Blog

If you’re a Stories Online subscriber, you may have already noticed that magical yellow “Level D” button pop up in your subscription.  (Such a small button! Such a big step for us!)  In Level D, you’ll meet Ofelia la oveja blanca (the white sheep) and her friends. Some you may already know, like Pepe and Raúl.  […]

Kids learn Spanish every day.  They learn it in elementary classrooms, in play groups, and in day cares.  They learn it with Pepe the brown dog in Stories Online.  But kids learn Spanish in specific ways, under specific conditions, and if those conditions aren’t met, language acquisition simply won’t happen.  That’s the science. Still, myths swirling […]

We recently told you about Pañuelito, a culturally authentic game for reviewing vocabulary in Spanish class.  Here we share Doña Ana. We incorporated this game into Calico Spanish Stories Online Level C (“I Live Here”), together with the song that inspired it. The many names of “Doña Ana” The children’s song “Doña Ana no está aquí” […]

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 […]

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 […]

TEN MILLION VIEWS. In elementary schools, kindergartens, preschools, and homes around the world, children have joined us in singing in Spanish about everything from colors to animals on the farm.  Kids are singing about how to answer “What’s your name?” and introduce someone to a friend.  They’re showing someone around the house and commenting on the […]

Has it seemed to you that the topic of weather and seasons has been the hardest to pin down in a catchy, effective song for early Spanish learners?  It has for us.  So, we made our own. “Las estaciones” weather/seasons Spanish song The weather and seasons are so interconnected that it was natural to put […]

Happy Mom’s Day! We recently saw an adorable Mother’s Day “My mom and I” printable activity in English.  We love these activities and thought it was such a great idea we’d do something similar in Spanish. In ours, we’ve featured some of our Stories Online characters with their moms and grandmothers.  Here at Calico Spanish, we are […]

What do you get when you update a 100-year-old Spanish children’s ronda with a peppy country beat and lyrics related to time, the house, feelings, and activities?  We can’t wait to show you. I know we’ve been releasing a lot of new music lately (see Pañuelito, and Amiguito, and Así me gusta a mí, and Todo mi […]