Singalongs are a great way for kids to learn Spanish.
Strolling about town, watching traffic jams, skirting bicycles and skateboarders on sidewalks, I often catch myself humming. Waiting for a traffic light to change, fellow pedestrians raise their eyes from their cell phone screens and stare at me as if I were a weirdo. But these tunes make me recall the singalongs of my youth, and how we can use them today to help our children learn Spanish.
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Children’s songs have catchy music to them, and simple, sometimes nonsensical, lyrics that get glued to our brains and stay there for years. Children do not make an effort to learn them. They just listen, enjoy and learn. That simple.
As habits are changing, parents seem to spend less time with their offspring. Some grandparents are taking over, but still, they do not invest time with their grandchildren as they used to. We do not seem to realize that children need time with parents and grandparents, but parents and grandparents also need time with their children. Notice the recurrent words: parents, grandparents, children… Ponder on this.
To preserve the lore handed down from generation to generation in your family and in order to offer your child the gift of another language, sing along with them in Spanish. You will be sharing emotions, feeling, memories in the songs and lyrics of your childhood.
Even if grandparents are not nearby, or if parents don’t remember the words to the old singalongs, not all hope is lost. The internet offers the possibility to relive children’s songs from all over the world… at our fingertips. Give it a try and sing along with your child and recapture the solace and benefits of song sharing with your kids.
Mamiverse’s #BilingualPlus Singalongs for Kids
Mamiverse’s Bilingual Plus is an online channel devoted to bringing parents and educators the bilingual learning tools they need in the form of digital picture books, sing-alongs, and free curriculum-based family activities.
