to introduce Spanish culture to young children capitalizing on fun and child-centered activities.

Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide includes:

• An extensive list of resources for preschool and elementary Spanish teachers (classroom materials, books, websites, etc.).
• A practical introduction to second language acquisition philosophies in the USA and their impact on early childhood education.
• Step by step instructions to my award-winning preschool Spanish lessons and materials.

And if that was not enough information, as added bonuses you will receive:

Bonus 1: Secrets of starting and running your own Spanish for kids immersion company. There’s nothing as exciting as being your own boss. It’s a creative and flexible endeavor. You set your time, your fees, and your curriculum. In the E-Guide I share with you how I started and I run my company, Sueños de colores LLC.

Bonus 2: A sample 45 minute lesson plan that can also serve as a helpful handout for parents. Parent involvement is a recipe for success. Children learn languages best when parents are involved in learning. The sample handout will provide you with great ideas to include family Spanish immersion courses in your program.

Finally, since the Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide is electronic you will be able to:

• Start reading it within five minutes of purchase, from the comfort of your own home-all you need to do is to download it in your computer!
• Implement the classroom structure, curriculum design, and activities as soon as you want
• Discover materials that you will want to put to use in your classroom (truly!)

I estimate that I have spent over $20,000 in self-education (workshops, books, etc), and teaching materials during the years I’ve been teaching. This conservative number doesn’t take into account other great expenses I run into as a consequence of my lack of expertise when I first started running my business, mistakes which I could have easily avoided had I read a book like this!

The Spanish for Preschoolers E-Guide costs only $37.97 and it includes a 3 month guarantee. If you are not satisfied with my curriculum tips, I’ll send your money back.

You don’t need to repeat my mistakes!

Click the button below to get your own copy of the hands-on, information-crammed Spanish for Kids in Preschool E-Guide, and receive today the tools you need to implement an exciting preschool Spanish curriculum!

Sincerely,

Ana Lomba

Ana Lomba Early Languages LLC

P.S. While I can’t teach those classes for you-I can’t get out of the computer, sorry!-I will guide you through the process and help you have a great time teaching. I will also show you some Spanish songs, games and other fun activities for young children.

P.S.S. Still some lingering questions about the guide? Don’t know how to download it? Visit the FAQ section to find more about it.

Contact Ana