Located in the coastal redwoods of northern California, Music for Little People is an award-winning producer of music as well as the premier catalog resource for families searching for the best in music and musically related product for children.

Music For Little People has developed into one of the country's largest and most respected sources of educational and multicultural recordings for children and families, working with highly regarded artists including Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Los Lobos, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Buckwheat Zydeco, Andrew Gold, David Lindley, Mimi Bessette, Ric Louchard, Catfish Hodge, Joanne Shenandoah, Michelle Shocked, Shelley Duvall, The Persuasions and Grammy award-winners Sweet Honey In The Rock…and now Sing-A-Lingo!

At SongsForTeaching.com, educators can find music geared towards any subject that is both enjoyable and educationally useful. This great online resource allows users to sample the music before buying and offers helpful search tools for finding exactly what you need. Just type in "songs in Spanish" and you will find us!

Sing-A-Lingo songs are used in the Spanish curriculum at Bay Farm and we will lead school kids in a performance of dance moves from 3 of our songs (performance planned for 11:30 AM).  Click the link below to hear the interview now:

Pina Madera Radio interview-May2010

This International Fair looks really well organized and is chock a block full of fun activities for kids, featuring a Passport game that includes a stop at the Sing-A-Lingo table.  We would love to see you there!

Wanna go? Full information about the event is available here and here is a map to the event site. (Bay Farm Montessori Academy, 145 Loring Street, Duxbury, MA).

Check out this video for clips from our recent shows, and to see how Sing-A-Lingo's music and materials help kids learn while they are having fun:

]]> http://www.singalingo.com/sing-a-lingo-at-montessori-international-fair-june-6/feed/ 0 http://www.singalingo.com/buy-our-disk-before-may-31st-and-get-a-free-learning-tool-learning-doesn%e2%80%99t-have-to-cost-a-lot/ http://www.singalingo.com/buy-our-disk-before-may-31st-and-get-a-free-learning-tool-learning-doesn%e2%80%99t-have-to-cost-a-lot/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 05:41:44 +0000 admin http://www.singalingo.com/?p=195 Big Bad Promotion from Sing-A-Lingo!  ENDS MAY 31st

Buy our award-winning Spanish disk EN MI CASA from AMAZON and post a review–and you’ll be rewarded with a FREE  set of laminated cards (on a removable ring) loaded with vocabulary to extend the learning on the CD–our LYRICS’N LANGUAGE CARDS ($12.99 value)

Buy our English disk IN MY HOUSE from AMAZON and post a review–and your reward will be a FREE singable book for the bedtime routine, GOOD NIGHT FRIENDS! ($12.99 value)

The Sing-a-Lingo store is now available on Facebook. Become a fan and get 15% off your entire purchase. Offer ends May 31st.

Recently, I heard from the fine folks over at REALLYGOODSTUFF.COM who cater to teachers (and if you’re raising bilingual kids, you’re a teacher!)

They asked me to write a short blog about using music to teach!  At Sing-A-Lingo, we’ve focused on teaching Spanish and English through songs–but it works for ANYTHING!  Enjoy!

Click to see the post. ***Scroll down to May 13 to see my blog***  The blog includes a fun link to the kids at PS22 singing their hearts out.  It’ll bring an instant smile!

The Spanish-All-Day Program builds on Sing-A-Lingo’s first album, En Mi Casa (In My House). Research shows that immersion is the best approach for teaching a new language, so En Mi Casa features catchy, Spanish-only lyrics to provide families with Spanish support for a typical day.  The original songs featured on the album are about practical, functional topics in environments where children already find themselves, so practicing Spanish just happens.  The language taught through the songs is suitable for preschool Spanish classes, homeschool settings, and learning at home.

The En Mi Casa albumis the recent recipient of a Parent’s Choice Award, 2009 iParenting Media Award, and The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, whose testers fell "in love with the music. From the catchy lyrics to the lively and upbeat tunes this is far more than a language lesson on a disc."

How It Works—Morning, Noon and Night!

The Sing-A-Lingo approach promotes growth and learning through joyful music that accompanies everyday activities and creates family fun.  The En Mi Casa Album is the heart of the Spanish-All-Day Program and includes songs that can turn almost any moment into a fun Spanish language activity.  Start the day with “En la Mañana," a song about the morning routine.  Singing about putting on their  “camisa y pantalones" will have kids excited about getting dressed for the day.

The Say’NStick™ Word Notes include 60 colorful, fun and educational repositionable notes to label household items, keeping useful words front and center in “la casa”.  See 'em, Say 'em and watch the learning Stick!  The notes help send the kids to "la mesa" for breakfast, and to "el refrigerador” for milk.

The laminated Lyric’NLanguage™ To-Go Cards keep Spanish/English lyrics and extensive related vocabulary on hand all the time. While listening to the CD, at home or in the car, children and caregivers can read along or explore the back of the corresponding card to find new words, activity ideas and tips that are relevant to the song’s topic.

As an afternoon activity, caregivers can log onto www.singalingo.comfor free online activities.  Children can play the Keys to the Treasure Game which features Spanish audio and visuals that reinforce the same words taught in the songs. Also, dance along with music videos to help associate specific gestures with word meanings–a proven way to teach kids Spanish.

Finally, the Buenas Noches, Amigos Singable Book is a perfect end to the day, creating a Spanish bedtime routine.  This colorful picture book follows a youngster, his cat and an adventurous mouse on a journey from bathtub bubbles to sweet dreams.  It is easy to read or sing along as the song lyrics provide the book's text.  In addition, emerging readers will find themselves easily reading in Spanish, and the English translation is provide.

The Sing-A-Lingo Story  

Piña Madera, founder of Sing-A-Lingo, was brought up in a bilingual family.  Her mother was born in Mexico and made sure that Piña became well-versed in the Spanish language and celebrated her Latino heritage.  Throughout her childhood, Piña studied classical piano and went on to study writing at Brown University. 

When she married Michael Madera, who had a Master's degree in Spanish and had also studied music, they were destined to start Sing-A-Lingo.

As bilingual parents, Piña and Michael wanted to preserve the Spanish language while giving their own kids the multiple benefits of speaking a second language.  Whenthe Maderas set out to raise their children to be bilingual, they began looking for materials to support their efforts. Piña and Michael tried a variety of available learning aids including music, movies and books.  While they found that some were helpful, they had trouble finding enjoyable products that integrated useful Spanish into daily life.

Piña and Michael found that most home-based Spanish teaching materials pinpoint simple nouns or colors, presenting limited communicative language.  Others simply translated traditional songs, like "Old McDonald."  Determining that "cow" had limited uses in their daily life, Piña and Michael were more interested in teaching language like "I'm hungry," or "Wash your hands."  And as musicians themselves, they also wanted to provide music-based materials that offered quality melodies and lyrics for parents and children to enjoy as a fun family activity.  Frustrated with the options available, Piña and Michael developed Sing-A-Lingo to address their own needsand to help others in similar situations.  This new comprehensive program from Sing-A-Lingo helps caregivers and educators around the world more effectively and enjoyably teach children the fundamentals of learning Spanish.

About Sing-A-Lingo

Sing-A-Lingo is an educational company that supports caregivers and educators in their efforts to teach young children a new language.  Using a well-respected method that teaches language and movement, Sing-A-Lingo makes fun and useful teaching tools that are easily incorporated intotypical childhood activities.  Headquartered in Medford, Mass., Sing-A-Lingo is a woman-owned, privately-held company.  For more information or to purchase products, please visit www.singalingo.com or call 617-852-9687.

The songs included on En Mi Casa are about practical, functional topics in environments where children already find themselves, so practicing Spanish just happens.  "Our philosophy is that children should learn language as part of their normal routine, so our songs cater to everyday objects and events.  From the tub to the dinner table to getting up in the morning, En Mi Casa has a song for every part of the day–making life your very own musical!" says Piña Madera, co-founder of Sing-A-Lingo.

En Mi Casa was developed using a proven learn-through-music technique that links music, movement and language.  Sing-A-Lingo’s unique teaching approach makes language-learning fun and easy, while providing life-long benefits.  Studies have shown that children who learn multiple languages at an early age are more likely to acquire authentic accents as well as improved understanding of abstract concepts like math and music.  In addition, learning a second language encourages children to open the door to new cultures by helping them understand and appreciate people from other countries.

En Mi Casa has been well-received by parents and children everywhere and is the recent recipient of a 2009 iParenting Media Award.

The Sing-A-Lingo Story

Michael and PiñaMadera, co-founders of SAL, are Spanish speaking parents who made the decision to raise their children bilingual.  Seeking products that would support their efforts, Michael and Piñatried a variety of learning aids available on the market–music, movies and books.  While they found that some were helpful, they had trouble finding products that integrated useful Spanish into their daily lives.

Michael and Piñafound that most Spanish teaching materials pinpoint simple nouns or colors, presenting limited communicative language.  Others simply translated traditional songs, like "Old McDonald."  Determining that "cow" had limited uses in their daily life, Michael and Piñawere more interested in teaching language like "I'm hungry," or "Hurry up, put on your coat."  And as musicians themselves, they also wanted to provide music-based materials that offered quality melodies and lyrics for parents and children to enjoy equally.  Frustrated with the options available, Michael and Piñadeveloped Sing-A-Lingo to help address their own needs, as well as to help others in their same situation.

Now, as the company continues to build on its success, Sing-A-Lingo is releasing its new album, En Mi Casa, to help caregivers and educators around the world more effectively teach children the fundamentals of learning Spanish as a second language.

About Sing-A-Lingo

Sing-A-Lingo is an educational company that supports caregivers and educators in their efforts to teach young children a new language.  Using a proven learn-through-music technique that links music, movement and language, Sing-A-Lingo incorporates typical childhood activities into musical teaching tools that make learning a new language fun and easy.  Headquartered in Medford, Mass., Sing-A-Lingo is a family-owned, privately-held company.  Sing-A-Lingo currently offers Spanish language-learning tools with plans to offer other languages in the future. 

For more information or to purchase products, please visit www.singalingo.com or call 617-852-9687.

We had so much fun last week at the International TESOL Conference…a tradeshow for ESL educators from all over the world. We met people from lands far and wide (and local!) who got to hear our new disk, IN MY HOUSE. We’ve translated our award-winning songs on the EN MI CASA album to help students learning English.

If you came by our booth, thanks! And so nice to meet you.

If you haven’t downloaded your free songs, please use this coupon code (in place of the one we gave out at the show): funlearn610.

Click here to go download our songs with that code, and ENJOY!!!

The crowd goes WILD!!!?#!!!

Our popular Spanish songs have been translated to English.  Same head-bopping rhythms, same useful vocabulary, same humor, same easy repetition for learners acquiring language.

Kids and adults will like this CD equally. Great for use in the classroom, at home, in the car for family fun.

We’ve also translated our bedtime routine book into English, with Spanish translations.

We unveiled both at the National TESOL convention in Boston this week.   Met amazing educators from all over the world who teach English. Super fun.

There’s still time to register for our classes for kids at gorgeous, bright, airy SPRINGSTEP just off Route 93 in Medford.

Join us to sing, laugh and learn language together. Register here.

Monday or Thursday for 18 months to 3 years from 9:30 to 10:30
Tuesdays for ages 4-5 from 10:45 to 11:45