«Roots of understanding grow deep when curious minds are nourished in nature»

-Nelly Regan K.

SCHOOL YEAR

SUMMER CAMPS

PARENTS
& TEACHERS

This group is for you if you love nature, culture, languages, hands-on learning, and love to learn alongside your child.

Semillitas (“little seeds” in English) is an early childhood environmental education program in Spanish for kids from 2 years old to 6 years old accompanied by an adult. It encompasses language immersion, environmental education, culture learning and FUN by means of nature-inspired hands-on activities. 

Semillitas also offers outdoor Spanish Immersion Summer Camps for older kids, and special gatherings for adults to maintain or improve their Spanish proficiency while honing nature skills and cultural activities.

Semillitas program has been aligned to the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) to promote comprehensive aspects of children’s development across five domains . Engaging kids with natural exploration, language immersion and cultural learning offer abundant growth opportunities that align seamlessly with the WMELS standards.

Semillitas encompasses 3 main aspects:

Environmental Education

Environmental education encourages kid’s curiosity, exploration, and critical thinking as children learn about the environment, by instilling a sense of responsibility and agency to take action to protect the environment, even in small ways.

Language Immersion

Language Immersion builds confidence in using the language as children communicate and interact in real-life situations, leading to increased self-esteem and language proficiency. It offers lifelong cognitive, academic, and cultural advantages.

Cultural Learning

Cultural learning helps children to develop a broader perspective of the world, fostering empathy, tolerance, and respect for diversity.

Families reached

Programs offered

Years as business and 6 years as a cooperative

Smiles

What people think about Semillitas

I like Semillitas:

Every lesson is a joy to be part of its unfolding! The depth of the experiences the teacher cultivates helps make the Spanish so concrete and clear and provides the most amazing learning experience about both language and nature that I could imagine.

Kirsten Telwak

Nature:

We love how Ms. Alejandra explains sometimes difficult natural world concepts for kiddos in variety of ways—songs, books, movement, art, dance, games, outdoor exploration, and collaboration—so that kids (and parents) at each age and stage can understand. As a former teacher, I love how her approach is friendly for multiple learning styles!

Mary Sugiyama

Culture:

Alejandra found creative ways to incorporate Mexican culture into her teaching in a fun and effective way for young children to participate. The children helped Alejandra to make tortillas and guacamole from scratch – rolling, chopping, mixing – it was a fun and tasty activity for even the youngest attendee.

Katie Fronczak

Spanish language:

I think the way in which Semillitas helps us with the development of the Spanish language is with the new vocabulary, songs, and activities they learn and do every day. We have noticed our toddler using the new words she learns in her day-to-day activities back at home. It is rewarding for me as a native Spanish speaker to see that improvement from my daughter, as we are a bilingual household.

Ketty Riley

I can’t speak highly enough about Semillitas and Ms. Alejandra. This program is pure magic! The pacing (not too fast, not too slow) of the teaching is perfect to keep childrens’ attention but not be overwhelming or overstimulating. My son and I (as I am learning Spanish alongside him!) were able to easily absorb vocabulary because of how masterfully it was woven throughout each class using a variety of modalities such as speaking and repeating; singing; movement and touch; hands-on arts and crafts; and demonstration. The best and most unique part of Semillitas is that everything is always reinforced by real world application in the nature around us. This program isn’t just about language and nature, it also builds curiosity, wonder, and a joy for learning.

Kari Hanson