Have you heard of Sing-A-Lingo?

I am always looking for fun yet authentic foreign language books, toys, CDs, etc for my children.  Recently I found out about a small company in Massachusetts that sells Spanish products.  They are working on developing CDs and other learning tools  to teach Spanish to children ages 2-6.  Currently they have a CD entitled, En Mi Casa. They have also created lyric and vocab cards to accompany the CD.

After watching their You Tube video and listening to a few of the samples songs, I decided to buy the CD.  I am anxiously awaiting its arrival and hope my kids like it as much as I think they will.

I like that it is a small company that was founded by two people who are musicians, educators and parents.  With that kind of background, I believe they will be able to produce high quality learning materials for children.

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Are you good at making up rhymes or songs for your children?

Unfortunately I was not blessed with the gift of song.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am the best singer in the car or when no one is around.  However when my husband hears me sing he will say, “Well that time you almost hit one note.”  Hopefully my children will inherit musical abilities from my husband’s side of the family.

Since singing is not one of my strengths, I really enjoy doing rhymes and chants with my children.  These are typically short and easy for children to remember.  Adding actions to the chants or rhymes makes these even more enjoyable and memorable for children.

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Have you ever made homemade musical instruments?

I have read about making paper plate tambourines, filling containers with dried beans for maracas and putting sandpaper on blocks for children to rub together.

Have I tried making any of them?  Sadly the answer is no.  They all seem like great ideas and fairly easy to do, however I have not taken the time to do it.

Recently I saw an idea in a book in which you can make a harp out of a Kleenex box.  This seems like an idea I need to try.

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Do you sing the song Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with your children?

This song is commonly used to help preschoolers learn body parts.  By age 3, most children know their body parts.  However does your 3 year old know where his/her wrist is?  Elbow?  Ankle?

Why isn’t there a song to teach more specific parts of the body?

(Actually there probably is, I just haven’t looked hard enough).

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Did you know Sesame Street has a Spanish CD?

Ok, it is not completely in Spanish.  It is more Spanglish, but it is a very fun CD.  My kids learned to count from 1 to 10, forwards and backwards in Spanish singing with this CD.

I have to admit, I am not usually a big Sesame Street person.  Yes my children have watched it from time to time and they both went through an Elmo phase of life.  We love the characters but have never been into the actual TV program.

It may be because of the fact that Elmo talks in the third person.  This drives me crazy!  Children naturally go through the phase of referring to themselves in the third person.  Why would a program continue to expose children to incorrect grammar?

Enough ranting about bad grammar.  I do encourage you to check out the Fiesta Songs CD.  We love it!

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