REVIEW- Kindergarten Spanish Curriculum

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I’ve taught Spanish for almost 20 years, and am now raising bilingual children at home. While I wish I’d been able to send my girls to a bilingual school, I did find the next best thing- Llamitas Spanish homeschool kindergarten Spanish curriculum.

In this review, I’ll tell you exactly what you need to know to make your decision about buying the program for your bilingual children.

Key Takeaways

• Llamitas Spanish is the best kindergarten Spanish curriculum on the market because it is comprehensive, age-appropriate, and culturally relevant.
• This Level 1 Spanish curriculum is the perfect way to transition from an oral bilingual journey to a written one.
• You can use the Level 1 kindergarten Spanish curriculum with multiple kids because you have lifetime access for your family- making it a budget-friendly way to bring bilingualism into your home.
• You can progress with Llamitas since they also have elementary grade levels in Levels 2, 3 and soon to be 4.

Do you already know you want it? Shop Llamitas Spanish Curriculum here

About Llamitas Spanish

Llamitas Spanish is a Spanish-language curriculum company created by bilingual mom and teacher Corrie Wiik in collaboration with a global team of illustrators, voice actors, and bilingual educators.

Originally a bilingual education blogger, Corrie did tons of reviews of different homeschool Spanish curriculum companies. While so many of the homeschool curriculum companies did a great job teaching vocabulary, Corrie noticed that many of the options on the market did not include authentic Spanish literature or school readiness skills.

So- Corrie armed herself with a big team of bilingual educators and native Spanish speakers and founded Llamitas Spanish. Since its inception in 2022, Llamitas Spanish has been dedicated to supporting bilingual parents and parents who want their kids to have a comprehensive Spanish curriculum rooted in wholesome Hispanic literature and music.

Currently, Llamitas Spanish offers a Preschool Morning Binder, plus three sequential levels for Elementary grades. Level 4 is due to launch in the summer of 2025.

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What Is Thematic Learning?

Thematic learning in its simplest form is creating Spanish lessons by themes and topics. Llamitas Spanish is cross-curricular because it teaches phonics, literacy, math, music, geography, and more through themes.

It is based on the theory that children learn most effectively in real-life contexts. This couldn’t be more relevant for language learning and should play a central role in a family’s bilingual parenting strategy.

Bilingual kids need to see that Spanish is relevant in every part of their lives. Sometimes my kids think that Spanish is just spoken at home or with their grandparents. I am always looking for more ways to show them that Spanish is everywhere- and that we can do anything in Spanish that we can do in English!

So I love the math questions, the science connections, the original music, and the geography components. Because the curriculum is based on Dual Language Immersion standards, bilingual kids are getting many of the academic components that dual language students are- but at home!

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Academically Robust

Llamitas Spanish provides academically robust curricula. It supports your child’s transition from all play-based learning, to more structured and formal learning, while still keeping the focus on interactive learning.

The units are sequential too, especially for math and phonics, so make sure you complete them in order! 

Some examples of the Kindergarten readiness skills included in the Llamitas kindergarten Spanish curriculum units are:

• Phonics: Letters and sounds, phonemic awareness and spelling
• Early Math: Counting, sequencing, classifying, adding and subtraction
• Literacy: Memory recitations, poetry, artwork discussion and comprehension
• Fine & Gross Motor Skills: cutting, cooking, coloring, crafting
• Gross Motor Skills: music and movement through songs and family games

What’s Included in a Llamitas Spanish Curriculum?

Each Llamitas Spanish curriculum level offers an ‘open and go’ scripted course book. The scripts are bilingual so you can facilitate the lessons in English or Spanish.

Generally speaking, if you as the parent have an upper intermediate (B2+) Spanish level, you should definitely take advantage and teach the lessons in Spanish yourself. If you don’t, you can follow along in English and the audio tracks will do the heavy lifting for you.

Each unit includes:

• Libro de actividades (Open and Go Textbook)
• Libritos (Bilingual Readers)
• Antología (Anthologies in the Elementary levels only)
• Canciones: Authentic Songs sung by a Latin Grammy-nominated Voice Producer
• Audios: Hundreds of native speaker audio tracks

There are also optional flashcards, music playlists and book menus. Although the Book Menu does not form part of the core lessons, it’s a great resource as it provides suggestions to extend your child’s thematic learning through read-aloud and literacy.

Continue Spanish with their Elementary Levels

The beauty of Llamitas is they support you beyond Kindergarten into the elementary years with their levels 2 and 3. These levels develop biliteracy skills, and are culturally rich with wholesome literature and Hispanic cultural studies.

Biliteracy Skills

One of the biggest goals I have for my daughters as they become bilingual is that they are also bi-literate. This means that I want them to be able to read and write Spanish as well as they can English.

It’s a hard job for me because they are not in a bilingual school, so they are not getting academic Spanish all day every day. But they ARE getting really solid reading and writing skills and strategies that they can transfer over to their academic Spanish at home.

That’s why I love that with the Llamitas Spanish Levels 2 and 3 I can use the same best practices they know in English to increase their academic Spanish skills. There aren’t verb charts, and grammar drills in this curriculum! Instead, the kids learn Spanish through authentic, engaging stories in Spanish.

There is an amazing Anthology of Folktales from Latin America and Spain in level 3, and a beautiful collection of short children’s stories in level 2.

Each lesson provides grammar and vocabulary in the context of the stories. My daughter had grabbed the anthology book in Spanish and said it was too hard to read because she didn’t know the vocabulary. However, once we went through each lesson and amplified her topic-related vocabulary, she could read the stories on her own.

Culturally Rich Components

Language is culture, and living in the United States, I am always looking for more culturally rich resources and experiences for my bilingual kids.

What I most love about the Elementary Homeschool Spanish Curriculum from Llamitas Spanish is that there are several different voice actors from 12 different countries doing audio for the curriculum. Recorded in clear and beautiful Spanish, the character voices for stories are highly entertaining and bound to engage your kids.

This means that throughout Levels 2 and 3, my girls are exposed to different Latin American accents in Spanish.

Each unit is chock full of relevant and fun cultural components that teach bilingual kids about many different Latin American and Spanish traditions and art. My favorite unit includes original art from El Greco, photos of Latin American currency, and a lesson on Antoni Gaudi and his architectural work in Spain. And that’s just one unit!

Who Is Llamitas Spanish Curriculum For?

Llamitas Spanish curriculum levels are perfect for children in Kindergarten and elementary. For children younger than 4, I recommend the Preschool Spanish Morning Binder.

In terms of language level, both bilingual families and complete Spanish beginners alike can enjoy the curriculum, due to its bilingual scripts.

Worth highlighting is that, although there are dozens of Beginner Spanish curriculums on the market, the fact that native and heritage speakers can truly benefit from Llamitas Spanish has filled a huge gap in homeschooling foreign language curricula.

By providing bilingual scripts, bilingual and native-speaking families can nurture their child’s language acquisition (often the minority language) at home.

In addition, non-native families are supported with native speaker pronunciation guides through audio tracks, as it assumes the parent will be learning alongside the child.

Why It’s The Best

Llamitas Spanish is deeply committed to making language learning at home affordable for all families. Not only is the price point truly unbeatable for a high-quality, full-year curriculum, but it also includes lifetime access, meaning no annual fees or memberships.

The curriculum is also very visually appealing, with beautiful watercolor illustrations, used throughout the curriculum. These will draw your child in and engage them with the materials.

Written in collaboration with native speakers, Llamitas Spanish also stands out for its culturally rich connections to the Hispanic culture. Traditional Hispanic nursery rhymes, songs, and recitations are a core feature of the program.

The curriculum does have an option to buy only the digital access and print on your own. I would highly not recommend doing this- just spend a little extra money and have the materials sent to you. There is a lot of color on each of the pages- which is what makes the curriculum vibrant and engaging. But, if you wanted to print at home you would probably use a ton of ink.

Finally, people sometimes complain about the price point of this curriculum. I have reviewed a lot of homeschool Spanish curricula, and I can say that Llamitas Spanish is the absolute best bang for your buck. Corrie has put SO MUCH thought into the entire curriculum, and there is literally nothing on the market that can compare- or even rival it.

Buy It!

Ready to get started with Llamitas Spanish? Shop here!

You can choose between the digital-only (print at home) or the printed bundle (Curriculum box shipped to your door!)

Who Is Llamitas Spanish Curriculum For?

Llamitas Spanish is perfect for children ages 3-6, as it builds those foundational early childhood educational skills. For children younger than 3, I recommend the Preschool Spanish Morning Binder.

In terms of language level, both bilingual families and complete Spanish beginners alike can enjoy the curriculum, due to its bilingual scripts.

Worth highlighting is that, although there are dozens of Beginner Spanish curriculums on the market, the fact that native and heritage speakers can truly benefit from Llamitas Spanish has filled a huge gap in homeschooling foreign language curricula.

By providing bilingual scripts, bilingual and native-speaking families can nurture their child’s language acquisition (often the minority language) at home.

In addition, non-native families are supported with native speaker pronunciation guides through audio tracks, as it assumes the parent will be learning alongside the child.

Why It’s The Best

Llamitas Spanish is deeply committed to making language learning at home affordable for all families. Not only is the price point truly unbeatable for a high-quality, full-year curriculum, but it also includes lifetime access, meaning no annual fees or memberships.

The curriculum is also very visually appealing, with beautiful watercolor illustrations, used throughout the curriculum on flashcards and worksheets. These will draw your child in and engage them with the materials.

Written in collaboration with native speakers, Llamitas Spanish also stands out for its culturally rich connections to the Hispanic culture. Traditional Hispanic nursery rhymes, songs, and recitations are a core feature of the program.

The native speaker recordings are another highlight of the program. Recorded in clear and beautiful Spanish by a Venezuelan Voice Actor, her character voices are highly entertaining and bound to engage your kids.

Finally, parents appreciate the flexibility of the Llamitas Spanish curriculum. You can either choose to follow the lessons step-by-step, or simply select the most age (and skill) appropriate activities from the Course Book (Libro de actividades).

Buy It!

Ready to get started with Llamitas Spanish?

You can choose between the digital-only (print at home) or the printed bundle (Curriculum box shipped to your door!)