Spanish

 

MdTL’s Spanish program focuses on the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while also fostering an appreciation for the multiplicity of Spanish-speaking cultures in the US and around the world. Activities, games, and songs complement the learning process in a fun and engaging way.

Our Pre-Primary students have daily exposure to Spanish through simple vocabulary and songs, as both the Head Teacher and Assistant are bilingual. These students do not, however, work with our Spanish specialist.

Our Spanish Specialist joins each Primary classroom one afternoon a week, where children are exposed to the Spanish language through music, movement, story, and song. The goal of our Primary Spanish program is exposure and appreciation and, in this way, to support the development of solid foundations for more extensive language acquisition in the future.

In the Lower Elementary, children work with our Spanish specialist in small groups, one day a week, during the morning work period. Early Spanish lessons focus on the Spanish alphabet and sounds of letters in addition to vocabulary building, which leads to basic conversation and storytelling through exposure and practice with various parts of speech. Students learn to talk about themselves by identifying feelings and interests and practice conversation using common expressions in Spanish. Students enjoy interactive Spanish language games, acting out verbs, and begin writing simple sentences. Numeracy is introduced through basic counting, by tens, hundreds, thousands, and beyond, as well as work with the calendar and telling time.

At the Upper Elementary level, students build upon the solid foundation they established in Lower Elementary. A variety of games help them learn new vocabulary and there is a focus on practical use of Spanish as they learn useful phrases. Reading in Spanish is introduced through the use of fun and easily understood material. Students are also exposed to a variety of Spanish-speaking cultures, learning about customs, artists, and songs. Consistent with the Montessori approach, Upper Elementary students are given opportunities to dive deep, study Spanish-speaking countries of their choice and present to their class. They also have opportunities for cooking projects featuring regional cuisines.