I am a high school teacher during the school year, but in the summers, I teach Spanish classes at a preschool summer camp. As you can imagine, the differences are astounding. As a teacher, you have to change your way of thinking and teaching dramatically. At the younger levels, it requires much more energy on the teacher’s part and creative activities. After my experience teaching preschool, I wanted to share some suggestions for any of you that are teaching preschool Spanish!
- Keep them moving! Preschool students love to move around. Design activities so that the students are given the chance to move around a lot. Get them up, then have them sit back down, move to another side of the room, etc. Some examples: When learning colors, numbers, or vocab, put an image or color on the floor, shout out the word and the students will move to that piece of paper.
- They have super short attention spans. You need to change the activities every few minutes. You can’t have one activity for the entire lesson. In a 30 minute lesson, I usually have 5-6 activities. They last about 5 minutes and then we move onto the next one. Believe me, by that time, they’re ready to move on.
- Sing songs! Sing as many as possible. Their brains love any song that helps them remember something. As we know, it is easier to remember something when it is put to music. This is especially helpful for little kids.
- Design hands on activities. They love holding things, touching things. I have to keep all of my props hidden or they will constantly be grabbing for them. So, give them the chance to do this. Use props like pom-poms, beads, puppets, balls, etc. When doing colors, I use mini cupcake tins and put a color in each one. Students must fill each tin with the right color bead or pom-pom.
- Routine is key! Start and end every session the same way. I sing a “Buenos Días” song using hand motions for every student to join in. Then we do a beach ball toss. During the ball toss, I introduce myself, “Me llamo… ¿Cómo te llamas?” And I pass it to a student who says their name. They probably won’t speak in full sentences. They pass it back to me. I repeat my name and pass it to the next student. After they say their name, I have them sit down, until all are seated. At the end of the lesson, we sing an adios song right before they leave.
- Use lots of images – remember they can’t read. Everything you do needs a prop or image. When reading a book, it helps to have characters or objects to help emphasize certain things.
- As a teacher, you can still speak at least 90% in Spanish. If you stick to a routine, use images, gestures, and modeling techniques, they will understand you! Also, keep in mind Stephen Krashen’s natural approach. How does a child learn their first language? By being immersed in it, with repeated commands, and with lots and lots of input.
Most importantly, have fun! This age group is so much fun to teach; they are excited to be there! Keep the classroom energy high and they will love Spanish class!
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