This course is a place for Spanish learners who have acquired basic vocabulary and sentence structure and are ready to grow in their back-and-forth question-and-answer ability and Spanish reading skills. For example, perhaps the child has participated in most or all of my Beginning Spanish lessons series (available in live one-on-one or flex courses) and is now ready for this next challenge. 

Each week we will engage in the following activities:
1. Shared reading
2. Conversation practice, often related to the reading
3. Game to practice our skills

These are our topics:
10/15 - Book: "Monstruos en mi casa (Monsters in My House)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Body parts and monsters
10/22 - Book: "¿Quién puede cargar la manzana? (Who Can Carry the Apple?)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Insects and working together
10/29 - Book: "El nene Leo y sus papas (The Baby Leo and his potatoes) by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Food likes and dislikes
11/5 - Book: "Alberto Avión quiere volar (Albert Airplane Wants to Fly)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Airplanes and feelings
11/12 - Book: "Penelope quiere pizza (Penelope Wants Pizza)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Pizza and toppings
11/19 - Book: "Carro azul anda lento (Blue Car Goes Slow)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Cars, speeds, and ways to move
11/26 - BREAK
12/3 - Book: "Mamá Elefante, ¿dónde estás? (Mama Elephant, Where Are You?)" by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Animals
12/10 - Book: "El tren que pensó que sí podía (The Train That Thought He Could)" by Tristan Meier/instructor (based on the 1906 public domain story by Charles Wing)
Discussion: Trains and what we think we can do
12/17 - Book: "El barco de corteza (The Bark Boat)" by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Boats and how we move
WINTER BREAK
1/7 - Book: "Estrellita, ¿qué haces tú? (Little Star, What Do You Do?)" by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Nocturnal animals and their activities
1/14 - Poem: "Invierno  (Winter)," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Winter activities
1/21 - Poem: "Mis ovejas (My Sheep)," a traditional, public domain poem (usually called "Tengo, tengo, tengo (I have, I have, I have)" made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Things we have and are given and what farm animals provide
1/28 - Poem: "Cinco ratoncitos (Five Little Mice)," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Animal body parts and actions
2/4 - Poem: "Los pollitos (The Chicks)," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Physical needs and how we meet them
2/11 - Poem: "Pin Pon," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: Getting ready in the morning and at night
2/18 - Fable: "El pato y la serpiente (The Duck and the Snake)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor based on a public domain 1893 fable by Tomás de Iriarte 
Discussion: Skills we know how and don't know how to do
2/25 - Fable: "El león y el ratón (The Lion and the Mouse)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor based on a public domain, traditional fable
Discussion: Traps, actions, and describing images
3/3 - Fable: "No duermas en el volcán (Don't Sleep on the Volcano)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Adjective descriptors and how others seem
3/10 - Book: "El unicornio y la bruja (The Unicorn and the Witch)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: What we are missing
3/17 - BREAK
3/25 - Poems: "Caracol, caracol (Snail, Snail)" and "Sol, solecito (Sun, Little Sun)," two traditional, public domain poems made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Light sources and animal families
3/31 - BREAK
4/7 - Poem: "De colores (Colorful)," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Springtime
4/14 - Poem: "La cucaracha," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: What we can do and what we don't stop doing
4/21 - Poem: "Aserrín Aserrán," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Restaurant conversations
4/28 - BREAK
5/5 - Poem: "A la una," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: What we do at different times of day
5/12 - Poems: "Aquí está la luna" and "El sol es de oro" a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Materials, celestial bodies
5/19 - Poem: "La piñata," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Piñatas and what we want
5/26 - Fable: "El gallo Perico," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor based on a public domain, traditional fable
Discussion: Self-care and chain reactions
6/2 -  Story: "Don Quijote y los molinos (Don Quijote and the windmills)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor based on the public domain story by Miguel Cervantes with attributed public domain and creative commons illustrations
Discussion: Personality traits 
6/9- Book: "Sana, sana (Heal, heal)" a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
centered on a  traditional, public domain poem 
Discussion: Getting hurt and healing
6/16 - Poem: "Mi burro (My Donkey)" a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Ailments and treating them
6/23 - Poem: "Los lagartos (The Lizards)" a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Weather 
6/30 - Poem: "Tomar el té (Drinking tea)" a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Party invitation conversations
7/7 - Poem: "Que llueva (May It Rain)" a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Weather and animals of Latin America
7/15 - Poem: "A la víbora de la mar," a traditional, public domain poem made into a book by Tristan Meier/instructor
Discussion: Fruit market conversations
7/21 - Story: "El zorrillo," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor 
Discussion: How things smell
7/28 - Story: "El oso Pooh está atascado (Pooh Bear is Stuck)," a book by Tristan Meier/instructor based on the public domain story by A. A. Milne with illustrations by E. H. Shepherd
Discussion: Getting stuck and helping others 


After class, learners will be provided with the weekly reading and accompanying worksheets for optional practice during the week.