SPEEKEE takes to the Stage

The girls decided to use their new puppet stage today to practice their Spanish lesson.

They took it in turns to have one of their puppets, "Lupi" and "Dino", hold a coloured straw whilst the other puppet said the colour of it. This is an activity that is suggested by Speekee.

I told the girls that they didn't need to use the puppet voices (they try to imitate Dino and Lupi from the video) when they did the activity and they looked so disappointed that I followed up by saying how much I enjoyed it when they did though. So they happily kept speaking in these awful accents that they have developed.  I do hope when we get to Spain one day, that they can speak Spanish in regular voices ... lol

They followed up their colours by saying hello, how are you, etc in Spanish. We haven't been doing this subject as regularly as I would have liked (it has been mad around here with us in and out quite a bit recently) but I must say whatever they learn they are retaining so I am really happy with their progress.

Hola, it's Spanish with Speekee

For the past year we've been using a Spanish program that just hasn't really been working for us. You know I don't think it's anything to do with the program, I just think my girls are too young for it. I think 's it's more of a high school program so have been thinking of putting away til they are a little older.

In the meantime we've been bumbling along with it whilst I've been searching for something else that would suit us better. I don't speak Spanish so I really needed a program that was easy to use.

Over the past couple of years a Spanish curriculum called Speekee has often been mentioned through various homeschooling groups. As they offer a two week free trial I decided I had nothing to lose by giving it a go with the girls. Speekee is video-based immersion program, filmed on location in Spain, that teaches Spanish through a series of sketches, songs and puppets. It's aimed at young children, from 2 - 10 years.

Left to right: Speekee, Dino and Lupi

I made sure the girls tried it every day to get a good idea of how well it worked before committing to the purchase. They have been doing it online but you can apparently get Cd's to watch. Despite the jingly music and funny voices the characters, or should I say because of them, the girls simply are loving this curriculum. Sadly I find myself singing along in the background on occasion, which really is sad of me but you just can't help yourself.

We have signed up for Speekee FastTrack which is a one-year curriculum which has been designed particularly with homeschoolers in mind.  Each week we receive an email with advice on what to do each day. There are only 4 activities which works out well, as we can have a "rest day".

During the first week one of the activities was to make Dino and Lupi sock puppets. I mentioned it to my girls but said we could do something different thinking that they might be too old for this ... well bite my tongue as they were super keen and had the Papa's old socks and accessories out before I could finish my sentence!

They now use the puppets to re-act and in turn reinforce some of the lessons. It's quite hysterical with The Fashionista trying to speak in a baritone and Agent Smelly in an alto, similar to the characters on screen. But guess what ... it works!

If you are interested in giving Speekee a try with your children, just click through to their website.