Register buy May 17, 2013 and take $50 of Summer Session Registration. Use Coupon Code:

“save50bucks”

when prompted during registration.

Click HERE to continue to the Summer Session class page

What you can expect by attending a Workshop:

• Your student will experience a one hour Spanish immersion class for Free!
• Meet HomeSchool parents and students currently in the program
• Review our curriculum and receive an outline you can share with your ES/CT
• Meet our highly-trained native Spanish speaking instructors
• Q&A session with school director
• Receive an exclusive opportunity to form a new Spanish group

In order to attend you must reserve tickets via Eventbrite(see links below), print them and bring them to the workshop. It is only necessary to reserve tickets for the number of students attending. Parents do not need to reserve a ticket. Please select the appropriate grade level ticket for your student. The workshops are divided by grade level, K-4 and 5-8. HomeSchoolers not associated with a Charter are welcome to attend as well!

Workshop #1
April 23, 2013

Click HERE to RSVP and print your tickets

Workshop #2
May 14, 2013

Click HERE to RSVP and print your tickets

Want more information about our Spanish Immersion classes for HomeSchool students and families?  Click HERE!

¡Hasta pronto!

Sombrero Time is seeking qualified candidates for part time Spanish language instruction positions.

All candidates must meet these minimum requirements: 

• Native Spanish Speaker
• Four Year College degree
• Experience teaching or working with children
• Must possess a love for working with children
• Possess a current CA drivers license with clean driving record and meet minimum liability insurance required by law
• Enthusiastic, “can do” positive attitude
• Must be a team player and self starter

Additional Skills/Experience Desired:

• Teaching Credential
• Volunteer Work
• Curriculum Development/Writing

Application process. Follow these instructions Please!

Step 1-Submit resume with cover letter to the address below for review. We will confirm receipt of your email
Step 2- If you meet the minimum requirements, as stated above, we will contact you via phone for an initial conversation
Step 3-Phone interview with hiring manager
Step 4-Face to face interview
Step 5-Teaching Observation

To learn more about us please visit our website:

www.sombrerotime.com 
info@sombrerotime.com 
We look forward to speaking with you!

SOMBRERO TIME KIDS TEACH READING AND WRITING IN SPANISH! –  Yes, you read that right! About 15 of our more advanced students became student teachers this summer to help with a literacy project we conducted with the Rocklin Unified School District (RUSD). These kids learned how to teach basic literacy skills in Spanish at breakout sessions during our summer camp. Then they had the unique opportunity to teach K-1 aged native Spanish speakers how to read and write in their own language! These students were attending a RUSD English Language Learner summer school. We grouped Sombrero Time students with 2-3 native speakers to teach for 30 minute sessions on specific reading and writing activities. Everyone benefited from the experience! Sombrero Time students built confidence in their speaking skills and their buddies started learning to read and write in their own native language (something they are no longer taught in school). They also gained a new appreciation for how challenging it can be to teach!  Ruth posted a great video as the literacy project ended reviewing some of the highlights.  Click the link below:

Why? Because you have been entrusted with a most sacred thing – a life.  A life to guide, nurture and care for as he/she grows. This is no small task.  After many conversations with parents and educators, it is clear we all face numerous parental challenges. Our intentions are good, but may not be enough.  We might think we are prepared to help our kids with social dynamics, based on our own childhood.  But do we understand how the changes in media are impacting their relationships?  Their world is very different.  Further, did you know that marijuana has a different chemical composition now than it did 20 years ago? How does this impact our children and their development?

This summer we are launching a Parent Education Series to address these and other challenging topics. We have scheduled engaging and dynamic speakers that will present at Sombrero Time starting in June. In the video below Ruth presents her passion behind the summer series and introduces our first two speakers.

Check out the video and details below:

Join us for the first two presentations.

Dr. Ken Logan – “The Mind of the Adolescent”
Dr. Logan will present on understanding the mind of the adolescent, how their brains are developing, how development impacts behavior and how to parent them.

Date: Wednesday, June 20th
Time: 7-8:30pm
Location: Sombrero Time Granite Bay
Cost: $25 per person

Patty Ingram – “Drugs and your Child”

What drugs are on the street, how to talk to your child about drugs, the progression of addiction, how drugs and the law has changed since we were kids.

Date: Wednesday, June 27th
Time: 7-8:30pm
Location: Sombrero Time Granite Bay
Cost: $25 per person

Space – Limited to 50 seats for each session.

Register – On Eventbrite.  Click HERE to reserve your seats!

“SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a child’s academic and intellectual development.”

Click HERE to read the full story

Last Month we started a new video series in which Ruth describes her personal journey as a “Special Ed” student with little promise of making it in school and how she overcame to become a successful entrepreneur and owner a thriving education company.   If you missed part 1 or 2 of the series click the links below:

Special Ed to Spanish Curriculum – Part 1
Special Ed to Spanish Curriculum – Part 2

Today we conclude the series as Ruth describes how being bilingual opened doors to opportunity which lead to the formation Sombrero Time.  Click the link below to view and please leave your comments!

Special Ed to Spanish Curriculum – Part 1

Today we continue the series as Ruth tells us about being accepted to Davis, graduating as a human development major on her way to being a teacher but still struggling to speak, let alone teach, Spanish effectively. Check out the video and provide your comments below.

How does someone go from being “Special Ed” to Developing Spanish Curriculum?  As many of you know Sombrero Time develops Spanish Language Curriculum for K-6 grade students.  In a previous series called “Why Sombrero Time Curriculum Works” we discussed a few features that make Sombrero Time Spanish Curriculum unique.  What we haven’t done is share a bit about why we develop curriculum in the first place.  In order to make it meaningful we wanted to share a little of the real life story behind founder and Spanish Curriculum developer, Ruth Finsthwait.  In this new video series Ruth describes her personal journey as a “Special Ed” student with little promise of making it in school and how she overcame to become a successful entrepreneur and owner a thriving education company.   In part 1 below Ruth tells us about her early school experience and being diagnosed with dyslexia.

SOMBRERO TIME IS DEVELOPING BILINGUAL ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
IN THE SACRAMENTO REGION

– Community Event Enhances Spanish Learning with Cultural Appreciation –
– Is Your Elementary-School Student Already Behind in Today’s Global Marketplace? –

GRANITE BAY, CA — October 24, 2011 – Elementary-school students who study Spanish with Sombrero Time, a leading provider of Spanish instruction and curriculum, will be taking their Spanish out of the classroom and into the real-world at a dinner tonight at Más, a Mexican restaurant in Roseville, where approximately 100 children, whose first language is English, will converse with Sombrero Time instructors and restaurant staff in Spanish.
The event, from 5:30-6:45 p.m., is designed to give students an authentic, fun experience where they can see value in their Spanish and enhance their learning through the culture of food and dance. The young students will order for themselves and their families in Spanish and converse with the native Spanish speakers on the Más staff about a variety of topics, such as Jamie Garcia, the Mexican native who was the starter for the St. Louise Cardinals in Game Two of this year’s World Series. To extend the cultural learning, Zulema Balderas, a folkloric dance instructor, will be teaching the students and their families traditional Mexican dance steps.

“Foreign language is becoming increasingly critical to a successful education. It’s moving from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’,” said Ruth Finsthwait, cofounder and president of Sombrero Time, which has 1,100 students in the area. “Studies have shown the earlier a child begins to learn a second language, the greater the chance for proficiency, and the brains of elementary age children are especially well-suited for second language acquisition.”
In addition to the fact that Sombrero Time starts students while they are young and open to a new language, its approach differs from the norm because it stresses immersion and frequency. The children learn Spanish in Spanish, just as they learned English in English. Sombrero Time has students use Spanish in authentic ways, as they will at Más, rather than just having students memorize vocabulary and learn to conjugate verbs.
Studies have shown that to achieve fluency and literacy, students need 30-50 minutes of instruction 3-5 times per week. Sombrero Time was built on this conviction.

“Sombrero Time has become integral to our school,” said Erika Sloane, principal of Loomis Basin Charter School. “Our students and parents value it tremendously. The instructors and curriculum go way beyond teaching simply content; they teach human interaction. Providing these opportunities for students to apply what they are learning in a real setting is a great extension of the classroom and an enriching experience.”
Studies show that learning a foreign language is greatly enhanced by worthwhile activities that give them a chance to utilize the language and cultural appreciation.

“We have two students in the Sombrero Time program,” said Lisa Bader of Granite Bay. “It’s really cool to see all the kids speaking Spanish in a real-world setting.  The magic of Sombrero Time is that the children not only learn Spanish—they learn how to apply their language skills in a real-world setting. The evening at Más provides a great opportunity for the kids to test-drive what they’ve learned in a supportive, stress-free environment and it’s fun for the entire family.”

ABOUT SOMBRERO TIME

Today Sombrero Time (sombrerotime.com) delivers Spanish immersion instruction and curriculum to more than 1,100 elementary school students in Placer and Sacramento Counties. Cofounder Ruth Finsthwait, an expert in language acquisition in children, developed the Sombrero Time curriculum based on her knowledge of how elementary age students learn a foreign language. The company uses only native speakers and 100% of the instruction and student interaction is in Spanish. Classes are held at local elementary schools and at the company’s Learning Center in Granite Bay, where the company is headquartered.

CONTACT
Kim Carroll at 916-960-9202 or kimcarroll2000@yahoo.com