• Oct. 29, 2009
Mexico Mission Trip October 2009 - Travel There

Wow!  What a mission trip!  We could see and feel the Lord's hand on us all the way.  For the last two weeks leading up to us going on our Mexico Mission trip we had a battle waged against our group.  One person thought they should be the mouthpiece of God and tell everyone not to go.  They even went so far as calling everyone from the church that wasn't going on the trip to tell us not to go.  Well that trick from the pits of hell didn't work and we were blessed because of it.  And the people of Mexico were blessed because of our obedience to the Lord.

We had to get up Saturday morning, October 17th at 2 am to catch our flights out of Fargo.  It was so dense with fog here at home I thought for sure the flights would be delayed a couple hours.  We went at our regularly scheduled time and drove with caution towards Fargo.  After about forty-five minutes the fog miraculously cleared up and stayed that way until we left for our Mexico mission trip on time.  Praise the Lord!

Our Father's hand is soooo big.  And His arm is very long when it is outstretched.

After we got our luggage in El Paso, the Tapestries of Life van was waiting for us.  They look like this:


Of course the first thing we thought of was food since we didn't eat on any of our flights down to El Paso.  Just outside the El Paso airport a few blocks away we ate a burger joint called Whataburger.  I was happy because they had a jalapeno burger.  So our Mexican food begins, well if you can call Whataburger Mexican.  It was probably a really big stretch.  LOL

As we are driving down the highway from El Paso to our home away from home for the week, the Outpost at Tapestries of Life in Fabens, TX, we saw sights we had never seen before.  Not because we live in a secluded part of Minnesota and we don't see those types of things.  They were more along the lines of different brands and different names of businesses and restaurants, etc.

After settling into the Outpost and unpacking our single suitcases, airlines charge for each bag you take nowadays except for carry-ons, as a team we sat around and got to know each other better.  You know how you go to family reunions once a year or maybe once every five years and you've met a lot of your family members.  You know you like these family members because they haven't been around long enough to get on your nerves yet.  Well that's how I see a lot of my church family.  Since we were going to be living together for the week we thought it would be good to just kick back and relax.  Of course our bodies all said they needed sleep but who can sleep when you're excited to finally be at the destination.

A lot of hugging went on in congratulations for making it to Tapestries of Life on our Mexico Mission trip.  Some of us had been fundraising and planning this trip for two years.  We felt like we were on top of the world knowing we had arrived.

One last thing I want to share with you all is during the last two weeks while we were battling with the enemy of this world the Lord kept pouring out His blessings.  One of the couples that went with us, Monte & Jolene Goeson, had received a $250 gift to go towards our trip.  I had received $100 in extra money, which I turned over to Tapestries Mercy Ministry Day (more to come on this amazing ministry), and Dillon our only teenage boy on the trip received $70 on the airplane from Fargo to Denver.  If that doesn't tell you the Lord is with you then you just aren't listening and you need to get the wax out of your ears.

Dillon had sat next to a lady on the plane who was asking tons of questions about our trip all the way to Denver.  Her sister was in the seat in front of them.  Between the two of them they gave Dillon $70 cash.  Praise the Lord!  Later on I will share with you Dillon's story of how the Lord lead him to whom and where that money should go.  As far as I know, I don't believe Dillon had ever been used by the Lord this way before and Dillon got his socks blessed off.

Well that's all for now.  Stay tuned to this blog to see and hear more about our amazing Mexico Mission Trip 2009.

Bendiciones,

Michelle Rothwell, Founder

Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish

http://www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com

The most comprehensive missions-minded Biblically-based Spanish curriculum for Pre K through 12th grade.

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• Sep. 11, 2009
100 Excellent Advice Sites for Homeschoolers

Hi Everyone!

Amber Johnson from Teaching Tips.com sent over her blog page I thought I would share with you.  She has listed 100 Excellent Advice Sites for Homeschoolers.  This is a great list to look over because I believe you will see some you've never heard of which could help you with teaching your children.

Any resources are great as we travel through this fun and exciting world of homeschooling.

But pay no attention to the ads for foreign languages.  Ha!  Ha! Unless of course you are interested in something other than Spanish. 

I know some of you homeschool parents are teachers by trade.  If you are interested in continuing education to keep up on your certification, be sure to check out Amber's site as she has a comprehensive site for teachers of all kinds.

When you get done going over the list of 100 Excellent Advice Sites for Homeschoolers, please come back here and give us your opinion of which ones you like and which ones you've never seen before but are going to use.

Bendiciones,
Michelle Rothwell, Founder
Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish
http://www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com
The most comprehensive missions-minded Biblically-based Spanish text.

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• Sep. 10, 2009
LIVE in one hour! Today only!

Hey Everyone!  Don't forget I will be live at 11 am ET/10CST/9MT/8PST on the Communication Comedy Network with JoJo Tabares talking about miscommunications in the Spanish language and culture.

Join us for some fun stories and tips for keeping yourselves out of trouble when speaking Spanish.

Click on this link and join us Communication Comdey Network you can listen for free with a Talk Shoe account or listen via telephone at 724-444-7444 pin number 19736.

Hope to see you there!
Michelle Rothwell, Founder
Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish
http://www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com
The most comprehensive missions-minded Biblically-based text.

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• Sep. 7, 2009
Communication Differences in the Spanish Language and Culture

Coming this Thursday I will be a guest on the Communication Comedy Network talking to JoJo Tabares about the communication differences in the Spanish language and culture.

Listen to us as we share how fun learning Spanish can be even when there are miscommunications.  There will be funny stories as well as an opportunity to learn the proper way to speak Spanish.  No one is perfect and on Thursday's show you will see even the experts can have trouble with communication differences in the Spanish language and culture.

To log on to our broadcast this Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 10 am CST go toTalk Shoe  If you aren't available live then you will find our recorded broadcast later that day in JoJo's archives.

I hope you will join us and experience the fun in learning Spanish.

Hasta jueves,
Michelle Rothwell, Founder
Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish
The most comprehensive missions-minded Biblically-based Spanish text.

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• Jun. 8, 2009
Pizza Hut Fundraiser Cards

Dear Homeschool Families,

      This week I would like to share with you a great fundraiser where you don’t have to pay any money up front.  For those of you getting ready to go on a family mission trip, I recommend a Pizza Hut Fundraiser Pizza Card.  Here are the details:

 “Sell Pizza Hut® Pizza Cards for $10.00 and Make $7.00 Profit Per Card!

• Your cost per card: $3.00
• You sell each card for: $10.00
• You make: $7.00 profit per card!
• Minimum order is just 100 cards!
• Cards can be ordered in packs of 50
• Plus, you'll get 20% free cards for every 50 you buy up to 450 cards, and 30% free cards for every 50 you buy when you buy 500 or more cards!
• Cards are valid for one year after they have been printed or until all 15-20 visits have been used.

Why will your customers want to buy a Pizza Hut® Pizza Card from you?

Because they will get to order from their local Pizza Hut 15-20 times, and get a great deal!

Each Pizza Hut has a different "deal" with us, but the most popular deal is this one:
"Buy a large pizza at regular price and receive a medium pizza free!"

These cards are awesome for fundraising - everyone wins! All you need to do is tell us the name of the city where your local Pizza Hut is, and we'll call you to confirm the best deal we can get from YOUR Pizza Hut before you make your decision to purchase your Pizza Hut® Pizza Cards from us.

Cards are not accepted nationally; please call us to verify if the pizza cards are accepted in your area. Cards are favored along the East Coast.

Pizza Cards will deliver in approximately 2-7 business days.”

This information comes from the WOW Fundraising website .

     The reason I’m recommending this fundraiser is it works great.  One thing I do recommend is making sure your local Pizza Hut will accept the cards before you commit yourselves.  You wouldn’t want to promote something people in your church and neighborhood can’t use.

     One last thing, there are other organizations who put together mission trips all over the world and they are listed on the left-hand side of our pages.  If you would like first hand knowledge of each organization, just write and let me know.  I would be more than happy to let you talk others who have worked with these awesome servants.

     Next week:  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Practice, Practice, Practice – tips for learning Spanish so it sticks.

God bless you all and have a great week,

Michelle Rothwell, Founder

Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish

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• May. 8, 2009
Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 1 May 8, 2009

Dear Homeschool Families,

Welcome to Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish!  Or we would say bienvenidos!

In this issue we will be sharing with you some of the miracles of MACHE 2009, tips for immersion Spanish learning, Mission Trip 2009 with fundraising ideas, update on our Preschool/Kindergarten curriculum and our accredited curriculum, recipe for Creamy Spinach Enchiladas (This is a good one for Minnesotans as it is made with mile enchilada sauce) and finally our grammar tip about Adjectives.  If you don’t want to have any clutter you can see our archived newsletters on our blog at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/dndhomeschoolspanish/.  We welcome any comments, questions or suggestions.

MÂCHÉ 2009 was awesome!

Kurt and I were so blessed meeting each and every one of you at our booth last month.  We feel like we’ve met more of our family we didn’t even know existed.  Kind of like finding long lost brothers and sisters.  Welcome to our family.  Please stop by to see us if you are in the Detroit Lakes area.  We would love to see you again.

Through our conversations with everyone we found you would like to see curriculum for Preschool and Kindergarten plus an accredited program for your older kids.  We hear you and are working diligently to complete these tasks.  There were so many of you who were asking about an accredited program that in the middle of the day Saturday, when we had a brief, maybe five minutes, lull at our booth, Kurt said, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if the Lord sent someone to us today that would know how to get accreditation for our program?”  Well guess what?!  “Ask and it shall be given unto you.”  The very last couple of the day, at 5:30 pm, had the answers.  Is that the Lord or what?  He is never late.  He is always on time.  We are on our way to going through the steps of accreditation.

Immersion Learning is One of the Best Ways to Learn

For a learner the immersion phase in the language learning process will really catapult their learning ahead, particularly if they communicate exclusively in the target language, and don’t use their mother tongue.

As an example, if one is learning Spanish one might go to a Spanish speaking country where Spanish is the native tongue. One might then take classes where all the instruction is given in the native tongue, in this case Spanish.

One is then immersed in the language, and surrounded by the culture of the target language-speaking community.

At home you can partially immerse your children in Spanish by having them watch a movie they already know in Spanish instead of English.  For example, “Finding Nemo” on DVD you can hear the movie in other languages including Spanish.  This way they are focused on just the language.  It’s amazing how their brains, no matter how young they are, will immediately translate from Spanish to English so their understanding will be there.  At the same time they are learning Spanish in a focused environment while having fun.

Español de Iglesia Para Niños will prepare your children and your family for mission work across the border and in any of the 26 countries around the world where the Lord’s gospel needs to be spread.

Mission Trip 2009 to Guadalupe, Chihuahua, Mexico

Many of you who visited our booth at MÂCHÉ 2009 picked up packets of information to join us in October.  I hope you’ve had the opportunity to read the materials and are seeking the Lord’s guidance on whether this is the trip you are to go on or not.  We brought 25 packets of information and you all picked up 21.  We would love to have all 21 families come with us.  Tapestries of Life staff are praying for you and making preparations to accommodate each and every one.  They said if we bring you all they will make room for all of you.  If you didn’t pick up a packet and are interested in joining us, please visit our webpage for more info here:  http://www.dorahomeschoolspanish.com/missions_opportunities.htm but ignore the donation spot at the top.  That’s where we are having our donors go who are helping to sponsor us for this year’s trip.

For those of you, who are considering going with us this year, please keep in mind that your money for lodging must be in by August 31, 2009.  If you have questions about this, please write to us at Michelle@dorahomeschoolspanish.com and we will explain things further.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will be able to send out info for just the trip.

A couple ideas for fundraising I would like to share with you have to do with your own personal talents.

The Lord has given you and your children different talents like gardening abilities, hair cutting, teaching CPR, singing, cooking, etc.  Think of the things you love to do and turn them into fundraisers.  For instance, Kurt, my husband, sings solos at church and has been a bass singer for the Crystal City Quartet.  He had this great idea of putting together a night of music with many talented individuals he knew in the Christian music world and put on a two hour concert.  All of the singers knew this was a fundraiser and weren’t going to get paid.  The Lord spoke to their hearts and we had 12 participants, thirteen including Kurt.  This idea was a great success.  We had over $500 donated that night to help send us to Mexico.  Praise the Lord!

If your children have gardening skills, go around your city and have them mow lawns for donations.  Take a few Saturdays and do what my brother the landscaper calls blow-and-go.  Let the people know your kids will only be mowing and trimming for raising money to go on a mission trip.  It’s amazing how people are moved by the Lord to be generous especially with kids.  They could easily raise enough money for one person in two days.

Take your talents and use them for the Lord’s glory.  He will bless you abundantly for following His desires for you to take care of the widows and orphans.  On this trip we will be helping the orphans.

Has your church ever gone on a mission trip together?  Tapestries of Life are always looking for groups of people to come down and help them.  Instead of going with us why not go as a church?  We would be happy to give you the tools to put it all together.  Even the video I showed at the workshop can be sent to you for you to present to your congregation.  Just send me an e-mail and I can get it to you plus what you would need to know to put a team together.

Update on Curriculum

We are in the process of researching accreditation.  We were given such good information at MÂCHÉ 2009 which takes a while to go through.  Our goal is to have accreditation by the end of the 2009/2010 school year.

The Preschool/Kindergarten curriculum is half finished.  We have the pronunciation cds to create and a few more worksheets.  Our expected availability date is June 1, 2009.  We will keep you posted on our progress.

Creamy Spinach Enchiladas

     For those Americans who desire a milder Mexican recipe, try these yummy smooth Creamy Spinach Enchiladas from Azteca®.  These would also be good for a vegetarian diet but not vegan.

Ingredients for Creamy Spinach Enchiladas:

1 pkg Azteca® Flour Tortillas (Burrito size)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
10 oz pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Queso Fresco (Mexican white cheese)
10 oz can mild enchilada sauce

     Remove tortillas from refrigerator.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In medium saucepan, sauté onions in butter until crisp-tender; add spinach.  Cook until moisture is evaporated, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.  Stir in cottage cheese, sour cream and 1 cup shredded cheese.

     Warm tortillas as directed on package.  Spoon approximately 1/4 cup filling down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place seam side down in greased 13" x 9" baking dish.  Pour enchilada sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly & heated through.  To serve, top with sour cream and green onions, if desired.

     As long as your spinach is thawed ahead of time this is actually a very quick dish to make with hardly any clean up.

*Grammar Tip – Adjectives/Adjetivos

“The adjective in Spanish is a variable part of speech and must agree in gender and number with the noun it qualifies: libro pequeño, casa pequeña (small book, small house); libros pequeños, casas pequeñas (multiple small books, multiple small houses).”  The word for book, a noun, in Spanish is masculine so the adjective must have a masculine ending which is usually an o.  Likewise the word for house, a noun, in Spanish is feminine so the adjective must be a feminine adjective.  The ending would be an a.  In this example to make them plural you just add an s to both the nouns and the adjectives.

A simple way to know if a noun is masculine or feminine is by looking at the ending of the word.  Of course in any language there are exceptions to the rules.  If they kept it all the same way, you would get bored.  We will give those exceptions to you at a later time.

“Some adjectives, however, have the same ending for both masculine and feminine genders: hombre fiel, mujer fiel; hombres fieles, mujeres fieles (faithful man, faithful woman).”

For the parents and older kids, we share this information but for the younger children we are teaching them sentences in the right order with the right endings.  These kinds of explanations can be confusing.  Confused minds get bored easily and therefore Spanish isn’t any fun anymore.  The learning then becomes a chore and doesn’t progress.  We strive to bring a stress free learning experience for everyone so they can have the optimum learning experience possible.

Well that’s all we have for you this time.  Whew!  That was a lot in one shot wasn’t it?

In the future, if you don’t mind Moms and Dads, I would like to take each of these items and send them to you individually in a weekly newsletter.  Your time is valuable and I don’t want to bog down your life with long newsletters.  My idea is to present to you once a month a teaching tip, once a month a great recipe, once a month information about our products, once a month info about mission trips in a weekly format.  That way you can pick and choose what you would like to read and what you don’t.  I know it means you will have more e-mails from us but they can be easily deleted.

If you decide you don’t want to receive weekly newsletter, please reply back to us and we will remove your name from our list.  But you will always be able to stay up to date by visiting our blog either through our website http://www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com or go straight to the blog itself listed above.

Thank you for your time today and may the Lord bless your family abundantly,

Michelle Rothwell, Founder

Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish

The most comprehensive Biblically-base Spanish text.

*The information in quotes comes from “Vox Compact Spanish and English Dictionary” Second Edition by McGraw Hill

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• Mar. 26, 2009
Creamy Spinach Enchiladas

     For those Americans who desire a milder Mexican recipe, try these yummy smooth Creamy Spinach Enchiladas from Azteca.  These would also be good for a vegetarian diet but not vegan.

Ingredients for Creamy Spinach Enchiladas:

1 pkg Azteca Flour Tortillas (Burrito size)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
10 oz pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Queso Fresco
10 oz can mild enchilada sauce

     Remove tortillas from refrigerator.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In medium saucepan, saute onions in butter until crisp-tender; add spinach.  Cook until moisture is evaporated, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.  Stir in cottage cheese, sour cream and 1 cup shredded cheese.

     Warm tortillas as directed on package.  Spoon approximately 1/4 cup filling down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place seam side down in greased 13" x 9" baking dish.  Pour enchilada sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly & heated through.  To serve, top with sour cream and green onions, if desired.

     As long as your spinach is thawed ahead of time this is actually a very quick dish to make with hardly any clean up.

     If you have any questions about this Creamy Spinach Enchilada recipe, please leave a comment or contact me through my website Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish.

Dios te bendiga,
Michelle

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• Mar. 19, 2009
New Homeschool and Missions Community Forum. Come join us!

¡Hola, Amigos!

Today is a new day.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Through Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish we have created a new community forum for homeschool and missions minded people.  In the new forum we share our past mission trips and progress towards our next mission trips.

Has the Lord been tugging at your heart to be His hands and His feet?

Are you willing to go where He sends you?

Come and fellowship with other like minded individuals.  Those who have a heart to go into all the world.

Join today at http://HomeSchoolSpanish.ning.com!

Hasta luego,
Michelle

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• Mar. 16, 2009
Teaching Tip: Adopt a Missionary Family

Adopt a missionary family.  Together with your children learn everything you can about the country and people group with which the missionaries work.  Experiment with recipes of the food they eat.  Put together scrapbooks depicting the geography, agriculture, and industry.  Learn about the religious beliefs of the people and their form of government.  Find out how their culture impacts the ways the people think and act and why it differs from us.  Practice phrases in the language.  Learn how the missionaries explain the gospel to their people group, etc.

Together with your children, write to your missionary.  If they have children, maybe they would like to be pen pals with your children. Most importantly, pray for your missionary family.  Consider what your family can do to help support them.

As Christian homeschoolers, studying missions is one of the most important areas in which to be involved.  Christ instructed us to "go into all the world..."  This certainly is a reason to study geography, history, anthropology, and foreign languages.

Since this blog is geared towards learning Spanish we encourage you to look for missionary families in Spanish speaking countries.  For example Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Spain, etc.  Hispanic people love to share their language with others so ask your missionary family if any of the kids in their church would want to be pen pals with your kids.  This would be a great way for your kids to learn to translate as well as read and write Spanish.  It's a great way to reiterate their Spanish skills.

In order to find missionary families contact your church denominations' missions department.  If your denomination doesn't have any missionaries in Spanish speaking countries, just write to me, Michelle@dorahomeschoolspanish.com, and I can get you hooked up.

Blessings to you until next time,

Michelle Rothwell, Founder

Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish

www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com

The most comprehensive Biblically-based Spanish text.

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• Feb. 3, 2009
What Is The Best Age To Learn a Language?

What is the best age to learn a language?

This question is asked a lot along with the question, "How Can My Children Become Bilingual?"  In this posting we will be explaining the best age to learn a language hopefully giving you the answer you are looking for.

According to Wikipedia, "Children are able to take on accents at a fast rate; children of traveling families, for example, can change their accents within a short period of time. This generally remains true until a person's early twenties,after which, a person's accent seems to become more entrenched."  Well there's one answer for you.  Children can at least learn accents easily.

According to the ESL Program, "The answer, according to current research, is early adolescence, so about 11-13. And the more motivated the child is to learn the new language, the more successful he will be!"

Well I personally believe you can teach an old dog new tricks.  You can learn a language at any age.  The more time you have to put into learning the more successful you will be.

I tend to think children have less stuff clogging their brains so they can retain what they've learned.  Plus to quote a phrase the "Flight of The Navigator",  human brains leak.

Have a great night,
Michelle Rothwell, Founder
Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish
http://www.DoraHomeSchoolSpanish.com
The first ever Spanish curriculum from the Biblical world view.

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• Oct. 11, 2008
Christian Author Tour Sept 27 to Jan 10

Are you a book nut like me?

Do people call you a bookworm because you always have your nose in a book?

Are you tired of waiting for your favorite authors to release their next books?

Well I have a way for you to satisfy your cravings for books and the next best seller.  Come visit the Christian Author Tour presented on Katrina Wampler's blog.  Katrina is an aspiring new Christian author who has created a Christian Author Tour.  Each week you will learn about different aspiring authors as well as contest to name her surprise famous author.

Through the Christian Author Tour Katrina interviews the authors asking the penetrating questions we all want to know.  This week Katrina has interviewed Sharon Hinck.  Sharon is this year's winner of the ACFW's Book of the Year Award.

During this tour I am going to revive my book review blog, BookWorms United, and share my findings.  For those of you that have gotten to know me, know I share the truth and nothing but the truth.  If I don't like a book, I say so and why.  That's what a good book reviewer does.

In the meantime, I hope to see you all on Katrina's blog making comments.  When you stop by please make sure to mention you saw the Chrisitan Author Tour on this blog and that Michelle sent you.

Have a blessed day,

Michelle Rothwell, Founder

Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish

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• Oct. 2, 2008
It's Stickinormous

It’s Stickinormous!

By, Michelle Rothwell

Wow!  What a word, “stickinormous”.  Who has ever heard of that word before?  Not me.  I tried to look up stickinormous in online dictionaries and good old Webster’s dictionary but couldn’t find it.  You will never guess where I did find that big word.  It’s the title of the latest educational children’s book by Helen McGlasson of Sniff and Wag Publishing.  Helen is the author and creator of the “Frog The Dog” books.

Frog the Dog lives with Bimmy by the seaside, where they have lots of fun with their friends Ginger Jelly and Obi-Sven-Kenobi, to name a few.  These cute characters bring fun to learning the English language.  And when I say English I mean the original English from England.  No, stickinormous isn’t a typical English word but I believe this word will soon be known in Great Britain as well as the United States as Frog the Dog books will be travelling the world.

From a teacher’s standpoint, whether you’re a Homeschool teacher or a public school teacher, you will find “It’s Stickinormous!” will work well for supported reading from age 3 to 5.  Then for kids to be able to read alone consider ages 5 to 8.  This will give plenty of flexibility for the difference in children’s individual abilities.

I believe talking about “It’s Stickinormous!” fits right in with my Homeschool website because I believe this book and others by Helen, is a great example of the English language.  This book shows a difference in spellings of English words.  For example, in the US we spell the word “color” like such and in England they spell it like “colour”.  Now I wouldn’t show this to young kids as they might get confused but this would be an interesting word study for older kids.

We have a foreign exchange student living with us this year and she was telling me when they learned English in Germany they were taught both spellings for the word “color”.  But on their tests they were required to know the American spelling.  Both Helen and I were amazed at this information.

Typically when studying languages you can have more than one spelling of the same word depending on what country you want to learn about.  In Spanish you can find the spelling of a word one way for Mexico and one way for Spain.  Same thing in French.  A single word could be spelled one way in France, one way in Morocco and then one way in Haiti.  It’s always good to decide at the beginning of your education which country you would travel to most and learn their way of spelling and speaking.  If you focus on one form of the language you will have less confusion and better scores on your spelling tests.

One thing I haven’t told you about is the CD-Rom that goes with the book called, “It’s Stickinormous Too!”  I totally love the c.d.!  The c.d. brings Frog the Dog to life as well as his friends with sound effects.  Helen reads the story in her very British accent, but it isn’t a thick cockney accent so us Americans can understand her completely, which adds to the atmosphere of the language.  There are phonics worksheets, math worksheets, a fun game called Snakes and Ladders that you can do on your computer, lesson plans, and so much more!  Helen has created a fabulous product that can be used on a Mac or a PC.

Here's a screen image of the opening page on the Frog the Dog c.d.

This image is the first page of Frog's c.d. book.

As you can see the images are very appealing to children.

For more information on purchasing this innovative product, visit Frog the Dog at http://www.frogthedog.com.  If you want to give your kids a little taste of Frog the Dog, they can visit Frog and the whole gang daily at http://www.frogblogdoglog.blogspot.com.  And for all of you Homeschool teachers and public school teachers go to http://www.readinghero.co.uk.  At that website you will find info on Sniff and Wag Publishing, Reading Hero Campaign, school resources and visits info, and library events.

On behalf of Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish we would like to thank Helen McGlasson for giving us the opportunity to preview her frogtastic new book and learning curriculum, “It’s Stickinormous!”  Helen you’ve done a fabulous job creating a fun, safe and family friendly learning environment for our children.  Thank you for using your talents for others.

We rate this book and CD-Rom a whopping 10 jalapeños because it is muy caliente!

Michelle Rothwell is the Founder of Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish where she has written Spanish curriculum from the Biblical world view and teaches online Spanish classes to Homeschool children of all ages.  Michelle has been a Spanish teacher for over six years and joined the Homeschool teacher’s world in 2007.

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• Jul. 29, 2008
The Adventures Of Papa Lemon's Little Wanderers

In April 2008 I had the privilege of attending the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators conference in Duluth, MN. This was my first year to attend and boy was I excited. There were over 200 exhibitor booths, 4,800 attendees, and 90 workshops. I was glad I had two days to be there! I didn’t have a clue as a new homeschool participant as to what workshops would be best for me. After prayer and words of wisdom from my homeschool forum, I attended each workshop by faith, and learned something I needed to at each one. Amongst the crowds I found some kindred spirits in the book industry. One of whom was Lehman Riley.

Lehman is the inspiration behind The Adventures of Papa Lemon’s Little Wanderers stories. Lehman’s concept is fabulous. Through the travels of the Little Wanderers, kids from 7 to 12 years of age learn about the history of America. The Little Wanderers learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, slavery, World War II and the Navajo Wind Talkers, the life of Babe Didrikson, plus more. Papa Lemon and Mama Sarah were Lehman’s grandparents who were born in West, Mississippi. These two saints of God shared their lives and faith freely with their children, grandchildren and anyone who came to visit them. Now their stories are living on through the writings of Lehman Riley.

Papa Lemon had a way of telling a story that made everything fun and I believe Lehman has inherited his grandfather’s gift. Each story involves five kids from the neighborhood. These kids visit Papa Lemon and Mama Sarah in their quest to have their history lessons in school explained in a lively fashion. Papa Lemon has a secret stashed in his barn which is revealed in the first book “Meeting Dr. Martin Luther King”. This hidden secret is the avenue the kids and Papa Lemon use to research American history.

When I read books I don’t like illustrations but kids are different. Kids like to see what they are reading and Joshua Wallace does a great job capturing the essence of every lesson. If I couldn’t read, the pictures would explain the whole story to me and I would understand it.

These two men, Lehman Riley and Joshua Wallace are a great combination. I hope they will continue together as the years go on. Keep up the good work guys!

For more information I encourage you to visit the Papa Lemon Education website for The Adventures of Papa Lemon’s Little Wanderers. You will not only find out where to purchase these little gems but there are study guides for all classrooms.  If you need something to keep your kids busy, try the activity sheets listed on the website.  This work in progress is a must for all to add to their favorites list so you can go back and visit often.

Enjoy!

Michelle Rothwell

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• Jul. 21, 2008
Why Should You Choose Spanish For Your Homeschooled Children?

     It’s a blessing to homeschool your children.  Teaching your children at home brings the family closer together.  Les than one generation ago homeschooling was virtually unknown as a way to educate your kids and keep them away from the dangers of public schools.  On the other hand it can be challenging to teach a second language especially if you don’t know one yourself

      Learning Spanish will help prepare your children for their high school language credits and many colleges look for language credits.  Here are some practical reasons to choose Spanish for your child’s language credit.

      Spanish is much easier to learn because the basic building blocks are straightforward.  You can have meaningful communication in Spanish after only a few lessons.  At the high school level, more than 95% percent of my fellow students chose Spanish to meet the foreign language requirement, according to internet research.

      Employment opportunities are multiplied by having Spanish as a second language.  Adding this skill to your child’s resume when they start working will give them preference over other job applicants.  Employers like hiring people with diversity in their backgrounds and the initiative to reach out to others.

      There are more opportunities in America to use Spanish in the U.S. workforce than any other language.  Just a few professions where Spanish is a necessity include Police Officers, EMS, Doctors and Nurses, Teachers, Grocers, and Sales Personnel.

      Spanish is considered an official language on four continents and is of historical importance elsewhere.  From Spain in Europe to the Philippines , many countries in Africa , all over the USA, Mexico, Central America and nearly all of South America. It is, also an official United Nations language.

      “Ethnologue: Languages of the World” is a web and print publication of SIL International, a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages.  In 2005, Ethnologue calculated 322 million people around the globe speak Spanish as their native language.

      “Encarta” by Microsoft came to the same conclusion as Ethnologue about native Spanish speakers.  But they also found that an additional 100 million people who speak Spanish as a second language.

      With these statistics Spanish is ranked as the second most common language spoken in the world making English the third most spoken language.

      Make sure your child takes part in choosing the language he/she studies.  Children should not be “assigned” to a foreign language class.  Why?  Pressuring children will back fire on you.  Just like with music lessons, unless your child enjoys the language they bock and complain when it comes time to study.

      Show them how Spanish is already a part of English with words like taco, burrito, the game Uno.  You could even show them a Spanish article written for kids from the internet where they can pick out words that are similar to English words.  These gestures will show your child how easy it will be to learn Spanish.

      Children love secrets.  Perhaps that's one reason children sometimes speak in Pig Latin or devise secret codes of their own.  Tell them if they learn Spanish, they can use the language to create an exclusive club where Spanish has to be spoken to enter.

      Native Spanish speakers tend to be more relaxed and understanding about Americans who speak incorrect Spanish.  Incorrect Spanish is easy to understand.  Last year when my church group went on a trip to Guadalupe, Chihuahua, Mexico, we had an American Mexican that was helping us translate.

      My friend, Rosa, was the most experienced Spanish speaker in the group.  Rosa was the one who made the biggest language mistake.  She meant to say to two Pastors and a little girl, “tengo caliente.”  In Spanish that means, “I am hot.”  The funny thing is that kind of hot means she was standing too close to her husband.

      Rosa thought the Pastors looked at her kind of funny.  However, when the little girl’s eyes got really big and she cried out to her mother for help, our “translator” knew she was in trouble.  The mother of the little girl almost fell off her chair with laughter when she heard what Rosa said.  Of course when the rest of us heard what happened we didn’t let Rosa forget about it the rest of the trip.

      Now that Spanish is your language of choice, consider a new learning environment that will excite and encourage your child to learn.  Online teleclasses incorporate new computer skills as well as provide a fun interactive venue for your children.  This is a great way to keep Spanish fresh and inviting for your children.

 Michelle Rothwell has been instructing Spanish classes since 1998.  She is the Founder and Owner of Dora & Diego Homeschool Spanish.  The most comprehensive Biblically-based Spanish text.

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• Jul. 21, 2008
How to Make a Piñata.

For your next birthday party why not make your own piñata? It's quick and easy to do. Piñatas are an easy craft for kids and parents alike.



Making a piñata can be a fun craft that gets the whole family involved. You can make one for any theme or holiday. Of course a piñata at a birthday party is always welcome. Make an animal shaped one for a farm themed party, a big oval shaped one all different colors, a car shape or even one that looks like you! The choices are endless - only limited to your imagination.

What you need:
• 1 large balloon
• newspaper
• large bowl
• water
• flour

What you do:

1. First you need to make the paper maché. Tear the newspaper into 1 inch strips. Do not cut it. Lay a ruler along the paper if you need help tearing straight. The strips can be different lengths. You will need a lot of paper strips.

2. Now make the paste. Pour 1 cup of warm water into the bowl. Add about 1 cup of flour to 1 cup of water and mix until there are no lumps. Let set for a few minutes to make sure all the flour is dissolved.

3. Spread some of the newspaper onto the table. Working with paper maché is messy. Now blow up your balloon and tie the end.

4. Dip a strip of paper into the paper maché. Run the strips through your finger to remove excess paste. Place the strip of paper on the balloon. It helps to have a friend help you. One of you can hold the balloon while the other puts the strips in place.

5. Repeat with the strips of paper until you have the balloon covered except for the very top. You need this area to put the candy into. When you have a single layer of paper covering the balloon repeat the whole process with more strips going in the opposite direction, The more layers of newspaper you add the harder it will be to break the piñata.

6. Let the balloon dry completely. When the paper is dry, puncture the balloon and pull it out. Place your candy inside the piñata. Always use wrapped candy.

7. Cover the opening with small strips of paper taped in place. Then cover that with paper maché strips. At this time tape and paper maché down the ends of the string for hanging. Cover the ends with several layers so it is good and strong.

8. Now paint your piñata. You can make paper maché ears or a nose. Build it up however you like. You can also cover it with tissue paper.

In the meantime, feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday),
Michelle

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• May. 7, 2008
Missions Trip 2008

DESTINATION: Guadalupe, Chihuahua, Mexico
PURPOSE: Help build an orphanage for the Lord's children.

"I wanna be Your hands
I wanna be Your feet
I'll go where You send me..."
by Newsboys

This song is the cry of my heart this year as we are preparing to take a group to do the work of the Lord.

We will be teaming up with Tapestries of Life Ministries a non-denominational 501(c) 3 corporation. Please visit their site to see what it's all about.

In order to go on this trip we have to do many fundraisers. So far the most profitable one we've found is selling fundraiser cards for Pizza Hut. A person sells these cards for $10 keeping $6 then sending Pizza Hut $4. We have 60 days to sell the cards and whatever we don't sell we just return. The good part about this fundraiser is we don't have to pay Pizza Hut up front. The customers get 12 medium pizzas for $10. This deal is awesome for the customer because if they use the card only once they've made their money off of it. The cards are good for up to one year. The only catch for the customer is they must buy a large pizza in order to use their medium pizza card.

If you want details on holding your own fundraiser, contact your local Pizza Hut restaurant. Each franchise has fundraising options that are just for their stores.

Dios Te bendiga,

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• May. 6, 2008
Buñuelos - A Traditional Desert

One of the things you learn when you live in a Hispanic area, when you learn to eat and love their food, is you learn to cook like the natives cook.  I thought I would share with you a traditional Mexican desert.  A couple years ago one of my African American friends and I made some buñuelos from a recipe book that I had.  After my Latina friend ate them she exclaimed they were just like her Mother's recipe.

This traditional desert was eaten by my friends' family at Christmas time.  Well I won't make you wait that long for the recipe but I will probably remind you about this recipe as the season gets closer.

Here's the recipe and instructions:

BUÑUELOS

 
7 cups regular all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

¼ cup (1/8 lb.) butter

2 eggs

½ cup milk

Salad oil for deep frying

Sugar or glazed coatings (see following instructions)

 
Sift 3 1/3 cups of the flour, measure, and then sift again with salt, baking powder, and sugar into a bowl.  Add butter and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until mixture is like coarse meal.  Beat eggs lightly with milk, then pour into flour mixture and stir until dough forms a solid mass.  If the dough is sticky, using the remaining flour gradually add to the flour mixture until the stickiness is gone.  If you don’t use all 7 cups of flour, that’s okay.  Turn dough out onto board, and knead for 2 minutes or until smooth. Cut dough into balls the size of large marbles and let stand 15 minutes.

 
Roll each ball on a lightly floured board into a very thin pancake 4 inches in diameter.  Cut a hole in center with a thimble.  After you roll out the circles of dough, place them in a single layer on waxed paper until you are ready to cook.

 
Fry in hot deep fat (375 degrees) until puffed and golden brown, about 30 seconds on each side.  Drain on paper towels.  Use one or both of the following coatings.  Makes 6 dozen.

 
Sugar-Coated Buñuelos.  Mix 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a paper bag.  Reheat Buñuelos in a 250 degree oven for 5 minutes; then shake gently, one at a time, in bag to coat with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

 
Glazed Buñuelos.  Place ½ cup each granulated sugar, light brown sugar (firmly packed), and water in a frying pan.  Add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon dark corn syrup.  Heat, stirring, until sugar melts, then boils rapidly for 1 to 2 minutes, or until two drops of syrup run together off spoon.  The glaze will still be thin syrup.

 
Remove from heat and cool for 1 minute; then place Buñuelos in pan, one at a time, and spoon over syrup until coated on both sides.  Drain on wire rack for 30 minutes.  The coating will be slightly tacky, but not drippy.  Makes enough to glaze about 20 Buñuelos.

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• May. 5, 2008
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Throughout the United States and Mexico are hundreds if not thousands of celebrations going on right now for Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May).  The biggest celebration of course is in Puebla, Mexico where the victory took place.  On May 5, 1862 the French were defeated in battle and Mexico got their freedom from the French.  This is not to be confused with THE Independence Day on September 16th, 1810 when Mexico declared itself independent of Spain.

The fight with France had to do with Mexico suspending payments of interest on debts they had with France.  Back in the day Mexico was hurting financially and the government was trying to cut costs to keep the budget balanced.  Does that sound like any other countries you know?

Some of the bigger celebrations can be found in Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Portland, OR; Reno, NV; St. Paul, MN; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA and more.  Some of the cities have sister cities like Portland for this special occasion.  Guadalajara is the city that is the sister of Portland.  Guadalajara sends musical groups like the Ballet Folklorico and the Mariachis.  This year there is a pavilion dedicated to artisans and other businesses from Guadalajara.

This is definitely a celebration you don't want to miss.  When you participate you will be immersed into the Mexican culture; the sites, sounds and smells.

While putting together this post I found a great site that has instructions for Cinco de Mayo crafts for kids.  These crafts can be made from items you already have at home.  Please visit Mail Just 4 Me Playground and your kids can learn how to make maracas, a serape, nachos, non-alcoholic sangria, and Mexican mosaics.  Have fun!

Well I think I've had enough celebrating for one day.

Buenas noches,
Michelle

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• May. 3, 2008
The Difference Between

As in all languages there are tricks to the trade.  In order to learn better we develop keys to our understanding.  In Spanish it isn't any different.  Today I want to share with you the difference between buenos dias, buenas tardes and buenas noches.

The nice part about most languages that have Latin as their "grandparent" is each language uses feminine and masculine differences.  Now it doesn't mean the feminine words are girly and the masculine ones are rough and tough.  Most times you would be able to tell the difference if they are masculine or feminine by their endings.

For instance, in Spanish if a word ends in "o" then it is considered masculine.  The difference for feminine is the words would end in "a".

Now plural words are the same way but with an "s" added to it.  The difference between masculine and feminine plural words are the feminine words will end in "as" and the masculine "os".

Aren't we having fun yet?!

What type of word is "buenos"?

I hope you said masculine because that's the right answer.

Buenos ends in "os" so it it masculine.

You can say the mornings are for the men.

Buenos dias.  Good morning.  Or good day.

With our trick to the trade, what type of word is "buenas"?

Ding!  Ding!  Ding!

We have a winner!  I know you said buenas is feminine.

You can say the afternoon and evening is for the women.

Buenas tardes.  Good afternoon.

Buenas noches.  Good evening.  Or good night.

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying "lady of the evening".  We are a family blog so don't let your mind go there.  LOL!

Now you will remember to always say buenas noches (the right way) instead of buenos noches (the wrong way).

The difference between all three are very clear once you apply the keys.

Please let me know if this information has been helpful or not.  And, if you have other problem areas, let us know about them.  We are here to help make your Spanish learning easy and fun.

Adios, hasta luego,

Michelle Rothwell

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• Apr. 16, 2008
The Law Of The Garbage Truck

I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you.

Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.....

'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'
You are the people who treat me right, so I wanted to share this with you. Thank you for being a part of my life.

Success... is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are essential to life....

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