We live in a country with English as the primary language, but you will see text in Spanish in almost every store, restaurant, and venue if you look around you. Additionally, many of our words in English have a Latin base and are like those in the Spanish language. So, when you understand Spanish, you have an advantage with English vocabulary just by knowing the Latin roots. So, it makes sense for our children to learn Spanish as a second language, and when we learn together as a family, it is lots of fun! Therefore, I was excited to review See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish by Sna. Gose. A consumer can go to the Flip Flop Spanish website and select the See It and Say It Flip Flop Spanish (Level 1) boxset under the Whole Family Homeschool Spanish product area. The cost is $144.97 for the boxset (the eBook can be purchased for $49.97). This boxset is a comprehensive program that lets you interact with your family with a fun curriculum intended to be used over two years.

When we received our box in the mail, it was great to see that all components we needed for the program were already included in the small box. First, there was a complete printout of the 45-lesson curriculum on double-sided, hole-punched, sturdy paper. We put our printout in a binder and labeled it with the pre-printed label provided in the box. This printout is 150 pages and covers four semesters of lessons. Also included is a USB flash drive with four CDs worth of MP3 audio lessons narrated by Sra. Gose. The flash drive goes through all four semesters of learning. The boxset includes 135 flashcards to complement the paper curriculum and audio learning. The flashcards give hands-on learners something tactile to use to form sentences and learn vocabulary. There were even a few card-holder pages to hold flashcards in place when building sentences. Lastly, there was a dry erase paddle and marker to use for practicing writing in Spanish.

We were able to use this box set curriculum with our entire family! When this program is advertised as a complete curriculum, that is precisely what is available to you as a homeschool educator or simply someone who wants to fortify their Spanish language knowledge. We used this program one to two times per week. One lesson includes three sessions that are about 15 minutes each. As the homeschool teacher, I prepared the lesson by selecting the flashcards and setting up the CD tracks. We would play through each MP3 audio lesson two times as we followed along with narration by Sra. Gose. The third time, I would read the lessons aloud from the printed curriculum with my daughters to ensure they followed along. My daughters are in middle school, so we used the text side of the flashcards primarily, but there is a picture side, as well, for younger learners. Also, since my daughters are older, they were asked to write out additional sentences to enforce learned concepts. There were many hidden gems throughout the curriculum for us as homeschool parents to implement different learning styles. There were games, charades, skits, and built-in breaks to explore Spanish books (libros), watch movies in Spanish, and take cultural outings to use new language skills and receive input from others as you interact with them. We even went to a Mexican restaurant and were only allowed to order and communicate with the Spanish we had learned. We reviewed the food and family vocabulary options before we went to make sure we were prepared.

The pros of this curriculum are easy to recognize. It is great to have a full curriculum that has every piece of the program set up for you as a homeschool teacher. This program is easy to use, and a teacher can learn and follow along right with the students. I loved that I could strengthen my own Spanish language skills right along with my daughters. There were “Grammar Notes For Parents” throughout the text to help the parents/teachers clarify some essential lessons and be prepared for common questions from your children/students. My oldest daughter is a hands-on visual learner, so having the flashcards for sentence formation and recognition helped solidify some concepts for her. For example, one week, we put the kitchen flashcards in the silverware drawer, so we had to use the correct word for each utensil. Sra. Gose’s calm style also helped us with pronunciation and avoiding common mistakes.

In summary, I would highly recommend using this curriculum to assist your whole family in becoming bi-lingual. Sra. Gose uses the Charlotte Mason methodology of language acquisition that works on every age group and learning style. This program is easy for the homeschool teacher with a written curriculum, flashcards, audio tracks, and prompts for external support. Sra. Gose gives students her email and encourages them to interact and send her sentences and work if they have questions. At the end of the two-year curriculum, you and your students will be exposed to about 350-500 Spanish words and be familiar with present tense and many grammar topics. What an excellent way to learn together and expand your cultural universe!

-Product review by Lynne Westbrook, LPC, The Old Schoolhouse®, October 2021