This post covers weeks 7-10 of the Speekee Accelerate programme. We did pretty well to keep momentum going what with Christmas and New Year, I think there was just one week where we didn’t do anything! It is definitely important to do a little bit as often as possible with this so as to maintain your child’s interest, even if that means simply watching the videos every day.
We tend to watch the video in full a few times during the week then make time twice a week for the activities. We also have a two-hour weekly group session with Georgina (12), Timothy (7) and Chloe (6) to discuss that week’s’ topics and videos and do some of the activities together. This small group setting works really well for the children, I find it encourages and motivates them and also allows them to help each other if they need it.
Weeks 7 & 8
These units introduce family. We especially enjoyed watching the “Who’s Who” video. The worksheet asks questions about family members such as who is the son of my grandmother”? (in Spanish of course!), these questions are clearly for older children, and with a small group would be a good game to play in teams with a stop watch!
I like the way maps and places are introduced in this video as one of the children’s cousins takes us on a tour of her city. a lot of new vocabulary is introduced in a very friendly way! The children enjoyed making up their own maps.
Weeks 9 & 10
In this video we are introduced to lots of everyday vocabulary involved in the morning routine, drinks & house as well as life at a Spanish school – so lots to get your teeth into 🙂
The worksheets are great for reinforcing the vocab in week 9 and children must use a Spanish/English dictionary to look up some of the words. Personally I like visual dictionaries especially for younger children as it assists with word association, we use a 2 in 1 Dictionary and word book. However there are many excellent dictionaries on the market. This one is great for younger children Collins Very First Spanish Dictionary (Collins Primary Dictionaries) (Collins First)
Our favourite activity by far was the “Splat the drinks” game in week 9. this game reinforces the drinks vocabulary learnt in the videos. We posted the pictures of the drinks around the room and took it in turns to say them while the others had to find them and “splat” them – lots of fun 🙂
Week 10 introduces shapes and months of the year. Georgina made a “birthday wheel” and we filled in the calendar worksheet. One of the children would ask “cuando es tu cumpleaños?” the children took it in turns to find their birthdays on the wheel and answer the question with “mi cumpleaños es...”.
If this is the first time you have looked at months of the year you may find that you need to do a lot more work with it – I would recommend an additional activity to reinforce this unit.
For more information about the Speekee programmes visit their website www.speekee.com.
My next post will cover weeks 11-14.