Señora Gose's Homeschool Spanish Blog (aka "Seriously, Suzanne")

I often act like a complete goof for my students. I create silly songs, tell embarrassing stories, and draw funny cartoons, all in the name of evoking an emotion, creating a pocket for a place where the memory may climb up and store away forever, or at least for more than a moment.Sometimes I do something SUPER goofy. Like with the verb colgar.When I learned Spanish a thousand years ago, there were more verbs. Like about a million more verbs, surely, and I distinctly remember being required to know each and every one in all 78 tenses (Yes, I know there are...

"Experiences, not things" sounds good, but how do we create an experience, not a thing? What makes something, some event, memorable to us? We asked five children, ages 9 to 16, and here are their answers: - age 9:  When you are doing the same thing as me, like, you're watching me, and it's nice and calm. - age 10: Spending time with you, having lots of fun. - age 13: When we're all together doing the same thing. -age 14: When somebody notices me and I'm separated from the crowd. - age 16: When something hilarious happens, like when...

Oh my goodness, Practical Homeschooling Magazine has outdone themselves again. Each year, they hold readers' awards. Flip Flop Spanish has been pleased to be award recipients in the Foreign Language Category for the past two years in a row. WHAT ARE the Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards? The most prestigious homeschooling award. Nominated by homeschoolers, voted on by homeschoolers. Not a bogus "award" companies pay for - there is NO cost to be included, & you can't nominate yourself. If you would like your voice to be heard for (hopefully ours and other) great curriculum that has helped you, you can go there and...

Emotions play a big part in growing up, and teaching our kiddos how to express their emotions throughout the days, weeks, and years is an important skill to practice.  As we discussed in an earlier blog post, absorbing the language requires using it! Here's a link for LOTS of fun Spanish Printables for only $5. Or, for today, get a printable version of this free Spanish Emotions Chart, by signing up for the Flip Flop Spanish newsletter!     To use your printable, simply ask and answer:  ¿Cómo estás ahora? (How are you now?) Estoy... (I am) Your children will enjoy engaging you...

I really believe in family and family time. So much magic can come from the time an adult focuses on a child.  Right now, I'm reworking an old set of lessons I taught several years back to entire families at a time. The walk down memory lane has been LOVELY as I imagine new families visiting, talking, acting moves and skits out, and playing the innovative games I created for them to enjoy learning and USING Spanish together.  It brings me such joy to create the environment that children and parents experience the knowledge that they can communicate in a...