I remember sitting on a bus in Venezuela, trying to talk to the woman next to me.  My Spanish was limited, but I knew more than some of my fellow travelers.  So when she asked our group leader “Tienes hambre?” I actually knew what she was saying, however, our leader did not.  It was my one and only chance to interpret. I told him he could reply with “Tengo hambre.” He did respond with much animation and a huge smile as was his style. He did not however know the cool songs from Song School Spanish. If he had known, he could have even sang his response with style! 

Song School Spanish is published by Classical Academic Press as a gentle introduction to further studies in Spanish.  The curriculum set comes with a Student Book, CD, and Teacher’s Edition. It is designed to be upbeat and fun for children in Kindergarten through Third grade. It is a great fit for this age range and easily adaptable to older and younger students.  We used the Student Book primarily with my second grader, but everyone listened to and loved the songs, from the youngest to the adults.

Our very favorite song on the included CD was “Hungry / Thirsty” (Tengo hambre / Tengo sed).  We listened to it over and over and walked around the house singing it. The songs in this foreign language home school curriculum are catchy and easy to remember.  Not only are they great songs, but they helped us want to use the Spanish we are learning.  We have used the songs to play hide and seek (practicing hola and adios), perform puppet shows (animal names), and add music and language integration into our home school day.

We felt like we were readily using our Spanish right away. This was an enjoyable foreign language curriculum that we all enjoyed.  The songs were creative and well done so that we listened to them in the car and throughout the day, not just during school and our formal study time. The student book and Teacher’s Edition are $24.95 each. A music CD is included with the Student Book. The Student book has worksheet pages to go along with each lesson.  The workbook pages reinforce the concepts learned during the lesson through copy work, reviewing the song lyrics and sometimes coloring as preparation for another activity.  Although they are worksheets, they are just as engaging as the rest of the curriculum and do not fall into busy work.  My son enjoyed doing the workbook pages. There is a good blend of copy work,  coloring, and activities to keep the student focused and learning.

The Teacher’s Edition has the answers to all the student pages in the the student book as well as 40 pages of  supplemental worksheets that can be used for extra practice. The Teacher’s Edition also includes teaching tips, further explanations of the lessons to be taught and ideas for games and activities for the children to play. The additional explanations make it possible to teach Spanish to your children even if you do not have any background in a foreign language.