Mamaestra de Español - A Bilingual Program for Young Learners: 2024

In Mamaestra's "baby-level" classes, you will learn some Mamaestra´s lullabies and vocabulary tailored specifically for the first year of life.

We developed 50 songs and vocabulary to help you and your little one get through the day in Spanish. If you do not speak Spanish, we will review vocabulary, pronunciation, and practice enough so you can apply it correctly at home for the week.

Our 30 minute class process will teach you how to interact with your baby using conversations, hand gestures, games, that soon will be mimicked and produced on their own.

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This course incorporates hand motions, body movement, active fun games, and Mamaestra's zumbita-moves for dancing to some great beats and rhythm. As part of this course, you will work with the TOYBOOK to introduce very useful and relevant vocabulary such as farm animals, zoo animals, colors, shapes, numbers, etc. (20 topics). The vocabulary is incorporated into a new songbook called the toybook's songbook, that's more fun, more active and contains more Spanish vocabulary. The same vocabulary is used in small stories in the storybook, and finally, the same vocabulary previously studied is used in a workbook as well.

A teacher-author leads the parent in this 30-minute session in how to engage the child with our Mamaestra material through games, music, and language activities, and then the caregiver transfers this to the child (this is the Mamaestra concept).

Our Goals By the End of 24 Months

Recognize names of familiar people, objects and body parts: ¿Qué es esto?
Your child will combine words and gestures during this stage such as waving for "bye-bye/hello".
Develop comprehensive vocabulary of more than a 100 words.
Expressive language of 50+ words.
Exprese verbally 10 small two-word phrases like “mamá, dame”, “mamá, toma”, “mamá, agua”, etc. Maybe even three words like “Mami, dame guagua“. Although the way he talks about him is constantly becoming clearer. YOur role is to be an interpreter or translator because using the same word is used for many similar things, such as “guagua” when referring to water, milk, or juice.
Imitates everything they hear, “banana” even if he can't yet pronounce them or understand their meaning, “nana,” “manzana”,“nana.”
Expressions with pitch changes. Your might raise his voice at the end of a question. He also practices the intonations when he babbles, which at this stage sounds like a real conversation in another language!
Eventually, your child will be able to make more consonant sounds (including p, b, t, k, and g) as his ability to coordinate his lips, tongue, and teeth improves.
It doesn't take him long to learn how powerful words like “Mami”, when he wants attention, or “no/ti(si)! ” when he doesn't want something.
In these early stages, children experiment with the use of personal pronouns (I, yo- you, tú -he, él - she, ella etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, mío- yours, tuyo- his, suyo etc.). Grammar and memory will constantly improve. It is usual that at 4 years most of these grammatical errors disappear.

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In this course Mamaestra III, we will use a workbook, songbook, storybook, and toybook in this course. This project will involve making interactive short readings and answering simple questions about them. We want at this level, to use more than a word, e.g.

-Mom: ¿Quieres agua or leche?

-Child: Leche. (In this level we want a child to answer with a complete sentence: “Yo quiero leche” o “Yo no quiero leche, yo quiero agua”.

We will help to develop some complex phonemes (“g”, “f”, “s”, “r”, “l”, “ch”), also we will work on rhymes. We will also approach some letters and numbers. Ready for school.

Through our exploration, we will help your child develop fine motor skills with daily actions and playtime activities involving grasping, holding, and pressing.

Our Goals By the End of 36 Months

The child will using words you didn't even know he knew! That's because he'll learn the words and phrases he hears adults use, and figure out how to use them himself.
He will be able to actively listen to conversations for anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, so this is a great time to take advantage of small talk to boost his speaking and social skills.
Young children this age can answer simple "what" and "where" questions, and even answer questions like ¿Cuántos años tienes?", "¿Cómo te llamas?", "¿Quién es tu mamá/papá?"
They will have early literacy skills by describing characters from your favorite book, or answering questions about the story.
They begin to use attention-grabbing words like "Hey!" or "Look!"/«¡Oye!» o «¡Mira!» when he sees something exciting that he wants to share.
One of the most exciting parts of this phase is that others will be able to understand about 75% of what you are saying. His big boy voice is starting to take shape and he's ready for the world to hear.
He can join an ongoing conversation with a relevant question or statement. In general, there will be a noticeable increase in their enthusiasm for interacting verbally.
They will be able to describe actions or objects more clearly, and begin to tell stories with themes.
You'll also hear him combine phrases with nouns and verbs ("Like a big cookie!")(«¡Como una galleta grande!») which gradually lead to longer sentences. You will ask simple “who”, “when” and “how” questions and answer simple “why” questions.
Although his vocabulary is expanding at the moment, he will still pronounce some words in a disjointed way (for example, saying "ti" instead of "yes" or "sabo" instead of "sé").
He will be eager to use his new words, play word or alphabet games, and ask lots of questions. He will begin to pronounce f, s, and y more clearly. Shorter word versions will also start to disappear (saying "shoe" instead of «zapato» en lugar de «pato»).

Schedule

This level will have the following schedule.

Mon-Fri Afternoons	Saturday Mornings	Saturdays Afternoon
5:00 - 5:30	7:00 - 7:30	3:00 - 3:30
6:00 - 6:30	8:00 - 8:30	4:00 - 4:30
7:00 - 7:30	9:00 - 9:30	5:00 - 5:30

$25 dollars per session

The cost is $250 for 10 sessions per class via Zoom. Once payment is made, we will schedule the sessions at your convenience.

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Our work is supported by the following information

Teaching Spanish to children, especially to a 7-year-old, can be significantly enhanced by incorporating readings with pictograms. These pictograms—simple and recognizable illustrations paired with words—serve as powerful tools to bridge the gap between language and meaning.

From the lens of applied linguistics, the correlation between "significante" (the word or signifier) and "significado" (the meaning or concept) is crucial for effective language acquisition. Pictograms allow children to visually associate words with their meanings, making the learning process more intuitive and engaging. For example, the word "manzana" paired with an image of an apple helps the child quickly grasp its meaning without relying on translations. This approach builds a direct link between the Spanish word and its real-world reference.

Why Pictograms Work

Cognitive Development: At the age of 7, children are in a stage of concrete operational thinking. They learn best through visual and tangible materials. Pictograms cater to this developmental stage by providing clear, visual reinforcements.
Vocabulary Expansion: Pictograms introduce new vocabulary in context, helping children absorb words effortlessly. A sentence like "El perro corre" with pictures of a dog and running action teaches both the word and the concept simultaneously.
Retention and Recall: The combination of text and imagery strengthens memory retention, as the brain processes visual information faster than text alone.

Applying This in a Moms’ Group

For mothers teaching Spanish at home, creating a supportive learning community focused on applied linguistics principles can be transformative. Moms can use pictogram-based storybooks or flashcards and share teaching strategies. Here’s how a group could structure their sessions:

Interactive Reading Time: Moms and children read aloud from books with pictograms. For example, "El gato salta" (The cat jumps) features an image of a cat jumping.
Crafting Personalized Pictograms: Moms and kids draw their own pictograms for everyday items or actions in their home, reinforcing vocabulary through creativity.
Language Games with Pictograms: Games like matching words to pictures or creating sentences using pictogram flashcards help solidify learning in a playful way.

Building a Community Around Applied Linguistics

As a linguist, I am passionate about fostering environments where language learning is fun, meaningful, and rooted in evidence-based practices. A moms' group focused on bilingualism and early language development could:

Share resources, such as pictogram books or apps.
Host workshops on the science of language learning.
Create a safe space for moms to exchange ideas and celebrate their children’s progress.

This approach not only teaches Spanish but also nurtures a deep appreciation for the connection between language and the world—a gift that lasts a lifetime.

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Be part of this Group

Chech out this note: Eighty percent of their brain’s physical development happens during their first 3 years. As their brain gets bigger, it also forms the connections it needs to think, learn, and process information. These connections, called synapses, form at a super-fast rate, about 700 per second in the first few years.