Hosting school groups for immersion experience and Spanish language acquisition

www.spanish-school-herradura.com

My daughter Shannon

Can you spot Shannon again in this picture to the right?  Also the second picture on the bottom is the District 200 Woodstock, IL school group.  I'm the one on crutches. 

I first came to learn about the school - The Spanish school of La a Herradura a year and one half ago when I traveled here as a chaperone for my daughter Shannon's 7th grade dual language class.  We stayed with host families throughout the town and attended class every morning from 9-12 each day.  My group consisted of myself and my daughter and three other girls.  My group stayed with Rosi in a three bedroom apartment right next door to the school and on the beach.  The rest of the students and chaperones were scattered throughout the town.

My group was particularly lucky with our location.  However, no one had to walk very far to get to school as everything in La Herradura is accessible by  foot.  The school provided our teacher from District 200 Dual Language program, Katie with a private tutor.  The other chaperones in our group had class at a level geared towards beginners, while I attended class with my daughter and the other 7th and 8th graders from Creekside and Northwood middle schools.  Our teacher Joanna made learning fun creating games and competitions between groups of students for integrating the material.  After school we relaxed on the beach then had lunch that our host families prepared for us typically taken around 2 PM during the 2-5 PM siesta that is the custom here.

After lunch we participated in activities the school had planned for us as a way of enhancing our immersion experience here.  We went kayaking one day, hiking up the mountain another day.  On Friday we went to the market in Almunecar.  As we were fortunate to be in La Herradura during the town holiday we were treated to fireworks and carnival rides for the kids on another day.  A soccer game was organized by one of the interns of the school for after school activities for our kids on another day.  Stefan had been a semi professional soccer player when he was younger so the kids enjoyed his tutorage in the sport.  Our seven days in La Herradura was too short as many of us cried upon departure in saying goodbye to our host families and teachers from the school of La Herradura.  It was then that I decided that I would return to the school one day to study Spanish.