Product Review: Risas y Sonrisas Music CD with Song Lyric Booklet (K-8th grade)
Spanish for Kids. Con “Risas y Sonrisas” aprendes mas aprisa. With “Laughter and Smiles” you learn in a short while.
How could I not check out an Austin, TX company that offers Spanish learning tools for kids and the English translation of the company name is called Laughter and Smiles? The Risas y Sonrisas company offers a wide variety of Spanish language products and programs for children and I was immediately drawn to their Music CD with a Song Lyric Booklet. Music has always been a powerful learning tool for me that helped accelerate my learning of a foreign language through easy memorization. It seems the more I listen, the more it reinforces new words in my mind. I feel it is really the next best thing to immersion for people who learn the way I do and it does appear my daughter may take after me in that area. We have a small collection of foreign language (with a concentration in Spanish) CDs we listen to daily and have phased it down over time to just our favorites. I was excited to give both of us a chance to check out this CD and see if it could be added to the Brooke and Momma’s Bacon foreign language CD listening rotation!
The Risas y Sonrisas CD comes with a song book (think CD insert) that includes lyrics to the 39 song tracks with lots of Spanish vocabulary and phrases. This CD is a nice blend of word repetition mixed in with music and words to help children understand the Spanish language. Tracks include hearing the vowels, the alphabet and the colors as well as discovering the lyrics to things like a popular Mexican cheer. The great thing about this product is that it can be used in conjunction with other Risas y Sonrisas products for additional learning. The songs are included in the Sign and Sing DVD, the interactive CD-ROM and included in pictures of the Student Book and Classroom Posters. Brilliant! I recommend reading through several key areas on Leticia’s site, including an Overview of her Program, Demos and Testimonials of school, private instructors and parents to find out more about this economical Spanish program for children. Be sure to check out the Cognate Folder with Audio CD for $4.00 that includes 162 cognate pictures with the Spanish word noted in 14 separate categories such as Musical Instruments and Animals. Great deal!
About Risas y Sonrisas: Leticia Smith, originally from Mexico City, is the founder of the Austin, TX based company Risas y Sonrisas. It was her Accelerated Learning certificate through the University of Houston as well as subsequently spending four years in their Spanish department as a tutor that forged her passion of teaching rather than her degrees in business and marketing from Texas State University. Her love of tutoring began her path and passion for teaching and Leticia had over 14 years of experience as a Spanish instructor for elementary school children before she developed this award winning program. Now that is something that makes me smile!
Risas y Sonrisas Music CD with Song Lyric Booklet (K-8th grade)
List Price: $12.99 (in quantities of 4 or less)
Momma's Bacon 