Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
My second grader had been asking to learn Spanish, and I honestly just had not made it a priority. When I heard about Whistlefritz, I decided it would be an excellent opportunity to try Spanish with both my second grader and my four-year-old. We received the Educator’s Spanish Collection (with ¡Buenos Días! and La Música) for our review.
What is Whistlefritz?
Whistlefritz is a language program geared towards prekindergarten and early elementary students.
The kit includes a teacher’s manual with lessons and activities, videos accompanying the program, and a CD with music. There is also a set of memory matching cards. A downloadable parent’s guide also gives a suggested schedule for homeschoolers. That schedule is flexible and can be adapted to fit the needs of individual families.
During an average week, the parent would lead a lesson that introduces the concept for the week. For example, one week, we learned the colors in Spanish. The program is also cross-curricular and introduced the idea of primary and secondary colors in that lesson.
After introducing the lesson, there is an activity to complete together. There are suggestions for which videos/video segments and songs on the CD to do throughout the week to reinforce the concepts.
For instance, after the lesson on colors, we watched a video about a birthday party that talked about the colors of different balloons. The videos are immersion-style, with everything being in Spanish. There is some live-action with an instructor and young children and some animation.
How We Used the Program
The guide suggests doing Spanish 4-5 days a week, but we usually fit Spanish in 2-3 days a week. However, with the program’s flexibility, that was not a problem.
I would teach a lesson one day a week, and then they would watch the videos on the other days. The classes generally took me about 10 minutes and then another five to ten minutes for the activity. The book appears to be written for classroom instruction, but it was not hard to modify for home use.
They enjoyed the songs, and I am looking to get an inexpensive CD player for the boys to listen to those as they do other activities during the day. We currently have to use a computer to listen.
My four-year-old is on the young side (just turned four) and did not pick up on the language as quickly as my second-grader. However, he enjoyed the videos, and I think the exposure was beneficial. He can repeat the program next year and continue to add to what he is learning.
Our Opinions on Whistlefritz Educator’s Spanish Collection
Overall, we enjoyed the Whistlefritz Educator’s Spanish Collection. My son was hesitant initially but told me that he really enjoyed it and wanted to do more. It was reasonably easy to implement, though you need to look ahead in the book to ensure you have needed supplies and copies. Many supplies were things that were already found in our home, but some, like transparencies, might not be something you already have available.
While there are videos included in this program, it is important to realize that they are supplementary and it still requires parental instruction. They provide pronunciation guides to make it easy for parents to implement.
We plan to continue implementing this program with both of my younger boys at least through the end of our school year and possibly into next year.
Click on the graphic below to see what other Crew members thought about Whistlefritz.
