How Parents and Carers Can Help
How parents can help
You don’t have to be able to speak Spanish to support your child with their learning at home. Simply talking to your child about what they have been learning in their language lessons and asking them to teach you some key words or phrases is a fantastic way of helping children recall previous learning. Perhaps they have a younger sibling or other family members that they might want to teach some key words to as well?
Hunt for bilingual books at the library
Many libraries have a bilingual book section where children might find simple stories in Spanish. They can have a go at reading the Spanish parts whilst you provide the translation in English.
Keep your eyes open when out and about
Challenge your children to find Spanish products on supermarket shelves and see if they can read the packaging or work out exactly where the item is from. Do they recognise any ingredient names in Spanish? Perhaps they could make their own list of things to buy in Spanish.
On holiday
If you are lucky enough to spend any time in a Spanish-speaking country during the holidays, encourage your children to be the ‘translator’! Can they practise some of what they have been learning? Perhaps they could order a drink in Spanish.
Encourage creativity
Older children could create a resource for younger pupils in the school to use. This could take the form of a ‘Knowledge Organiser’ (which presents all the vocabulary for a particular unit of work), a game or a poster with key words on it.
Free Online Resources
There are lots of free and fun websites where children can practise Spanish at home. These are safe, accessible and suitable for families without subscription costs:
Duolingo – www.duolingo.com (free language app and website where children can learn through games and short activities)
Rockalingua – www.rockalingua.com (songs, games and simple activities – some are free to access)
Spanish Games – www.spanish-games.net (interactive vocabulary games and practice activities for beginners)
BBC Bitesize Spanish – BBC Bitesize Spanish KS2 (videos, quizzes and activities designed for primary pupils)
Digital Dialects – www.digitaldialects.com/Spanish.htm (free vocabulary games, numbers, colours, phrases and more)
These resources can be enjoyed on most devices, including smartphones, tablets and laptops, making them easy to use at home.