What our customers say...

RV Homeschool Review

They struggled to find something that was engaging and helps kids actually learn Spanish. Then they found Calico Spanish. Watch a real homeschool mom go into detail about our program and how it works for their family.

One of the best Elementary Spanish curriculums out there

I bought Calico’s original Homeschool program before this one was made. It was basically the same as the classroom version, just less of all the extra supplies and about twice the price of this. I was very disappointed in it. It was very difficult to adapt to teaching one child at home, and impossible to do if you don’t speak the language at all (I do speak Spanish, luckily!). I slogged on, however, and loved the theory behind it and many of the things in it.

When I received an email that this one had been released, I jumped on it the same day. I LOVE this program. It’s very simple to do with only one kid, but also worked very well when I taught a Spanish class to a group of ten mixed age homeschoolers. The kids loved the videos, and I really appreciated that they were learning not just vocabulary, but how to create simple sentences right away.

Because Spanish is a second language for me, I appreciate the video support with native language, as well as the music, which is catchy and we all sing around the house. My seven year old has learned a lot of Spanish through this program. We’ll definitely be buying the next level when we are done reviewing what we learned last year and finish the last couple of lessons this fall.

If there is one flaw, it would have to be a lack of game ideas. Because I’m a teacher, I was able to pull in resources and come up with a lot of my own ideas (go to the Spanish Playground blog if you are looking for supplemental ideas. It’s great for this!), but for someone who doesn’t have the time or comfort with adding material, this may not be the easiest thing to do. My understanding is that this was addressed in the next level, so I am looking forward to finding out!

All in all, we love Calico and have found it to be some of the best elementary level Spanish curriculum out there. It’s so hard to find a program that you can teach to kids that aren’t really reading yet, or not ready to conjugate verbs and or even understand what a verb is. This program is heavy on love of the language and using it in your day to day life. There is a bit of writing in the activity book, but it’s easy to skip if your child isn’t ready for that. Either have them dictate, or just move on to a different activity. It’s also very easy to add in your own worksheets, which is what I’m doing for our second time through as my son is a bit older now and ready to do that kind of work.

– Beachlover

As far as I know, it’s the best comprehension based program available for children.

Let me start by saying I REALLY like this program and just bought the next level. I looked into every program I could find and liked this the best for its emphasis on comprehension rather than grammar rules.

This program consists of 8 lessons, each of which is designed to last for 10 days. There are additional review days scattered throughout. The daily lessons are intended to take 25-30 min each. I think maybe twice I was able to make a lesson last 10 days. I felt like if we went that long, it got too tedious for my kids. Seven to eight days seemed better to me. Also, as written, the daily lessons only lasted about 15 min for me.

The foundation of each lesson is a short video and a (usually) corresponding song or two, all of which are entirely in Spanish and done with native speakers (at least they sound native and I’m a native speaker). We really liked the videos and songs! A thorough Teacher’s Guide is included which tells you exactly what to do each day. It also gives you an English translation for the video dialogue.

In the package you will get 8 activity pages (one per lesson, not per day). These activities are writing based and I never used them (my children were preschool, K, and 1st). For example, one of the lessons teaches “estoy bien/estoy mal” (I’m well, I’m bad). On the corresponding activity page you look at the pictures of 4 animal drawings and write “estoy bien” or “estoy mal” next to each animal based on their facial expression.

You’ll also get a set of flashcards that has many words that come up in the videos. On the front of the flashcard there is a picture of the noun or verb and underneath the Spanish word is written. On the back, the English is written. I took those flashcards and blacked out all the Spanish words so that I could use them as a game. I’d lay out some of them and say the word in Spanish and they had to find the correct card (remember that I’m a Spanish speaker so that wasn’t hard for me). This tests their comprehension rather than their ability to read Spanish. I will do this same thing for Level B, which I am about to begin.

If you speak Spanish (or at least a reasonable amount), you can use these videos as a jumping off point and add more language learning. For example, one of the videos talks about a necklace and tennis shoes. So I took that and then taught my kids various pieces of clothing. All in all, I would highly recommend this! I love that it’s comprehension based and not list-memorizing based and grammar rule based. It’s a much more natural way to learn language. Also, even though I speak Spanish, I just wasn’t teaching my kids on my own. This gives me everything laid out and thought out for me, which makes it actually happen! :) Just be aware that unless you do some extra on your own, it may not take you as long each day and it may not take as many days as they say.

– khmcd

Very pleased!

My kids are elementary ages, and we have begun using Calico Spanish in our homeschool. Actually, it was so fun, my kids were asking to do the lessons over the summer when this mama was trying to have a break!! Well, I couldn’t say, “No,” to kids who are begging to learn!

The kids considered it very fun learning. I am personally pleased with Calico Spanish, because I don’t speak Spanish, and it’s so easy for the parent/teacher to learn right along with the students. We are learning together, and the books and the videos are very effective in helping us process and comprehend the language. Plus, even though I was afraid I couldn’t teach my kids Spanish, the videos pronounce the words for us, so I don’t have to worry that I’m teaching it incorrectly. My son was carrying around the first book around after Lesson 1, reading it repeatedly and eager to show his dad what he’d learned after just one lesson.

I highly recommend Calico Spanish and eagerly anticipate using more levels from them in the future. Oh, and one more thing. I like the pictures. They’re simple, but pleasant. So many things for kids these days seem like they’re trying to be sloppy or ugly. I appreciate that these materials are pleasant to behold!

– S11322