For most of the learners and teachers we know and love, the semester is wrapping up.  As we wrap up, many of us are also wrapping something else – the Christmas presents!  Whatever this holiday season holds for you, know that we appreciate you. We know that being bilingual in Spanish is an adventure that […]

In honor of the approach of Mother’s Day, the moms of Calico Spanish would like to remind you about our free printable.  It’s a fun and easy way to give kids the opportunities to sing their mom’s praise in Spanish.  Enjoy!   Happy Mother’s Day! We recently saw an adorable Mother’s Day “My mom and […]

It’s no secret: young children love games.  (And really, don’t most of us?)  It can be challenging, though, to find a game for the early Spanish language classroom that is fun, useful, and authentic.  Pañuelito fits that bill perfectly. How to play the game Pañuelito, also often called el juego del pañuelo, is  historically common in several Spanish-speaking countries.  […]

Role play for young learners? Yes, please! It’s no secret: in early language education (and even in middle and high school!), finger puppets are a win! Somehow, sometimes, it seems less intimidating to pretend you’re a puppet speaking Spanish rather than be yourself speaking Spanish.  Of course, young children usually love any kind of role […]

So, how are you today? ¿Cómo estás? It’s one of the first things we teach our learners to understand and answer, and for good reason.  Particularly young children will hear “How old are you?” quite a bit, and of course “What’s your name?” but right up there in the most common questions anyone hears in any […]

How can we help our kindergarten learners be successful in their Spanish language journey?  In this post, we offer some tips from the trenches of that sunny-yet-conflicted zone called kindergarten. 1. Establish successful routines. All elementary children thrive on routine, but we’ve especially seen this in kindergarten.  These learners have moved from a primarily play-to-learn environment in […]

Are you a teacher who has recently subscribed to Stories Online and wants to know what content you can share with parents at home?  We often receive this question – time for a blog post to answer it! Rewind… Stories OnWhat? Calico Spanish Stories Online is our all-online program developed to fill a need for […]

Once upon a time, I thought I’d figured out how to teach elementary Spanish. Then, they asked me to teach preschool. Preschool is a different sort of animal. Standing in a line is a fluid concept. Rules my son’s 3-year-old class worked on last year: – We do not lick the wall. – We do not […]

The first time I taught a kindergarten Spanish lesson, I thought if I read the story La oruga muy hambrienta (The very hungry caterpillar) enough times, kids would learn something.  Right? So, I faithfully came into my kindergarten classes, once a week for a 15-minute lesson, and read the book to them.  I was animated and […]

Summer break = break from kids’ learning? Is summer break really a good idea relative to children’s learning journey?  That’s certainly a hot topic for teachers and parents, and we won’t debate here.  Surely, though, over two months of little to no contact with Spanish can only hurt language development. Here’s an idea: Let’s encourage kids to keep […]