A homeschool Spanish curriculum is not exclusive to homeschool parents. It can be utilized by homeschoolers as well as school districts, preschools, and other educational programs. Most homeschool curriculum programs as just applicable and effective as traditional curriculums.
Including a second language in a child’s educational experience has significant long-term benefits. Studies show that children that learn to speak a second language can quickly learn additional languages. Becoming multilingual can help them down the road as they look for gainful employment as adults.
Statistically, employees that are bilingual earn an average of 20% more than those that are not bilingual. They are a bigger asset to their company because they can cross through language barriers that others cannot. Additionally, many businesses operate internationally, so they seek out bilingual or multilingual employees, so they are better able to communicate with their overseas contacts.
The earlier you introduce a child to a foreign language, the faster they will be able to adopt it as their own. Studies vary on the best age to start a child learning a foreign language, but many believe before age five is most ideal. Between the ages of five and ten are also better than over ten.
In many countries, children are required to start taking a foreign language by the time they turn eight. It is automatically part of their elementary school Spanish curriculum. This ensures they will be at the very least, bilingual. In the United States, however, most students are not introduced to a foreign language until high school. Often times, this doesn’t happen until late high school. Utilizing a homeschool Spanish curriculum would allow students to be exposed to Spanish before it is typically offered by their school district.
Spanish is the official language in 21 different countries, although there are several different variations of Spanish. According to research conducted by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, two-thirds of the children worldwide are bilingual. However, in the United States, only 17% of the population can speak a language other than English. This makes the United States well below the global average.
Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the world. The expansive use of Spanish makes it an ideal language to teach children. As they grow into adult workers, there is a better chance they will need to know Spanish than any other language.
Even parents that aren’t choosing homeschool can take advantage of homeschool Spanish curriculum by ensuring their children get that early exposure to a foreign language. It is essential to take advantage of those early development years when children can more easily take on a second language.
Sometimes between the ages of 8 and 12, children lose the ability to hear and reproduce new sounds. This makes it extremely difficult to learn a new language. Children learn best through imitation, repetition, songs, and games. These are the kinds of activities you should look for when evaluating homeschool Spanish curriculum. Especially when teaching preschool Spanish, tools like Spanish story books make a significant difference.