Tania Sanahuja Juan

Autum is finally here, and with it the best time of the year to work the seasons and colours in Spanish.

There so many enjoyable activities that I do with my youngest students to work this topic and I thought about sharing sone of them with you!

1.- Las cuatro estaciones: Get an A4 or A3 paper (with the little ones is always better to use A3 paper) and draw 3 vertical lines to divide it in 4 equal parts, one for each season. Draw a tree log with nice long branches in each section and at the bottom write the name of a season (Otoño, Invierno, Verano y Primavera). Ask the children to colour each of the trees according to the season that it represents. To make their creations more fun, instead of using pencil colours, they can use paint and use their fingers.

2.- Mi árbol de otoño: Ask the children to collect leaves from the local park/street. Once at home, find a cardboard box (cereal box, shoe box, etc) and cut one of the rectangle faces and draw the shape of the tree log and branches. (If needed, you can ask the children to paint the background in the colour of their choice before you draw the tree log). Ask the children to make their own autumn tree picture by sticking the leaves that they've picked around the tree log. While they are doing it you can ask them about what colour the leaves are as they stick them to the carboard paper. They can also frame the picture with nice decorations and make a hole in it to hang it in their bedroom!

3.- Reading the books "El pequeño libro de las estaciones", "Las cuatro estaciones desde el árbol", "El gran libro de las estsciones de Nacho" y "Las 4 estaciones".

4.- Singing the song "Las cuatro estaciones" by Rockalingua.

❤ Feliz día de la madre a todas las mamás españolas que viven en España o en en cualquier otra parte del mundo

❤ Happy mother's day to all the Spanish mummies who live in Spain or in any other part of the world

❤ Feliç dia de la mare a totes les mares espanyoles que viuen a Espanya o a qualsevol altra part del món

Rain, rain go away!

Happy rainy Sunday everyone.

After a couple of sunny weeks it seems like rain has come back to stay. :(

It was very nice while it lasted, after all London's weather is not meant to be that nice in March...

Well, let's use this rainy day as an excuse to learn the nursery rhyme "rain, rain go away" in Spanish.

LLuvia, LLuvia Vete Ya
Otro día volverás
Todos Los Niños Quieren Jugar
LLuvia, LLuvia Vete Ya.

You can find a nice version of this song that also covers family members vocab on youtube, just follow the link below:

https://youtu.be/-S8MUSo8WrM

Happy Monday everyone,

The last myth that I would like to talk about in my February's myth of the week challenge is the one that tends to worry more parents.

The usual question is: "Will my child start to speak later than the others if he is raised bilingual?"

The answer is: not necessarily. But what would happen if that was the case? I believe starting to speak 3-6months later "than the other children" is worth anyway if later in life they'll speak two languages.

We must not forget that each child is an individual entity and can't be categorised in boxes that determine the way they develope or will develope.

My experience in Early Years has allowed me to meet many bilingual children (Japanese, Spanish, Turkish, Greek, French...) and the only thing I could say about them is that they were all amazing understanding and speaking both languages from a very young age.

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Happy International Mother Language Day!

All languages are as beautiful and important as each other and it is essential that we spread awareness about cultural and linguistic diversity and promote multilinguism and multiculturalism around the world.

Your mother language plays a big role in your cultural heritage and in defining who you are. It is not bizarre nor unusual that you as a parent decide to pass it on to your children even when you are living very far away from your family and in a country where this language is not spoken.

I grew up in a beautiful small city in the north of Valencia and my mother language is Valencian. Valencian is a language spoken by a very small minority of population in Spain. Valencian's big sister is Catalan (official language in Cataluña).

I am so proud of my mother language and even though I live in London and far away from my family I will make sure that when I have children they don't only speak Spanish and English but Valencian too. Because that is my family's linguistic and cultural inheritance and my children need to be part of it and know their family roots.

💕Lots of love to all those parents who live far from their families and are raising their children bilingual to keep alive their mother language 💕

Raising bilingual children shouldn't be a tedious task.

You as a parent as well as your little one should enjoy the process and also work out what works better for the two of you.

If they like to read, then do a lot of reading; if they are more into messy play go for it, add a small touch of the target language by focusing the play around topic vocabulary (for instance: different colours to mix and explore = to work colours vocab, farm animals muddy messy play = to work animals vocab, etc).

If you don't have the time because of your working hours perhaps you like to hire a native nanny!

In conclusion: there is not right or wrong as long as it works and your child enjoys it.