Updates from Lango Kids Language Camp

We enjoyed ourselves, in the "big city", where we stayed with my aunt and uncle as Big Brother attended Lango Kids day camp recently to gain some motivation/excitement/stronger foundation in Spanish.  It was an interesting week for sure.  Big Brother learned lots in the mornings, and in the evenings we made time for fun outings that we do not normally get to do all during one week, like putt-putt, bowling, Monkey Joe's, and a picnic in the park!

I was thrilled to learn that Big Brother's teacher was a native of El Salvador, and Señora Paty, I could soon tell had a love for sharing Spanish with the little ones.  She had the room set up to reflect the Ocean theme and each day Big Brother would share a bit of the fun they had together with his class.

Big Brother especially enjoyed the music.  On the second day, the director of the program gave me a copy of the cd they were using, and we have been playing it at home to follow up on his learning time at camp.  The catchy tunes are just the kind I like, with familiar family/home words, but even more vocabulary interjected than I expected.

When Señora Paty shared with me how Big Brother was participating and attentive in class, I was thrilled when she informed that he had the best pronunciation from the class.  She could tell that he already had some familiarity with Spanish. I was so excited that something is sticking in that head of his! At this point I am realizing he indeed has more receptive language than expressive, so it is just a matter of time until he can show me more! I must stick with it if I want to see more results, I know!

So that's what I intend to do, even as the summer is winding down, and the craziness of back-to-school times are quickly approaching, I am vowing to myself and to you blog readers....to stick with even more exposure to Spanish for him AND Little Sister, and to have more expectations for him to respond to me in Spanish.

As always, I am open to suggestions in this journey.  Thanks for reading and suggesting! :)

Great Expectations

This week Big Brother is going to attend a LangoKids Camp for more practice with Spanish, with kids of his same age.  He is not quite sure what to expect, nor am I, but I am hopeful.

Big Brother did not have the advantage that Little Sister has had of spending time with me from an early age and with access to Spanish programming on TV as well.  When Big Brother was little, I went back to school to get a master's degree to complete my teaching certification. My mom (YaYa) kept Big Brother while I was at work, and an aunt of mine kept him while I attended graduate courses in the evenings.  He was exposed to much more English than I realized he would be. 

Due to all this English exposure, from my **wonderful** fellow caregivers, he has become a very special little fellow with a great vocabulary.  He has at times however, when with a group of Spanish speakers, covered his ears and pleaded, "Not so loud, you're hurting my ears!"  or "You're making my head hurt!" 

Big Brother likes to know what is going on around him at all times, and being that he is curious, he cannot stand not understanding folks around him.  This has led to several frustrating times. 

He has finally become more open to Spanish, and I am running with it! We speak much more Spanish in our casa than before, watch some cartoons (especially through Discovery Kids) and even watch those novelas I mentioned in a previous post.  He is often exposed to friends and family members coming to visit and speaking only Spanish and has started to respond with greetings in Spanish.

I am hoping this week, even though it is only a half-day, day camp, that Big Brother has more excitement about Spanish than he had before he started, and that he begins to have more of a desire for it as well.  It will be so much easier for him to learn it now, than it was for me to do, after college. 

Here's hoping for a great week of language learning!