Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Boca Beth is Muy Bueno. (I learned that on Boca Beth)

I recently raised my hand high when the good people of Parent Bloggers Network asked for those interested in looking into the Spanish language program, Boca Beth. Because we're all working to learn languages around here. You see, we are now a bilingual household. Which is really cool, as long as you’re bilingual. Which I’m not. Yet. So sure, I was hoping the Hurricane would like this program, which includes coloring books, dvds, cds, a puppet and maraca, created by mom and educator Beth Butler. But also, because my brain is older and less malleable than some others in our house, I figured I could use as much help as possible.

So we tried it out.

Here's the part where I wish our 18-month-old Hurricane could write this review. Because he would probably pontificate with a Spanish punch. He’d also no doubt tell you how he completely dug the Boca Beth I Like Animals/Me Gustan Animales DVD. Porque es realmente bueno. And because the kid really likes to dance, and sing, and watch other kids dance and sing. And that’s what’s going on during the first 23 minutes of this thing. That, and lots of animal footage. And this is all happening while Beth teaches the audience around 200 words and 85 phrases featuring animals from the neighborhood to the Serengeti.

The next 25 or so minutes show a Boca Beth classroom semicircle gathering of kids and parents talking and singing in Spanish. This is the point I though we’d lose him. You see, the Hurricane is not really that patient of a TV watcher. In fact, he's rarely interested any actual TV, and only loves a few Baby Einsteins. So I figured he’d get bored pretty quickly with the semicircle still cam. But oh how I was wrong. This was his very favorite part. He absolutely loved watching Beth, the puppet Boca, and the kids sing in Spanish.

It’s a cool idea, and here’s my favorite part about it…my son loved it. Loved it. The graphics aren’t Disney quality, and I might rather watch Grey’s Anatomy, but my favorite kid, well he was entranced. As someone who is learning English and Spanish at the same time, he absolutely lit up hearing them spoken together…back to back…connected…and I think he actually started to connect some concepts. For instance, we’ve been working on the “What does the cow/dog/cat/lion/pig/dinosaur/monster say?” game for weeks. And I think we’ve mastered cow. And maybe dog. But after watching the “What does the lion say/ ¿Qué dice el león?” portion of the program, he got it. Maybe it was actually seeing the lion. Or maybe it was because we now know how to ask that in Spanish. But something clicked. And now he rooooowwwwwllllllssss like a mad man.

So overall, I would say the Boca Beth program was a big hit in our household.

The Hurricane is connecting the languages with animals. And we're learning too. For instance, now I know how to sing the “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” song in Spanish. And this can be handy. For instance, remember how we talked about songs that get stuck in your head? Well, the next time that pesky Justin Timberlake song barges into my cranium, I’ll just think…” No más monos que saltan en la cama.” And viola! Replaced. No more JT for days.

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And now my friends, it's giveaway time. Leave a comment here and a Hurricane chosen winner gets a Boca Beth song CD (worth $15) in the mail. Whoohoo! And leave a comment at the Parent Bloggers Network and you could win a Boca Beth prize package (worth $45). Good luck. Or as the Hurricane says, buena suerte!

ADDED: It seems that if you leave a comment here, you're also registered to potentially win the Boca Beth prize package. Yay you.

And the Winner Is.....NAMONA. You completely won. Email me at helloqueso at gmail dot com, and I'll send the CD your way. Ole!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way cool! My father in law married a Spanish woman from Peru - maybe we should teach our kiddo Spanish. Hmmm.

Emi Lee said...

Ole! Count me in por favor.

Mamalang said...

I've always sworn I was going to learn Spanish and my oldest will be next school year. THis would probably help out a lot!

Christy said...

I'm a former Spanish teacher and everyone always tells me I should teach my kids while they are young. My oldest (4) is autistic so we're just trying to get him to speak English. My youngest (2) is the perfect candidate for bilingualism! Her birthfamily is from Mexico. I hope I win!

mommiebear2 said...

Is there an age range for the video? id love to get the cd, my kids love to believe they can talk/sing in Spanish.

Jennifer said...

How do you say SWEET! in espanol? I guess if I win I'll find out! Thanks!

CPA Mom said...

I'll leave a comment both places. Anything that promotes bi-lingualism is a plus in my book!

Erin said...

Anything you recommend sounds good to me.

Sujatha said...

We're trying to learn multiple languages at home!

Jules said...

Muy bueno! (That is the only Spanish I know, aside from "dos cervesas, por favor!" -- maybe now it's time to learn some more!)

QueenScarlett said...

Interesting...how does this compare to the BBC Muzzy series? I'm still looking into it because they have a Mandarin course. I figure...Spanish was so easy for me to pick up...it's practically a second language here - that I'd like her to learn Mandarin first. She already knows quite a lot...but I wanted something formal.

mo12miller@gmail.com said...

ME ME ME!!

Girl con Queso said...

QS, I haven't ever watched the Muzzy series...or seen how my child responds to it, so I'm really not sure how they compare. I know the BB program has won a lot of awards ... at least 10 are listed on their site from various prestigious parenting and educational groups. But as far as a comparison thing, I'm not sure.

Rachel said...

No más Justin Timberlake.

Bek said...

I remember Muzzy from my youth, but don't remember any Spanish.

My husband and I were discussing the other day about how great it would be to teach all our kids Spanish. We don't speak it, but I feel that it is a language that will be more than useful in their lifetime in many, many different circumstances. I might need to check this out because it really does work better when they are young.

When I was 18 I moved to Russia to teach English to 3-4 year olds in preschools there for a professor who was developing a language system. They were functionally fluent in 5 months with just a few hours a day, as opposed to the older kids (5 and 6) who took more than a year.... so there is something to it...

Kendra said...

Am I too late? This is awesome. My husband speaks Spanish, but we've been lazy with teaching the kids. I think this would be great!

lochan said...

cool!

Boca Beth said...

Hi/Hola -

Boca Beth here...when compared to Muzzy - first thing that jumps out at parents is we are not animated - we truly believe children need real life images in this day of over-stimulation with animation. The real animals, the real children doing song and dance segments make it so easy to relate to for children.

Secondly, we are soooooo much more affordable and integrated with tools created right out of my classroom experience and mom experience with raising three bilingual children! Sure, we do not have the huge case and 58 page learning manual that other programs do. Nor do we say that your child will be conversational by the end of this Boca Beth Program.

Because there is no 'end.' It's simply an introduction to a second language, meant to wire these little children's brains for later language learning.

Oh - and age range is birth and up for the music CDs and 3-6 months and up for the DVDs (no cap on the age because I have adults using these CDs and DVDs to make their adult Spanish classes a bit easier to take and more fun).

Hope YOU win!!!!