App Review: Mundo Lanugo - Juega y Aprende

Oooo! I have another Hispanic Heritage Month opportunity for you! Our friends at Mundo Lanugo have created the most adorable little app to teach children about the Hispanic culture using their familiar characters.

It is simply too much and I know you will absolutely love it as a parent almost as much as your little ones do. But you'll have to hurry to download it because it is absolutely free to download during Hispanic Heritage Month! After October 15th, it will be $1.99.

Name: Mundo Lanugo: Juega y Aprende
Subject(s): Spanish culture & language
Brief Description: An interactive, Spanish app that teaches children about Hispanic culture and language through animated videos and interactive games.
Price: FREE during Hispanic Heritage Month, $1.99 after October 15th, 2015
Language: Spanish
Ages: 2 - 5 years
Device: iOS 

This little app is full of fun little games to keep your nenes busy and learning. All of the games and short videos are super cute and engaging. For example, your child may love helping Gloria, the ovejita, play imagination by dressing her up in different costumes (Don Quixote, Calaverita, Carnaval Queen). Or they may prefer helping Chuy, the little piggy, make special dishes such as guacamole and arroz con leche.

I love that children learn about good manners and popular children's songs in Spanish. My son (who is 9) actually enjoyed watching the videos and especially one of the last games where you can play and change The Cucaracha song by dragging different musicians to the stage. 

And I don't know of another app that teaches Latino dichos (sayings) to children. This is so clever! I can just hear my 'Buelita saying..."En boca cerrada no entran moscas."

OH! And there's also a game where the children have to match the artwork to the shape and all of the artwork is by Hispanic artists! From Frida to Dalí to Picasso. I just LOVE this one.

Of course, there are other games such as coloring, sorting, and matching that are important for preschoolers to master.

And parents can rest easy because there are NO in-app purchases! Hurray! (I really don't like it when there are in-app purchases in children's apps.)

I just think it is really neat that someone has created an app that incorporates Hispanic culture while teaching basic skills to preschoolers. Take a look at the little intro video for a better idea...

Hispanic Heritage Month Trading Cards Set 2: Artists

Last year for Hispanic Heritage Month, you may remember me sharing a set of trading cards featuring famous Hispanics. I had fully intended to make more, but got held up with the lack of graphics available. Fortunately, I've been able to find more, so I've been working on them and am happy to share a new set with you this year.

As you can see, this year's collection features Hispanic artists. The cards can be downloaded, printed on cardstock, cut out, and colored. For extra durability, I recommend laminating them. And if you want to keep them all together, just use a hole punch in one corner and slip them all onto a key ring.

DOWNLOAD YOUR TRADING CARDS HERE

Enjoy!

Review: Families of Puerto Rico DVD

Last week, as I prepared for Hispanic Heritage Month to begin, I was looking through the collection of media next to my desk for ideas on what to share next with my children. I found a new DVD from the Families of the World series, and it is awesome.

The series reminds me of some of the shows I'd watch and love as a kid. It basically gives you an idea of how children in other countries live by giving you a "sneak peek" of their lives. So for instance, the DVD we have is about Families of Puerto Rico (affiliate link). The show follows two children (nine-year-old José and eight-year-old Laura) and their families, letting you learn what a typical day in their life is like.

José and his family live in the capital city of San Juan. In the episode, we learn about what his parents do for a living and some of the history of the island. My animal-loving daughter liked him immediately when she learned that he wanted to be a veterinarian when he grows up.

Laura's family lives in the country on a farm. We learned about how her parents went to college and studied agriculture and then started their own farm growing bananas and then flowers. My son was absolutely intrigued when he saw how they had two little coquís living in their bathtub and heard their little croaking. (I'm still waiting for the day when I turn around in my shower and find a frog staring back at me.) And both my kids thought it was super cool when Laura's class visited the world's largest radio telescope.

My kids absolutely loved learning about the country. One of the first things they commented on was how even though it would be so great to live on an island, it sure wouldn't be fun having to deal with hurricanes every year! But by the time the video was over, they were ready to head to Puerto Rico for a visit. :)

There are 28 other Families of the World programs (affiliate link) and they are now available on video - just in time for Hispanic Heritaget Month! They retail for around $10 each and would be great for a school or library collection. The individual videos would be perfect for exploring family heritage, too.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD for review purposes. Affiliate links are used in this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Bilingual Minibook on the History of Lucha Libre

If you haven't visited my TpT store lately, please do! I've added a lot of new materials lately, including this new bilingual minibook on lucha libre. Those of you who have used my minibooks before know that they are best suited for younger students, as they are a mix of fun coloring pages coupled with brief descriptions in both English and Spanish.

Older students may prefer my one-page reading passages. Currently, these are available in English only. (I hope to have their Spanish editions done by the end of the year!) These files also come with a reading comprehension quiz and answer key. I currently have five available:

• A Brief History of Lucha Libre
• The History of Day of the Dead
• A Brief History of the San Patricios
• The History of Cascarones
• The REAL History of Cinco de Mayo

Enjoy!

Multicultural Kid Blogs' Hispanic Heritage Month Series

Hispanic Heritage Month officially begins today! I'm so excited this time of year because suddenly there is a flurry of resources produced to help parents and teachers explore our heritage. There is so much creativity flowing that it's hard for me to keep up with all the crafts, books, activities, and other materials published.

This year, I'm really happy to have been asked to kick off Multicultural Kid Blogs' annual HHM celebration. I chose to write about why Hispanic Heritage Month is a vital event for our country. I often hear Latinos complaining that we shouldn't have only one month dedicated to recognizing the contributions of Hispanics to our country's history. That it is something that should be recognized year round. I totally agree, but the reality is, that if we didn't have this month-long observance on a national level, then we wouldn't have one at all. And our voices would continue to be smothered, the contributions of our ancestors ignored.

So take a hop on over to MKB to read my thoughts on why we as a country need Hispanic Heritage Month. Let me know what you think - are you for or against it? Why?

Oh! And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for the incredible giveaways they have going on! There are three fabulous gift sets.

A Game to Boost Spanish Skills at Home

The following is a guest post by children's author and Latina mami of three, Mariana Llanos.

Keep your children hooked on Spanish throughout the school year with meaningful games that’ll strengthen their communication skills. It’s often said that as children start school they’re more likely to stop speaking in Spanish. This in fact, was happening to my own daughter who just started Pre-K. One of the first days of school when we were walking back home, she said, “Mom, I don’t speak in Spanish. I speak en Inglés.” I looked at her, and told her calmly, “You speak in both, and you know why? Because you’re super smart!”

I knew right at that moment that I had to act, and I came up with a plan to make our Spanish language journey happier and more consistent. Although I don’t ‘make’ her speak in Spanish after school, I make a point to talk to her only in Spanish as soon as I pick her up. So the questions, “How was your day?” “Who did you play with?” “What was your favorite thing to do at school?” are only spoken in Spanish. At first she answers in English (I repeat in Spanish), and little by little she begins to switch code. Since we walk home from school, I point at the color of the trees, I talk about the weather, and we count acorns or whatever other treasure we find. Her Spanish of course isn’t fluent. But neither is her English yet. She has the ability to understand both perfectly. I certainly don’t want Spanish to feel like a chore. I want it to feel fun and good. I want it to be the language of family, laughter, and memories.

I’ve developed a game with the help of my children. It’s fun and easy to play, and it’s a great excuse to get together and speak in Español. I hope you join us on this Búsqueda de Tesoros.

Scavenger Hunt/ Búsqueda de Tesoros

Things you’ll need:

A smart phone/instructions/a pencil. Go to a park or take a walk around your neighborhood while you give the instructions. Take pictures as you find the objects.

1. Encuentra algo amarillo, rojo, blanco y verde.
2. Encuentra algo redondo
3. Encuentra una semilla
4. Busca dos hojas diferentes
5. Encuentra un árbol grande
6. Encuentra un árbol pequeño
7. Encuentra la letra A
8. Encuentra el número 6 
9. Encuentra un animal. ¿Qué animal es?
10. Encuentra una piedra.
11. Encuentra un insecto. ¿Qué insecto es?
12. Encuentra una flor. ¿De qué color es?
13. Da doce (12) pasos (cuéntalos en voz alta) y toma una foto de lo que está adelante tuyo.
14. Ahora voltea y toma una foto a lo que está atrás tuyo.
15. Encuentra algo que vuele.
16. Encuentra una sonrisa.

Take all your pictures and uploaded them in your social media with legend of what you found. If your child is old enough, let her type the object herself.

This game can be expanded and adapted to different age levels. You can also change the objects every week and you’ll have a brand new game. Also, if you prefer not to upload to social media, you may print your photos and paste them on a poster board. Then have your child write the names of the things you found together.

I hope this activity helps you keep Spanish alive at home. Also don’t forget to READ and sing in Spanish, habits as important as learning your uno, dos, tres.

------------------------------------

Mariana Llanos is a Peruvian born writer of children’s books in English and Spanish. She lives in Oklahoma with her family. To find her books go to: www.marianallanos.com or www.amazon.com/author/marianallanos. Connect with Mariana’s page on Facebook.

Teaching Kids Community Responsibility {PRINTABLE}

This post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #1Million4Edu #CollectiveBias

One of the concepts that is frequently not taught in traditional schools is community responsibility. So that job falls on the shoulders of parents. I use our homeschool lesson time to teach my own children. From volunteering at a non-profit to reading about the difference one person can make to saving pennies or collecting labels, I use a variety of ways to help my children learn to do social good and see it as their responsibility. We recycle to help not only our community, but our planet, too. And we regularly donate gently used clothing and other items to our local mission/thrift store.

When I was asked to share with you about the Grand Stand for Schools initiative and its Labels for Education® program, I agreed. Why? Because this is a great way to earn money for your child's school and so I want to be sure you know all about it! In fact, Labels for Education is giving away $10,000 to 100(!) schools across the country.

Participation is easy. All families have to do is clip and save UPCs and Beverage/Sauce Caps from specific products, then turn them into their local school coordinator. You can earn:

"educational merchandise, such as computers, software, sports equipment, musical instruments, library books and even a minivan."

Schools, libraries and, yes, even homeschool associations (yay!) are eligible to participate. You can find out if your school or library is participating by clicking here.

I was thinking about how to make this program fun for the kids and decided a little friendly competition was in order. So I created these Label Collection Record Charts. They're available in English and Spanish. And so you can put the teacher's name across the top and hang the charts on your classroom door (or wherever you want to publicly display them). Once a week or as new labels and caps come in, you can count them up and total the number on the chart.

DOWNLOAD THE CHARTS HERE

So my kids became even more interested in doing this when we were browsing around our local Target and discovered this:

And, of course, that was all she wrote for my Star Wars-loving kids.

Some of our other favorite eligible items for collection include school supplies!

If your school or library hasn't signed up yet, but wants to participate, they can do so here.

And guess what? If the majority of the parents at your school are Spanish-speaking families, it's no problem because Labels for Education even has a site en español. :)

To find out if you use any of the participating products, just take a look here: http://www.labelsforeducation.com/Earn-Points/Participating-Products. I'd love to hear your favorite!

Kids Going Back to School? We’re Doin' Good!

This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Minute Maid and DiMe Media. All opinions are my own.

Last week my Facebook feed filled up with pictures of my friends’ kids on their first day of school. Some of the parents were relieved to finally send their kids back to school while others were sad their family time had been reduced to those precious hours after school and on weekends. Those that homeschool like I do, are frequently relieved to get back on a set schedule after a few months of flying by the seat of our pants. Ha!

I’m reminded that once again, however, that it isn’t the amount of time we spend with our kids that matters; it is how we spend that time together. We can spend all day ignoring our kids or we can spend an hour talking, laughing, and loving them.

Most of the parents I know love their kids madly and are careful to seek out those precious moments at least once a day. They’re doin’ good as parents even when they are overwhelmed with busy schedules.

One of my best friends who also homeschools her kids, shared pictures of their first day of school. Even though she commented that getting her family back into the swing of formal lessons was tough, I’m amazed at how she handles homeschooling three kids. The youngest just turned 2 years old and, though not old enough to be taught formally, refuses to be left out of the schooling hours her older brothers enjoy. But my friend Robin is handling it really well, allowing her to be involved with simple activities such as coloring.



Homeschooling certainly presents its share of challenges, the least of which frequently is teaching multiple children at different grade levels at the same time. “At least school teachers are teaching students who are all more or less at the same grade level!” they say.

I’ve struggled with this also, but have finally found a routine that works for us by teaching only a couple of subjects separately and combining the rest. So as I begin my seventh year of homeschooling, I finally feel as if I’m doin’ good. I’ve never started a school year with that feeling!

At any rate, I know that parents all across the country - and even the world! - are working hard to raise happy, healthy children. And despite all our worries, we are doin’ good. Everyone has troubles and struggles, but too often we don’t give ourselves enough credit.

Are you doin’ good? Or do you know someone who is? Give yourself (or someone else!) a shout-out below. Let’s recognize our strengths and accomplishments instead of dwelling on our weaknesses or failures!

5 Tips from PBS KIDS for Parents and Kids on How to Deal with Emergencies

One of the things I love best about PBS KIDS is how they really focus on providing resources and tools to parents. They think of every situation imaginable that a child might experience and then the look for ways to help our kids deal with those situations in the best way possible. 

Their latest focus is on storms. (Living in North Carolina where hurricanes are regular threats, I can fully appreciate these new resources.)  And they are using characters from their popular children's programming to help children cope. For example, beginning this coming Tuesday, new storm-themed episodes of DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and ARTHUR will premiere on PBS KIDS. The new ARTHUR episode features special guest star Idina Menzel as a caring therapist named Dr. Paula.

Below are five tips for you. But remember that you can find lots of new resources at http://pbskids.org/learn/.

Tips for Parents During and After an Emergency

1. Keep yourself calm. Use your calmest and most reassuring voice when talking. Explain who will take care of them and keep them safe.
2. Control children’s exposure to media before, during, and after the event. This is one way to manage images that might be scary or confusing for them.
3. Listen carefully to what your children are talking about. Acknowledge their feelings. Give them the words to describe how they feel, such as, “It sounds like you’re feeling ‘scared’, ‘unsure about what’s going to happen next’, ‘sad’, ‘angry’.
4. Do something your children enjoy, such as reading a book, playing a game, or telling a story.
5. Give plenty of hugs!

Helpful Resources for Kids

• Watch helpful videos on what to do when something scary happens.
• Follow along with your favorite ARTHUR characters as they prepare for a storm.
• Children can draw pictures to show how they are feeling.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, however, I'm a PBS Ambassador, which allows me to share new content with you as it is available. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Star S'mores: A Lesson in Self Control

So today I woke up to images on my personal Facebook account of friends who trecked to stores in the middle of the night to be the first to buy the new line of Star Wars toys being released in preparation of the new movie coming out this December.

As much as I love Star Wars, I didn't do that to my kids or veture out at that late hour by myself. (My husband would have had me committed.) But just for fun and even though my kids are older, we had a total blast watching this parody by Sesame Street and I took reassurance in knowing that it is educational. :)

But yes, it's true, we'll be making our way to the stores today - in a self-controlled fashion, of course!

We'll be hitting up Target's new line (aff link) - I've already been browsing the collection online. (PSST! You can save $10 when you spend $50 or save $25 when you spend $100 on Star Wars items by using the code: FORCE)

And - get this! - we'll be hitting up our local JOANN FABRIC store! So be ready for some clever crafts over the next few months.

Are you guys excited about Star Wars?

Would You Purchase Homeschooling Curricula in Spanish?

Most of the time, the emails I receive from readers are centered around homeschooling.

Can they really do it? How hard is it?How do they start?Where do they find resources?

From time to time, I'm contacted by companies who are interested in sharing their products with me and you, the MommyMaestra readership. I give them a look and share them when I feel they would be of interest to you.

But every once in a blue moon, I receive an email from a reader who is a Latina mom that is thinking about taking that leap and starting her own business in the education field. In fact, Hispanic women are leading the way in new startups. I myself am one. So it's important for us to support each other.

I recently received an email from a reader and she asked me to take a poll for her. She only asks one, simple question:

If popular homeschool curricula (such as those highlighted in Cathy Duffy’s Top 102 Picks for Homeschool Curriculum) were published in Spanish, would you purchase it?

If you have a moment, won't you please pop over to my Facebook page and tell her yay or nay?

TY!

App Review: Ortografía Paso a Paso

One of the most difficult aspects of Spanish spelling is perhaps knowing where to put accents. I have found this to be one my greatest challenges especially since I was never formally trained as a child in Spanish grammar. But guess what? There is a new, wonderful app to the rescue!! This app was created by BQWare, whom you may remember also created Lee Paso a Paso, a Spanish reading app.

Name: Ortografía Paso a Paso
Subject(s): Spanish accents
Brief Description: An interactive, Spanish app that teaches the students how to use Spanish accents.
Price: $3.99
Language: Spanish
Ages: 6 years (and up!)
Device: iOS

What I like:
My kids are not advanced enough to use this app, however, I am! So it is best used with advanced Spanish readers and writers. I love that the creators have used a child's voice for the vocal directions in this app. It makes learning the (possibly intimidating) subject seem easier and is more engaging for children.

The app tackles the grammar rules that go with learning accentuation. With this app, you or your student can learn and practice the following concepts:

· Identifying the sílaba tónica
· Words classified as Agudas
· Words classified as Graves or Llanas
· Words classified as Esdrújulas
· Words classified as Sobreesdrújulas
· Accentuation of Agudas, Graves, Esdrújulas and Sobreesdrújulas words.
· Diptongos
· Hiatos

Each concept begins with a simple description of the rule, some examples, and then practice games to allow you to practice the application of the rule. The games are not too long and focus strictly on the concept being taught.

This short video gives you an idea of how some of the games work. (Ignore the voice over because the woman's voice is not used in the app.) 

What I don't like:

The app is only available for iOS and not Android. Boo! I know the majority of my followers are Android users.

Disclosure; I received this app for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.