Parenting a differential learner is well, different. The days of the Three Rs – Reading, Writing, & ‘Rithmetic — are long past, Both of my children struggle with different disabilities and with each, we have made different educational choices.
Learning to Differentially Teach…
For my daughter, we have chosen to home school. That makes me Mommy, teacher, and amateur special needs educational consultant. She has dyslexia and dysgraphia. She is incredibly bright, communicating and comprehending well beyond her years but her reading and writing are about on a 3rd grade level, so I spend hours researching learning opportunities for audio and kinetic learning. I sit cross legged on my bed crafting lesson plans with various source materials, including videos.
…so I can Teach to Learn
With these adjustments and needs, I am always trying to add new tools to my kit. This includes learning a different language. In our case, we were interested in Spanish. We live in Texas, after all.
When I was approached by Whistlefritz Language Videos for Kids, I was excited and eager to try. While it is intended for younger children, it fit the unique multi-level learning strategies for my girl.
I was gifted a Whistlefritz Spanish Video & Lesson Package for the purpose of this review.
All the opinions are min. It is my Universe, after all.
As I mentioned before, we work at different functionalities. Not only do we face disabilities affecting reading & writing, it is difficult to keep my girl engaged. The younger targeting of the Whistlefritz videos actually helps on this front. They are bright and cheerful in nature and available on DVD (what we chose) or directly online.
My differential learner experiences a different language
As an unexpected educator, I cared deeply about the quality of the lesson plans. On their website, Whistlefritz shares its mission, which is directed at home educators.
Our Mission
To support parents, grandparents, home educators, and teachers in teaching Spanish and French to children by creating high-quality French and Spanish language immersion programs that enable children to learn in a fun, educational environment.
This means a lot. Unlike my mother and many other wonderful teachers out there, I did not spend years studying education. So I appreciate Whistlefritz providing quality, professional lesson plans. It allows me to incorporate the videos & studies into our other educational needs.
Whistlefritz has now become a regular part of our learning day. Beyond the videos, the lesson plan book includes flash cards and coloring pages – another win for a kinetic learner.
A big thank you to Whistllefritz for supporting home school educators, in general, and this momma specifically.
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Do you have a special needs or differential learner? Have you tried introducing second language tools? What worked for you?
I loved reading about this! Sounds perfect for learning a new language! I can’t wait to try this out when my daughter is older!
That’s awesome! If you do try it out, come back and let me know how you like it. 🙂
This sounds great. I bet she loves it.
She does, thanks!
I’m so glad to see alternative ways to learn. Back in the day, it was all one way or the highway. This seems like a great way for kids to learn a new language.
How cool! My son has autism, so this would be good for him. He is learning Spanish since we’re in Texas. He has picked up some phrases. I will look into this.
I give anyone who home schools a lot of credit it seems so hard to me. Teaching another language is a great idea and will broaden a childs range.
this would be a great thing for my daughter to learn more about- she learns a little bit of spanish so i think it’d be of great value!
My son had a hard time learning with traditional methods, so learning a different language was hard for him. Whistlefritz sounds really interesting.
Homeschooling can be daunting, even for an experienced teacher. It seems like Whistlefritz is a great program for your daughter and others!
Whistlefritz is new to me but my heart was really warmed by the attention to detail this program gives. Love how they nurture homeschooling parents.
Wow! What a great way to learn a new language! I’m sharing this with my family and friends!
Whistlefritz sounds really amazing! Grateful to have them here. And what you are doing for your child is really wonderful. Keep it up!
I think you are super smart and really patient. Home schooling kids is never easy. You can absolutely do and it and I wish you all the best of luck.
I’ve heard about this program and was thinking about trying it out with my boys. I dabble in learning a second language on my phone and they’ve been wanting to learn some other languages.
This is the first time that I’ve heard of this, but it sounds like a great tool to learn a new language. My son’s learning Chinese in school.
I love studying new languages! I encourage my kid to do the same. Thanks for recommending Whistlefritz!
I really love this. I have been wanting to learn a couple of languages myself. I’ll be checking this out more for sure.
This is so interesting. I’d like to try this with my grandkids to see if it helps them. They’re just getting started in school and we really just want them to be okay.
What a great idea. I so wish I could speak a different language. Wish is was manditory from elementary school.