Sing and Learn Spanish DVD for Children Review + Giveaway

A Second Language is No Big Thing
When All You Have to Do to Learn is Sing!
DVD Release Date:  March 23, 2010

Running Time:  27 minutes
Recommended age: 3 and up

ABOUT THE DVD:

Music and songs have often played an important role in the educational development of young children.  And with the growing importance and relevance of knowing a second language, particularly Spanish, in today’s multicultural society, it’s never been a more crucial time to learn. It’s also never been easier thanks to Sing and Learn Spanish, Sing and Learn More Spanish and Sing and Learn English, available on DVD March 23, 2010 from Master Communications.

Sing and Learn is an engaging and effective tool, whether teaching a second language – in this case, Spanish – or preserving it as a native language at home.  Developed by Agnes Chavez, a language expert, teacher and producer of Spanish DVDs, the DVDs have been proven to teach Spanish to children the fun and easy way.  Children are constantly exposed to multicultural rhythms from around the world and Sing and Learn capitalizes on that, bringing Salsa, Cumbia and Ranchera music to life in these videos while showing youngsters engaged in fun, everyday activities.

In Sing and Learn Spanish, children learn about Los Animales (Animals); Del Jardín (From the Garden); Mi Casa (My House); ¿Qué Hacen? (What Do They Do?); ¿Qué Tiene tu Cuerpo? (What Does Your Body Have?); ¿Qué Buscas? (What Are You Looking For?); ¿Adónde Vas? (Where Are You Going?); and ¿Cuál Es? (Which is it?).

MY REVIEW:
I'll be honest, when I first received the opportunity to review this product I was excited. However, when I got the DVD in the mail, I was a little worried. The cover kind of threw me off, with it's 70's and 80's style bland-ness, but I quickly learned that you shouldn't judge a DVD by it's cover. I watched this DVD with my 7 year old and 4 year old, and thought it was very good. The DVD is broken down into the themes mentioned above; each theme starts off with a song in Spanish. The children liked the fact that there was a picture of a dog, and the narrator would say "el perro" and the word in Spanish was on the screen. My children tend to like "See, hear, learn" types of programs, whether on the computer or on DVD format.

What a lot of people don't realize is that I am Hispanic. As a child I spent a lot of time with my mother's side of the family who would sit around and speak fluent Spanish the majority of the day, and eventually broke it down and learned bits and pieces as the years progressed. I took many years of Spanish class, and at one point in time wanted to work in some sort of bi-lingual setting or situation. I loved it, loved speaking it, loved understanding it. When my grandmother passed away, the family stopped speaking Spanish as often as they used to, and after we moved 1500 miles away, long days and family get-togethers started dwindling and the afternoons of eating arroz con pollo y frijoles negro (chicken & rice with black beans) were long gone.


Occasionally, I make some ethnic food for my family, and when Alex was little I used to speak randomly to him in Spanish, but unfortunately the lack of conversation (in Spanish) with others around me often made me uncertain. Rarely do I speak Spanish at home now, but occasionally I try to teach both the English and Spanish names for common items, foods or animals.


Alex was excited while watching this DVD that he remembered several of the Spanish translations. Abbigaile thought that most of them sounded funny, but she tried her hardest to repeat the Spanish words. Alex thought that "Spanish was weird because of all of the extra letters" but I explained to him the best I could the difference between an "r" and "rr" in Spanish.


Although the DVD is only 27 minutes long, I hope that the exposure to it might encourage me and the children to start using some Spanish around the house again. Your child is not going to watch this DVD and become a Spanish speaking super star, however to use this DVD as a tool to instill common items and vocabulary is a great step in the right direction. It's a great way to reinforce lessons learned in preschool through elementary school, and even comes with a teacher's guide- which is perfect for homeschooling parents or Early Childhood Educators. The child friendly methods of displaying real life items in real situations gives your child the association they need for the words to really stick. It's nice to have an alternative for exposure to the Spanish language than just Dora and Diego.


WANT IT?

Sing and Learn titles are appropriate for children ages three and older and have running times of approximately 27 minutes each. SRP is $19.99 for each title in the series. For more information or to order DVDs, call 1-800-765-5885 or visit www.master-comm.com.

WIN IT!
One lucky winner will get a copy of Sing & Learn Spanish for their family!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Please refer to our WINNERS PAGE for information on how to claim your prize!

This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada. This giveaway will end on March 27, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and all winner information will be posted on our WINNERS PAGE. Any unclaimed prizes will be redrawn accordingly and at the discretion of 4BabyAndMom. Disclaimer: I received this product to review at no cost from the PR firm representing Master Communication. I received no monetary compensation for this review, and any opinions expressed are 100% my own. Your experience with this product may differ.