Where did they go? 😖 I wonder as I dig through drawers and search through cabinets. I realize this could be an idea for a slow Spanish story for kids. So this isn’t a total waste of time.
And then I see the flat, rectangular, red bag. I thought I hid them well. Apparently not. All my peanut butter m&m’s are gone. 😡
I pick up the empty m&m’s bag from the top of the garbage can annoyed that the thief wasn’t even sneaky about getting rid of the evidence. I know it wasn’t my husband, a salt (not sweet) person.
I charge into the boys’ bedroom holding up the bag and ask, “Who ate them?”
I wish I could say that’s the only time one of my kids ate my candy. But they do it on a regular basis. I guess it saves me calories? #silverlinings
Another silver lining? I was right – I could turn it into a story.
Why Use a Slow Spanish Story for Kids to Help Your Kids Learn Spanish?
Stories are:
🎉 engaging so kids don’t even know they’re learning. (Way better than using boring worksheets!)
🎉 provide language kids need to communicate.
🎉 increase empathy as kids relate to the characters.
Which is a double whammy for empathy because being more empathetic also comes from learning another language.
Listening to and reading a language must happen for someone to be able to speak it. What better way than to listen to and read a story? Especially one with pictures to provide support for better understanding.
And that’s said slowly in Spanish so kids have time to process what they’re hearing.
What’s Included in this Slow Spanish Story for Kids?
I drew pictures and made a video with a read aloud for this story’s first chapter. It’s called ¿Dónde está el chocolate? – Where’s the chocolate? Something that’s said a lot in my house. 😂
It’s a mystery with a little cliffhanger at the end of each chapter to increase engagement. Then kids will want to keep learning Spanish to find out what happens.
After I read this chapter to my kids:
Them: What’s the secret? Who has the chocolate?
Me: Let’s learn more Spanish and read the next chapter. 🤭
The story is for Spanish learners, so I limited the vocabulary to keep the story comprehensible. And I focused on 3 of the top ten verbs in Spanish to make it useful.
Knowing high frequency vocabulary will help your kids be able to talk to others better – from your Spanish-speaking neighbors to when you’re traveling.
- I start with instructions for listening to the story. Kids can either follow along with me reading the story on the screen or can use the workbook. (You can buy the workbook here.)
- Then I read the story in Spanish.
- Lastly, I explain how to do the reading comprehension activity (in the workbook) and read the sentences so kids can hear the pronunciation.
Next Steps
You don’t need the workbook to have the kids listen to this story. They can read along with me because the story is on the screen with the pictures.
They could even do the reading comprehension activity with the video. Just pause the video when the activity comes up.
What is one key to seeing your kids learn Spanish and be engaged? Listening to a slow Spanish story for kids! Have your kids watch this video because they’ll be engaged and start learning Spanish.
P.S. Please tell me I’m not the only mom with candy thieves for kids.
