New-Languages

It is when playing that kids display their learning styles and as parents it is a good idea to watch closely. To effectively teach kids Spanish determine which of the styles are displayed. The most common styles are:

• Logical/mathematical
• Linguistic
• Visual
• Musical
• Kinaesthetic/bodily
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal

All styles exhibit different behaviours and preferences which can be a guide to the best techniques to use. On the market there are many courses and products ranging from books, CDs DVDs, podcasts and interactive online games. If a child is drawn to puzzles and number games then a good interactive course with games and puzzles would be ideal. Playing number games with flashcards and adding together objects while using the Spanish words and numbers is perfect.

For children who have a good memory for names and places and are easily aware of grammatical errors made by others would do well in translating words from English to Spanish and vice versa as this learning style is linguistic.

Some children just love music and will sing and dance along to almost anything and a great way to teach Spanish is to play songs of nursery rhymes and catchy tunes. Making up songs of the numbers 1-10 is another idea, be imaginative and creative with little ones who display a preference to the musical.

Just a few examples above of kids learning styles and how to integrate them with language learning. All kids love lively characters with whom they can make a connection and what better way to teach them Spanish than to have the characters teach them Spanish. There are great learning packages which have been developed specifically for kids and cater for all styles. The two favourites of kids are Muzzy and Speekee, lively, entertaining and most of all...fun. Both are complete learning packages in a dvd format with tips for parents and a complete script. Other packages come in downloadable format with games, puzzles, quizzes and songs, again taking into account different styles of learning which keep kids interested and best of all teach kids Spanish.

Go on, make the most of those early years and start the wonderful journey of learning Spanish with your little one, it is one of the greatest gifts you could give them.

Eleanor Ross is webmaster of http://www.learn-spanish-with-ease.com and has been learning Spanish with her 4 year old for 3 years. Find out more about kids learning styles here