Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Dilema

I need help... lots of help... I want my kids to learn Spanish. FLUENTLY! But I can't seem to be able to teach them as much as I want to. I have books, I have DVDs, I have music CDs, Video Games, etc... but they have NO interest. Sometimes they even cry if I speak to them in Spanish. Most times I am frustrated, depressed and feel the chaos sneak up on me when trying to teach them or just have a conversation with them. I used to speak to them in Spanish all the time before Logan started school... but now he has to read his school books and do his homework so I have no choice but to speak English at those times. Then, it seems that the time spent with me is so small compared to the time spent at school or daycare... I have some workbooks already for them but I was waiting until Logan started 2nd grade and was better at writing to use those. In the meantime, I have a Computer game called "Jump Start Spanish" from the Knowledge Adventure company. But they don't like to play it. If I put a DVD in Spanish they just walk away (same with music CDs) and when I read them Spanish books they whine... I was hoping to meet a Spanish speaking family with kids their age... Meanwhile, I can feel the pressure from my family back home piling up on my shoulders when they tell me that they can't communicate with them. SAD... I am now on a quest to search online for information, lesson plans, etc... but I accept any ideas, suggestions or comments. Thanks. When we went to Uruguay in 2007 they came back speaking ONLY Spanish to the point that Jody had to ask me what they were saying... then Logan started kindergarten and he said a word in Spanish at school... a kid, 5 years old, told him that he was in the USA and he couldn't speak Mexican here. Since then Logan will not speak in Spanish to me, and Liam copies everything his older brother does... Also, they noticed that people at the grocery store or restaurants look at you "funny" when you speak Spanish...
I just hope this is just a phase and that soon enough we will be able to enjoy Spanish movies, Cds and books again.

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