BOCA BETH: Bringing Spanish to Life!

Below are the suggested circle time activities for our I Love My Family / Yo quiero mi familia bilingual kids song:

Using visual aides of the family members from this song I choose different children to be each family member. (Again, you can find the entire family in educational stores as a visual aid and simply laminate the English on one side, the Spanish on the other side.) Then we sit on our designated area of the semi-circle, and the child holding the “mommy/mamá” walks around the circle showing us their “mommy/mamá” during the chorus about “mommy/mamá” then that child sits down on their spot. The “daddy/papá” walks around and so on.  On the chorus of the song the children are encouraged to hug themselves as we all sing, “I love my mommy” or “I love my brother”

FREE bilingual langauge cards available 24/7 right here at this link!

Another fun idea I heard about from a fellow early childhood professional is to have the children make popsicle stick family members by decorating them with arts & crafts materials or cutting out magazine pictures of various family members from the song and gluing them on.  Then we use our mini class parachute and during each section of the song singing about one particular family member, we place our popsicle stick family members in the middle of the parachute, and we ’fly’ them into the air!

Here are the lyrics for this fun song that is sung in Spanish and English by children ‘ringers’ who are children brought into the studio to sing on our Boca Beth music CDs for babies, toddlers and preschoolers!

I Love My Family / Yo quiero mi familia
(sung to the melody of “B-I-N-G-O”) 

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

I remember writing this song called I Love My Family / Yo quiero mi familia almost 7 years ago!  My sister and I had been to a women’s event sponsored by our local PBS Station, and we did not want to go home to laundry, cooking and cleaning so we stopped at a local restaurant for a couple of Tapas plates (Tapas is common in Spain where you order small plates of hot or cold appetizers and share with friends). 

Below is a YouTube mini lesson on the song we wrote during our meal!  The YouTube version of the song uses visual aides from Lakeshore Learning and features two children who are having a silly time acting out the family members in the song:

It wasn’t much into the meal that we decided to Piggyback a Boca Beth song onto the children’s classic melody of the song B-I-N-G-O!  When you Piggyback a song it means you write new lyrics to go with the tune/the melody of a familiar song, thus creating a new song.

This week we will focus on the family.   Here is the link to find some bilingual language cards for FREE from Boca Beth about family members.  Sister/brother are in April, Mommy/Daddy are in March, and Grandma/Grandpa are in November.

Go to this new lesson featured on OnLineFreeSpanish.com  - this company puts out really fun bilngual stuff, and it’s free!

See you later this week for more fun about family/la familia.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

We are going to make Fridays fun and happening around here all school year!

                                                                                                               We are going to give some cool prize pack away each Friday (unless I am traveling) during this Academic School Year!

Today we want some lucky family/familia to win our Boca Beth I Like Animals / Me gustan los animales DVD and a BOCA puppet.  Here’s how to win:

Visit my Boca Beth online store and comment below or on Facebook (go here to join the fun on Facebook) which Boca Beth product or language learning set you like and why.  It’s that easy.  Sunday night we will select a random winner, then begin planning for the next fun giveaway.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!  and Happy Winning!  ¡Feliz ganadora!

Boca Beth

P.S. (If you join us on Facebook and “like” Boca Beth you will have access to more contests and giveaways!  Go here now to join hundreds of friends/amigas, amigos on Facebook!)

This week it’s all about transitioning the children to a new school year, a new classroom, and a new group of friends and teacher.  It’s been smooth-sailing so far in our home with our 5th grade daughter and college bound son!  How about you?  Hope it’s going well!

Enjoy the video lesson above that will enhance your circle time and classroom fun as the children get to know one another.  Use this song titled Hello, How Are You? / Hola ¿Cómo estás? also off our first bilingual music CD for children titled My First Songs in Spanish/Mis primeras canciones en Inglés (found at this link). 

Did you join in on our Facebook contest fun yesterday to win this Boca Beth CD?  Three lucky winners have that CD being shipped to their home.  

Want to join the fun?  Go here now and “Like” my Boca Beth Program, and it’s easy to be part of our weekly bilingual fun.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

As the story goes the kindergarten boy had recently arrived to the United States with his family and was scared to begin a new school in a new place with a new language and new smells and new sounds.  He clung to his mom’s leg and pleaded in his native Spanish language not to be left alone with all of these strangers.

Each day the separation from mom was heart-breaking, and his new teacher tried many things to make it easier on this 5-year-old boy.  About one week in, the teacher slipped BOCA the puppet on her hand and began circle time with the Boca Beth song Hola Amigo/Hello Friend (click the link to the left to listen to a sampling of this bilingual kids song!), and the rest, as they say, is HISTORY! 

I encourage you to use puppets and music during these challenging economic times.  Music is a universal language and helps to calm the day for all during troubling times.  Puppets are used during therapy sessions with children for obvious reasons - children will often times respond to a puppet instead of an adult facilitating the therapy or counseling session.

In addition to using our song Hola amigo / Hello Friend from our first CD titled My First Songs in Spanish / Mis primeras canciones en Inglés I suggest visiting this site for some awesome first day, first week, first month introduction activities to use in your preschool or early elementary school classroom.  You will find the OnLineFreeSpanish.com introduces Spanish and English similar to the way we here at Boca Beth present the two languages - in a true bilingual format.

So - enjoy your summer if you are still in it!  If not, and your children are returning to school and/or you are also returning to the classroom as a teacher, I hope you will follow along with my blog as each week we will highlight a different theme.  Contribute to the conversations, and you might even win a Boca Beth regalo/gift!  You just never know.

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Ahhhhhh the glamorous life of TV!  Go on set, shoot a few scenes, break for a cool lunch, back to shoot some more and then just count the profits rolling in from the show.  POP!!!!!  Burst that bubble right now amigas/amigos.  That is NOT the world of preschool TV!  Harsh reality was quickly announced to me over the weekend, “If you are in this industry of Preschool TV to make millions, you are in the wrong place!”

  And to whom do we owe this wonderful honor of bursting the dream bubble?!?!?  Why my newest friends over at Little Airplane Production of course!  I am saying this with the utmost respect, admiration, appreciation and true AWE directed at Josh Selig, Tom Brown, Tone Thyne and flight crew at LAP!  They are the newest preschool HEROES in my life.

22 of us spent three full days with these talented people, guest speakers from all walks of the Preschool TV Industry, and we were immersed (Yes!  I actually used a word related to immersion in my blog!) in the creation and pitching of a Preschool TV Series.  The Academy was nothing short of amazing…from content, to speakers’ passion to share their knowledge, to helping each of us individually sort through our own ideas and begin the journey of bringing our dreams of a TV series for preschool children to life!

YES!  The bubble has been burst, but I haven’t told you the REALLY great part of the bubble burst!  Many tiny other little bubbles formed as the large one popped, and they will expand, evolve and journey through this ever so important world of preschool TV with me.  Giving me direction, hope, energy, determination, focus, love, purposeful intentions and more as I continue on my path as Boca Beth!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

So often I am asked, “Why Spanish?” or “Do you offer other languages?”

It’s so easy for me to understand the answer to the first question…Spanish is the 2nd most widely spoken language in the United States so it only makes perfect sense to teach our kids English and Spanish.

Have you found yourself saying more often, “Oh man, I wish I knew more Spanish to communicate with these new people in my neighborhood, work or this place?” or “Oh man, I wish I knew more Mandarin to communicate with these new people in my neighborhood, work or this place?”

If I were to place a bet on which one you find yourself saying more often it would have to bet on the Spanish reply!

And when replying to those who ask me if I offer other languages I comment with pride that I specialize in bringing English and Spanish together with music and movement fun! 

The specialization that I provide parents, teachers and children require my dedicated focus on just these two most widely spoken languages in the United States.  And I love how much this dedication is appreciated!

Happy Educating / Sea feliz educando -

Boca Beth

Fridays often times mean fun times ahead, family moments around the corner and even some party / fiesta fun!

We want to help make your weekend even better with the following suggestions for young children in attendance at your family gatherings and parties.  And remember, starting August 23, 2010 our blog will resume it’s weekly themed lesson plans that will include arts & crafts ideas, science experiments, snack fun, music and movement activities and beginning reading suggestions for Spanish and English language learning fun!

Fiesta Time with Boca Beth

www.bocabeth.com

·      FOOD

Based on the age of children in attendance Boca Beth recommends the following:

Salsa and chips.

Big Fritos with sour cream, chili & cheese and/or guacamole for dipping.

Make your own taco station complete with meats (chicken or beef), tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, taco sauce and shells.

Flan, dulce de leche ice cream, Tres Leches cake (available in many flaors these days) or galletas/cookies from a local Spanish grocery store.

·      CRAFTS

Have the children make their own Mexican ponchos out of large brown grocery bags with paints, sequins, beads, feathers, foam shapes, etc to decorate.

Maracas can easily be made with two paper plates stapled together (adult supervision required), popsicle stick as the handle and rice, pasta or beans as the noise filler – children decorate the outside of the plates prior to assembly.

Here is our cool, upbeat version of Chocolate (spelled the same in English & Spanish!).  Click the link below and enjoy the FREE MP3 download:

Bilingual Song Chocolate

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

It’s here!  The heat of Summer is upon us in Tampa, Florida, and the kids are getting restless (even the 18-year-old is anxious for college to begin!).

What’s a parent to do?  Below are some fun, free things to keep them busy with FUN stuff (shhhhhh…don’t tell them there is learning involved!).

Download more than 160 free Bilingual Language Cards in Spanish and English from my Boca Beth bilingual resource area.  Click here.

Then go to the media preview page of our Boca Beth web site to sample some of our music right here.  then check out my YouTube channel with lots of free mini lessons that will bring Spanish into your daily routine!  Click here for the YouTube channel of Boca Beth.

How about www.OnLineFreeSpanish.com ???!!!  Have you visited this site yet?  Why not?  It rocks with lots of bilingual learning fun for kids ages 3 - 10 (just like my Boca Beth music CDs and DVDs … they present things in a side-by-side bilingual format).

Now go over to your closest Target store and get a Spanish for Dummies tiny handbook in their dollar section.  My store had a bunch a while back, but I did not buy all of them (I promise!).  And if Target is out of them, ask them to bring in some more PLUS encourage them to take a look at our Boca Beth product line as a new item for them to start carrying.  It’s people like YOU who convince stores like Target to carry certain things you love and believe in.  Thanks / Gracias.

Enjoy this video teaching you and your child 20 body parts in Spanish and English!  Learning a second language CAN BE FUN!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

So…you’re off on a summer vacation and see only $$$$ signs in front of you?

Fear not my Boca Beth friends/amigas & amigos!  We are going to help with a free gift!

Snap a photo of BOCA the language amigo of our Boca Beth Program while you are away at a vacation spot with your child or you or even at an interesting local locale!  E-mail it to me, Boca Beth, at BocaBeth@msn.com right away!

We will send YOU a Boca Beth t-shirt for you or your child!

Happy Photographing!

Boca Beth