Also known as Power Glide Spanish Junior Adventure Course
This creative multi-sensory language course for children (designed for preschool through 4th grade) provides an intuitive beginning in Spanish to children through the use of puzzles, games, stories and music. One major plotline involving two children and their grandfather carries through the entire set including adventures on Isla de Providencia and the Yucatan Peninsula as well as side stories and Spanish lessons woven in along the way. Many of the English stories contain Spanish words here and there so children can encounter them and gain familiarity.
The three parts to the children's text gradually increase in difficulty level. Families could use one book each year for grades one through three or proceed more quickly if the children start when they are a little older.
The first workbook (143 pages) is basically a simple picture book that children can look at while listening to the first four CDs. It is designed especially for preschool through 1st grade but could be used by children as old as 4th grade who are just getting started in Spanish. Children are instructed to point to the pictures as they recognize the Spanish words as well as filling in blanks and drawing and coloring pictures. The text is in a very readable large print. Children will learn familiar phrases, and sentence structure as well as a small working vocabulary. There is more of an emphasis in learning to use Spanish words properly and understanding Spanish when hearing it than on building an extensive vocabulary at this early stage. My young children have frequently asked to pull out the books and CDs because they think it's fun!
The Level II workbook (92 pages) begins a new segment of the story where the two children are trying to find their grandfather and help solve a mystery. To do this they must learn some Spanish words and work their way through a number of stories. This text contains most of the script of the audio plus pictures, vocabulary with pictures and puzzles to complement the audio CDs. The audio text uses a number of songs and ditties to help practice some basics of Spanish conversation and vocabulary. This text strikes me as quite a bit more challenging the first volume, but young children could still learn a great deal from just listening and using the pictures in this text, even if they aren't ready to read along with so much of the script. It is intended for 2nd through 4th grade. One really nice thing about this text is that the corresponding audio tracks to each piece of text are clearly marked.
The Level III workbook (109 pages) is also intended for the 2nd through 4th grades. It continues in a similar format to Level II. Now, in the main story, the children have found their grandfather and proved their worth in helping them find the hidden treasure stolen by the pirate Don Diego de Consuelo.
The 174 page Parent's Guide covers all three children's books. It includes the entire script of the audio CDs and miniature copies of the textbook pages as well as instructions for getting the most out of the texts and some recipes to complement your family's Spanish studies.
I have found this to be a nice place to begin learning Spanish before getting to a more formal early study of vocabulary and grammar in a text like Learning Spanish with Grace (reviewed below).
