Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Starter Spanish, Grades PK - 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a GREAT workbook that is so full of Spanish worksheets, it's amazing. The cost just to photo copy it far outweighs the value of the book. From my perspective, if you have a knowledge of Spanish, and can read it correctly, with a good accent, this is definitely a neat book. My three year old, four year old, and 6 year old all have pages I can pull out for them to enhance their vocabulary. There are over 300 pages of full color worksheets and vocabulary building exercises.

The cons are: 1) there is no pronunciation or phonetic spelling at all, and of course no CD, so if you're iffy on pronunciation, you need something in addition to this to get you going. 2) there is not really a progression involved - just word word word - I can't see how a non-teacher would be able to hold the interest of a student with this book 3) there are no speaking exercises - just read and repeat, so the student never truly USES the language, just regurgitates it, which is why so many students take tons of Spanish and yet then can't speak a word of it in real life.

All in all, this is definitely worth the money, but should not be the crux of your Spanish language curriculum. Of course, I'm biased, but Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 would be a great thing to pair it with.
Sra. Gose
Author of Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 & Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 2

I teach Spanish to children ages 2-12 and I am constantly in search of high-quality teaching materials. Inevitably, I end up creating 90% of my materials because I have a difficult time finding things that are stimulating and thorough.

This book is useful in that it provides a bookful of basic Spanish, but it is not very stimulating. The lessons look like something taught 20 years ago and show no creative, communicative, language activities. My students feel they are too easy and a bit boring. I use them occasionally as practice or review, but inevitably I end up creating something on my on to supplement. There are a lot of coloring and counting activities in the book, but it is pretty weak on the other topics. The book also repeats activities every ten pages or so.

In conclusion, I feel this book is basic and uninteresting. It would be best suited for non-Spanish speaking adults who are trying to teach Spanish to 1st to 4th graders, and teachers who have no access to more useful authentic materials.

This book is very well laid out and a great help to my developing spanish soon to be 1st grader.

This is a great book with wonderful, explanatory pictures, easy learning and teaching. Lots of words, great for all ages. Shipped faster than expected.