Spanish

How Do I Introduce Reading In Spanish To My Child?

If you’ve just decided you want to teach your child another language but you don’t want to just switch one day and start doing everything with them in Spanish then there are things you can do to introduce new habits slowly to your children. One of the best ways to learn a foreign language with your child is to read to them in that language.

More generally you can look at our article: ‘how do I get my child interested in Spanish?’ But if you’re looking specifically for reading habits then you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look together.

Find Age Appropriate Spanish Books

One of the most important thing is that the Spanish children’s books you choose are age appropriate. If the book if for a younger children they may find it boring and if it’s for an older child they might not be able to engage because it’s too difficult. You need to find a book that is appropriate for the age of your child.

Find Books That Are Interesting

Just as the appropriate age and level of the books is important, so is how interesting the book is. If you want to build a Spanish reading habit with your child then they need to find the books interesting. Don’t make the books too serious or feel like homework. Look for exciting stories and let your child help choose the books that they want to read so that they find it fun and engaging.

Teach Them Key Vocab Beforehand

To ensure that your child can understand enough of what is going on during the story, it could be a good idea to teach them some of the key vocab before you start. Look at what words are going to come up and teach them to you child. You could do this via flashcards or pictures. Then when the words come up, not only will the children know what they mean but they’ll be able to spot them and feel like they’re learning.

Encourage Your Child To Trace Along With you

Don’t let reading become too passive, get them to trace along as your speak so they can hear the natural rhythms of your speech and relate it to the appropriate words. This will help them to learn how to read for themselves much more quickly.

Check Their Comprehension After Each Page

Making the learning more interactive is a great way to get them to engage with the book and checking their comprehension is one of the ways you can do this. After you’ve finished each page ask your child to identify key words and ask them what they though the story was about. Get them to explain to you and help them to understand if they’re struggling.

Create A Cosy Environment

Probably the most important part of reading to your children in Spanish is to make the experience a special time for you and for them. Make the environment nice and cosy. Snuggle up with them before bed and read to them. They’ll be so happy to be spending the time with you that they’ll happily engage with the language.

 

How Do I Get My Children Interested In Spanish?

The most basic answer to this question is that you have to make it fun. In order for you to get your child interested in Spanish and wanting to learn it, it has to be fun for them. If it feels too much like school or if they find it boring they’re not going to learn and they’re not going to engage with the language. As a parents it’s your responsibility to make Spanish fun for them so that they want to learn it. How do we do that? Let’s take a look and find out some ways you can make Spanish seem fun and interesting to your child.

Read to them in Spanish

Find some great Spanish Children’s Books that are appropriate for their age and read to them in Spanish. ‘Why should my child read Spanish books?‘ You might be asking. I don’t want them to read, I want them to speak!

Well learning a language requires lots of different skills and your child won’t progress in Spanish if they can’t read. Reading can also be a great way to peak their interest in Spanish. If you find children’s books that are level appropriate, are colourful, interesting and engaging then you might find your children want to learn Spanish more and more so that they can understand their fun books.

Watch Spanish cartoons with them

Children love watching cartoons! If you want them to get interested in Spanish they’re not going to want to sit down with a textbook, they’re going to want to engage with Spanish in a way that’s interesting to them and cartoons are a great way to do that. Find a cartoon they love and watch it in Spanish, or you could look for specifically Spanish cartoons and try them out on your children. This will definitely increase their interest in the language.

Learn Spanish too!

Your child will have much more interest in the Spanish language if you’re learning too. If you just make them learn it by themselves they might wonder why and they also won’t have many people to practise with. But if you start learning it too, you’ll find that they want to copy their parents so get more of an interest in it and you’ll also be able to help them a lot more so if they get stuck you can guide them through it rather than them getting frustrated and stopping.

Play Spanish games with them

Games can be a fun and interactive way to engage your child in a new language. Find card games or look for ideas online and play with your children. If Spanish is a fun time where they get to play and interact with you then they’re bound to take more of an interest in it. But if they have to study alone and it’s no fun then they won’t.

The idea is simple! (It just might be a bit difficult sometimes but keep going with it and you’ll see the results in no time.)

How To Improve My Child’s Reading In Spanish

Improving your child’s reading in Spanish will help them to improve in the language and gain an independence in their own learning as their proficiency increases. Reading is a fantastic way for children to learn Spanish and there are lots of things you can do as a parents to help them along the way.

This is assuming that they already have some interest in reading in Spanish, if they don’t then check out our article: how do I introduce reading in Spanish to my child?

Choose Spanish children’s books that are suitable for their age and level

The most important thing that you can do is to be very careful when selecting the right book for your child. If you get a book that is too difficult for your child then they won’t understand and won’t be able to take much in, but if you get a book that’s too easy they’ll probably get bored. Whichever book you choose, make sure that it is suitable for the age and level of Spanish proficiency that your child is at.

Find engaging Spanish children’s books

Remember, it’s not just about level and age of your child. It’s also really important to find books that are interesting and fun for them. If the book is boring they’re not going to engage with what they’re reading and their comprehension levels won’t improve.

Teach them the Spanish alphabet

One of the first things you can do to help them is to teach them the Spanish alphabet. If you do this, then they’ll get used to the sounds quite quickly and will be able to read much quicker. You can teach the alphabet through song or using block letters. There are lots of Spanish alphabet songs available online that you can use to sing along with your child.

Learn the new words first

You could try preparing flash cards with pictures of any new words that are going to come up in the story and teach them to your child first. Then when you read the story they won’t find the comprehension too difficult because they’ll know what the new words are.

Read in Spanish with them every single day

The important thing when learning a new language is consistency. Make sure you read to your child in Spanish every single day, even if it’s just one short story. This will be one of the quickest ways to improve their Spanish reading skills. It’s much more beneficial for a child to interact a little bit with a language every single day than it is for them to read a lot just once a week.

Let them trace along with their fingers

Encourage your child to trace alone with their fingers when you’re reading to them or with them to help them match the sounds to the words they are seeing. It’s a very similar process as to what you would do when you start reading to your children in English for the first time.

Improve their other Spanish skills

Their Spanish reading skills will improve if their other skills are improving as well. Try and watch Spanish cartoons with them, talk to them in Spanish or just play games. All of these things together will increase their Spanish proficiency level.

Spanish children’s books are a great way to nurture your child’s love of reading, to bond with them and to teach them a foreign language at the same time. If these aren’t reasons enough then we’re afraid we might not be able to convince you. But if this has peeked your interest, then keep reading.

To Teach Them Spanish

The number one reason to read Spanish books with your children is if you’re trying to teach them Spanish. This may seem obvious but many people don’t put too much emphasis on books when teaching their children a foreign language. Instead they sing, play, watch TV shows and try and talk in the language. Which is great! These are all fantastic ways to help a child learn Spanish but reading books with them can help them a lot too.

The great thing about children’s books is that they are normally quite repetitive and are written in a way that children can get used to language patterns. It also exposes them to the written word in a fun way so they’ll slowly start to learn how to read in Spanish as you read along together. This will be very useful for their future study of the Spanish language.

To Bond With Them

When you read a story together with your child you’re bonding with them. It’s a special time for you both where you spend time together and engage in an activity. And this is important regardless if you’re reading a Spanish book or an English book. If you want to teach them Spanish anyway then reading story books can be a very special bonding time for you and your child.

To Give Them A Love Of Reading

A love of reading begins when your child is very young. If you never read to your child then they’re never going to develop a reading habit of their own. You can’t expect to take no interest in books when your child is young and then expect them to pick up books by themselves when they’re a teenager. The best way to give them this love of reading is to start reading with them when they’re a child and to teach them how to read for themselves so they can find books they like and take this hobby into adulthood.

Children Have An Optimal Age For Learning Languages

Don’t worry, if your child doesn’t start learning Spanish until they’re a teenager they can still learn. There’s no one age for learning a language however there is an optimal time. When your child is only a toddler their ears are trained to listen out for phonemes. The ones that they hear at that age will help them to speak languages as they grow. As they get older it becomes more and more difficult for them to hear these phonemes. Reading out loud with your child in Spanish is a great way for them to get used to listening out for these phonemes which will help with their foreign language development as they get older.

If we’ve convinced you then take a look at our next article: Where can I buy Spanish children’s books?

Spanish children’s books are becomingly increasingly popular in the English speaking world as more and more parents want their children to learn Spanish, but if you visit your local bookstore you’ll find that there’s not always that much to choose from, if any. Because of that lots of parents are asking ‘where can I buy Spanish children’s books?‘

Unfortunately you may not be able to find many Spanish children’s books in your town or city but you should be able to find lots of them online!

Here are some of the many places you can find children’s books in Spanish:

Amazon – of course Amazon has a fantastic supply of Spanish children’s books for your child to read because Amazon has everything. You can also find cheaper options if you don’t mind buying books second hand.

Stock up on holiday! – when you go on holiday to Spain or Latin America make sure you visit the bookshops and try and stock up. They’ll have the best selections because the books are in their native language. Then bring them back and you’ll have a whole collection. If you have friends who want to teach their children Spanish try and arrange for them to buy different ones and you can organise a swap

European Bookshop – There is a great website called the European bookshop where you can find lots of Spanish children’s books. They have a great collection of books and books in other European languages too, not only for enjoyment but also ones aimed at language learning.

The Spanish Experiment – This website has loads of fun FREE Spanish stories and lessons for children. It’s a really great resource to help your children to learn Spanish without having to invest in classes or find people to practise with in your area, and best of all: it’s FREE.

Local Spanish centres – In the UK and the USA there are more and more Spanish centres popping up to help children learn a foreign language. This is great in itself but another huge advantage is that you can use these centres as a way to gather resources. You can see if the teachers there have a library system with any of their books. Or you can find like minded parents who share your passion for teaching your children Spanish and will organise a book swapping service so you don’t have to buy too many Spanish books for children.

Spanish novels – the website Spanish novels has some great books you can buy to learn Spanish and the best thing is that they’re super cheap! The novels are also graded for level rather than for age. Which means if your six year old speaks very advanced Spanish you can find a book that meets his needs.

There are lots of books available online and you find our recommendation of the best Spanish children’s books here. We have a list of recommended books broken down into which ones are most suitable for different ages.

Now you have the book, the next question you need to ask yourself is ‘how to improve my child’s reading in Spanish?‘

Why are so many parents looking for the best Spanish books for children?

Teaching your children to read can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can have as a parent. The only thing that might top it is teaching them to read in a foreign language. As Spanish becomes more and more popular, with latin culture permeating the USA, it seems that more people are choosing Spanish as the language they want to teach to their children.

A great way to do this is through reading stories. Obviously to learn a language you need to interact with it, speak it, listen to it and engage with it but reading can make a huge difference. When you read with your children this is a special bonding time with them and through intonation and pictures they’ll be able to understand a lot more of the story than you might expect.

Instead of just writing a general list of best children’s Spanish books, we’ve broken our recommendations into the following categories:

• Spanish books for babies
• Spanish books for toddlers
• Spanish books for children
• Spanish books for teenagers

That way you can find the Spanish book that will be the most useful for your child. A great place to start your search for Children’s Spanish books is on AMAZON. There is a huge range of books available for different ages and different levels to get your child starting to read in Spanish no matter their stage of development.

1. ¿Dónde está el ombliguito? – Karen Kat
2. Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿Qué ves ahí?
3. ¿Eres Mi Mamá? – P.D. Eastman
4. La Oruga Muy Hambrienta – Eric Carle
5. La llama llama rojo pijama – Anna Dewdney
6. La llama llama rojo pijama – Anna Dewdney
7. Buenas Noches Luna – Margaret Wise Brown
8. Dragones Y Tacos – Adam Rubin
9. El Perro Con Sombrero – A Bilingual Doggy Tale – Derek Taylor Kent
10. Harry Potter Y La Piedra Filosofal – J.K Rowling
11. Harry Potter – La Colección Completa – J.K Rowling
12. Percy Jackson 01. Ladrón del rayo – Rick Riordan
13. Antes De Ser Libres – Julia Alvarez
14. El principe de la niebla (Spanish Edition) – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
15. La Casa En Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros
16. La casa de los espíritus – Isabel Allende

These are our favourite Spanish children’s books, keep reading to find out why.

[Read more…] about Best Spanish Children’s Books – For All Ages!