How to Teach Kids to Read in Spanish

If your family is anything like ours, you have embraced a Dual Language Program for educating your children. Congratulations on taking that first step! It is so important for all children to learn another language at a young age. There are so many benefits to learning a second or third language and your children will be better off for it. But the question remains, how can I help my child to learn reading in Spanish? This is especially confusing for families who do not speak Spanish at home. That’s where I’m here to help.

First, reassure yourself that you are doing the right thing for your child. Children move to a new country and learn the new language much faster than their older family members. Just think of any immigrants you might know and how well their children can communicate in the dominate language. With time, your child will also mastering reading in Spanish, or any other new language to them.

Reading Strategies to Support Reading in Spanish

Let’s begin by discussing some of the best strategies we use with our own children when reading in Spanish. The best part is so many of them are similar to the strategies we use for teaching English. There are a few cautions where parents need to pay special attention as children tend to mix up the two languages. We highlight these areas for our kids and break them down so everyone understands the differences.

If you are looking for these areas for English and Spanish, head on over to How to Begin Reading in Spanish – Dual Language Readers. I really break down the big differences between the two languages with respect to learning to reading in both English and Spanish.

Phonics for Learning to Read in Spanish

Spanish Alphabet

We began by teaching the Spanish letters (letras) and sounds (sonidos). We loved to use YouTube when we worked on these as we were all learning the letters together. Just be careful because depending the country of origin, or the singers origin, the letter names might be a little different. We have noticed that the name of the letters W and Y may differ depending on the country. In addition, the song may also include some extra letters: ch, ll, and rr. Two of our favorite alphabet songs:

Spanish Letter Sounds

Now that you are practicing the Spanish alphabet in addition to English, your child will need to focus on the sounds of the Spanish letters. This is easier in Spanish than English as some of the letter names are similar to the letter sound, especially the vowels. For the most part the consonants make the same or similar sound in both English and Spanish, which is helpful for children learning to read in Spanish. As parents we need to pay special attention to the letters that make different sounds, especially the vowel sounds.

Common Errors Children Make in Spanish

Spanish vowels are really nice as the vowel makes the same sound as the letter name. I find that my children have the most difficulty with the vowels E and I. The Spanish E makes a sound similar the English long A sound. The Spanish I makes a sound like the long E sound in English. These are so tricky because they actually make the same sound as a different letter in English and the sound happens to be a letter too.

The other vowel sounds can be a little tricky as children learn that English vowels can make lots of sounds. The Spanish vowels are more true to one sound, which is great for learning to read. The vowels A and U are still a little tricky as they make a different sound, but at least the sound isn’t a letter name. The Spanish A makes a sound similar to the English short o sound, while the Spanish U sounds similar to the /oo/ in boot. The Spanish O sound is the same as the English long O sound, so that is a win!

Using Syllables when Reading in Spanish

Once children know the vowel sounds in Spanish, the consonants are introduced in both isolation and with a vowel. Students learn the sound of each consonant, but more importantly they learn the sound the consonant makes with the vowels. So you may hear your child saying ma, may, me, moe, moo or la, lay, lee, low, lou. These are the Spanish syllables that begin with that consonant.

For example, the Spanish syllables for the letter m would be:

ma = Spanish ma

may = Spanish me

me = Spanish mi

moe = Spanish mo

moo = Spanish mu

Teaching each consonant with the 5 different Spanish vowel sounds supports reading in Spanish. So many children struggle with blending the first sounds with the vowel sound in a word. This strategy removes the struggle as students learn the sounds together, supporting their phonemic awareness skills. If your child is struggling with this, our Learning to Read Series – Blending focuses on simple strategies to build this skill.

Spanish Phonics Activities

To practice these, children can do these both with letters and without letters. We love having our child find a letter in their environment, then tell us the five Spanish syllables for the letter. Another strategy is showing your child the consonant and vowel together then have them say the syllable. For example, show your child me and your child would say may, since that is the Spanish syllable for me. Now you can see the confusion here!

Another fun way to practice is orally. Our children loved walking around the house and saying the Spanish syllables. To try this backwards, you could also say the syllables and have your child tell the letter name. To work on building vocabulary, ask your child to say a word that begins with the syllable. Using the example above, me, your child could use the word mesa. Mesa is the Spanish word for table. On the other hand, you could provide your child a Spanish word and ask them to say the first syllable.

There are many other fun activities, but they take a little more prep work on the parents part. We enjoy building the syllables using any letters we have at home, even letters cut out of magazines or the letters in the bathtub. Our children love writing the syllables in paint bags or flour trays. Clothespins and paperclip strips worked well too. We wrote the 5 vowels on a durable strip of paper, then attached a clothespin or paperclip with a consonant to one of the vowels. You child should then read the attached syllable. You could also do this backwards with all consonants on the strip and the vowels on the clothespins or paperclips.

Spanish High Frequency Words or Sight Words for Reading in Spanish

While Spanish doesn’t really have any sight words, they do have high frequency words. The reason for this is that the Spanish language is much more decodable then the English language. As the Spanish letters mostly have one true sound, or even the few that make 2 sounds, they follow consistent rules. The English language has so many exceptions that we need sight words, or words you need to memorize to be able to read. In Spanish, you really don’t need to memorize words to read them.

However, there are words that occur often in Spanish early readers and it is beneficial for your child to know these words. Not only should your child be able to read the word, but they should know what the word means in English (or their native language). Knowing these words will help them to access Early Readers in Spanish and open their working memory to focusing on other aspects of reading.

Spanish High Frequency Words Chart

We have included our chart of the high frequency words that we have found to appear often in Spanish books for beginning readers. These are words that your child will encounter early and often in their reading journey.

Spanish Easy Readers Support Reading in Spanish

Once your child knows many of the letters, sounds, and syllables in Spanish it’s time to give them some practice reading simple Spanish sentences. Now, you may be asking yourself how you will support your child? Here’s the magic, you let them read. It’s okay if they make mistakes, use an English word instead of a Spanish word, even read the wrong word. Once they’ve tried to read the book, you can look at the words and sentences to help correct any errors.

Google Translate – A Must for Reading in Spanish

Begin by looking at any words your child didn’t know. Type them into Google Translate, or better yet, take a picture using the camera right in Google Translate. Not only will this tell you what the word or sentence means in English, but you can have the word or sentence read in Spanish for correct pronunciation. What a gift! This is the perfect resource to work with your child to understand what they are reading and help them to read the word correctly.

Where to Find Easy Readers in Spanish?

We have yet to find the perfect easy readers in Spanish, but do have some recommendations for good ones to use. Our biggest problem with most easy readers is that there is not enough vocabulary support for our youngest learners. Children as so focused on the new Spanish high frequency or sight words that are unfamiliar, so they struggle to use the picture support to learn new words.

Raz-Kids for Spanish Books

Most school districts have Raz-Kids accounts for all students. This is a good place to find easy readers in Spanish as they have an entire library of books in various reading levels in Spanish. Most of these books are translations of their English books in the system, so your child can read the book in English to support vocabulary and comprehension. Every book has an option to listen to the book and read the book, so your child can do both! And most books have a comprehension quiz too.

Amazon for Books in Spanish

Both Scholastic and Language Together have put together a set of Spanish Easy Readers for children. There are multiple sets to use to practice reading in the early grades. My children enjoyed both of these sets, but sometimes the vocabulary was a little difficult. Google translate really helped here as well! The Language Together set even comes with an opportunity to listen to the text read aloud, a vocabulary chart, and the English translation. Both sets use simple, repetitive sentences to help build fluency and confidence while your child is reading in Spanish.

CreatingButterfly Store for Spanish Easy Readers

Since we have felt that something was missing in Early Readers, we have created products in our store to help parents. We are creating Easy Readers in both Spanish and English. Our Easy Readers include the same structure of those in Scholastic, Language Together, and Raz-Kids, but add in additional supports for children reading in Spanish. Every book is written in both English and Spanish using the same picture support. Additionally, each book comes with three different ways to interact with the text. We have the printable Spanish Early Reader, the cut and staple flipbook, and the tracing flipbook.

Our Spanish easy readers also pair well with our other products. For each easy reader, we also have a vocabulary set with three different ways to practice the same vocabulary words. Moreover, we also have a beginning letter sounds set with two ways to practice identifying the letter sounds. These products provide lots of practice in the vocabulary words that are part of the topic. This not only helps to grow your child’s vocabulary, but will also support them in reading in their new language and English.

Place In School Products

Our Places in School is a great sample to see the connections in our products. I promise that more is coming too!

Places in School Easy Reader – includes 3 ways to interact with the same vocabulary

Vocabulary for Places in School – 3 ways to present the same vocabulary words

Places in School Beginning Letter Sounds – 2 activities for practicing beginning sounds with the same vocabulary words

Beginning Reading in Spanish Tips

Now that you have a good idea of strategies to practice to support your child when reading in Spanish, let’s take a look at some good tips and reminders for parents.

Patience

Tip 1: Patience! Remember, learning and language and learning to read take time. This is a process that will take even longer since your child is doing both together. As long as you continue to see improvements in both languages, you child is learning. And the benefits from learning a language far outweigh the slow growth you might see in the first few years. To learn more about language acquisition, try our post Why is My Child Struggling?

Language is a Gift

Tip 2: You are Giving Your Child a Gift. Providing the opportunity for your child to learn a language is incredible. This is a gift you give to your child and any support you offer along the way is incredible.

Practice

Tip 3: Practice, Practice, Practice! Any time you are able, practice Spanish in the home. This might be saying simple words, reading or listening to a book in Spanish, playing a Spanish game, or even listening to the radio or watching TV in Spanish. For more ideas or how to put these ideas in place, read our Dual Language Skills in the Summer blog post.

Learn Together

Tip 4: Learn Spanish Together. Show your child that you enjoy learning Spanish too. Practice Spanish together, no matter your level. They love to see you making mistakes and will learn a lot from your mistakes. Compete together on Duolingo, it’s FREE! Watch a TV show together in Spanish. There are so many ways you can practice with your child that will encourage them to practice too.

Build Vocabulary

Tip 5: Build you Child’s Vocabulary in Spanish. From being in your home, your child has rapidly added words to their vocabulary in their native language. However, they are starting with a miniscule vocabulary in Spanish. Take the time to learn the Spanish word for the names of items, actions that we do, and even preposition words. For more ideas and a game plan, head over to our post on Grouping Vocabulary for Language Learners. For even more vocabulary activities, try our winter sensory activities for dual language.

If your child is struggling with reading in Spanish, don’t miss our beginning how to teach reading in Spanish post. We’ve also covered some strategies for learning math in Spanish as well.

We’d love for you to leave us a comment below and tell us how these strategies help you or other strategies you use to help your child learn to read in Spanish (or any other language). For more practical solutions to real life parenting struggles, subscribe to our newsletter below. We send out parenting and scouting tips twice a month with a freebie thrown in from time to time. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.