If your goal is to raise bilingual children, then signing your tots up for Spanish classes for kids is a great bet. Not only will they learn Spanish through immersive and engaging activities, but they’ll make new friends and challenge their developing brains in different ways. If Spanish isn’t their taza de té, then check out other foreign language classes for kids or after-school programs for all ages. And if you’ve got wee littles on your hands who are still too small to head into class, how about grabbing bilingual baby books instead? You might find yourself learning a thing or two, too!
You can start exposing tots as young as six months old to a new language through props, songs and engaging activities right as they’re also grasping their primary language. Once they turn three, sign them up for 15-week and 30-week immersion courses where they’ll learn how to form sentences, create stories and play games that reinforce lessons and new vocabulary. Each kid also receives a free songs and activity workbook, CD and storybook to continue practicing lessons at home. Ages 6 months–8.
This group offers up customized programs that set your child up for bilingual success. Instructors can either introduce kids to Spanish or serve as tutors for their school assignments. The school also offers group classes, private lessons and workshops for grownups who’d like to join their kids on the journey. Ages 5–16.
This school offers 15-hour courses for kids and teens beginning in the fall as well as week-long summer camps where students are immersed in the language while making new friends. Parents who’d like to take classes along with the tots can sign up for adult lessons or specialty courses if they'd like to improve on their skills or take on Spain’s other languages Catalan, Basque and Galician. Ages 4 and up.
Native Spanish speakers teach young students through age-appropriate verbal, visual and tactile activities. Infants and toddlers will use their senses as they engage with objects and listen to new vocabulary words through songs and storytelling. Pre-school kids will participate in games, interactive plays, music and dance to memorize and retain new material. As students get older, they’ll tackle more complex themes, grammar, conversational skills, reading, writing and lessons in Spanish culture. Ages 6 months and up.
Spanish classes are just one of the many offerings across this school’s 14 locations around NYC. Spanish I for kids involves students in music, story, art and play as native Spanish-speaking instructors introduce them to numbers, letters, shapes and animals. Art projects further help kids make connections in the new language. In Spanish II, preschoolers rediscover storybook classics translated into Spanish as well as songs and stories that are original to the language. Puppets, toys and other fun aids make the immersive experience a playful one. Ages 19 months–5.
Choose between group programs and private lessons at home with any of three native Spanish-speaking instructors. They’ll soon be able to read, write and speak in Spanish through interactive read-aloud sessions, studies in phonics and spelling and oral, visual and technological communication all the while acquiring a love for Spanish culture. Ages 5–15.
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