About Us
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Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world; people in the United States often think that learning a second language is not necessary; however, analysts believe that the Latino population of the United States will reach 130 million by the year 2060. It is predicted that this will make the U.S. the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, overtaking Mexico in the process and further increasing the language’s global standing.
Little Geniuses Language Academy was founded by two native Spanish speaking moms. They had been looking to share their language and cultural heritage with their children and were excited that schools and day cares in their areas were offering Spanish language classes for their kids. However, after getting feedback from their children on the quality of the classes and discussing their concerns with the school administration they were frustrated at the offering available. This is how Little Genius Language Academy was born. Little Geniuses Language Academy is a foreign language teaching program. We partner with existing day cares, schools, and after school programs to provide Spanish and other languages like French, Italian and Mandarin classes for children.
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Both moms had experience teaching Spanish as well as tutoring and decided to put their own curriculum program together, one that would focus on learning and at the same time be fun and engaging for children of all ages.
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Little Geniuses is committed to hiring the best teachers that are carefully selected and tested to ensure the quality of the language spoken and written. Our teachers are able to engage students, adapt to their strength and weaknesses, and gently encourage their growth in the Spanish and other languages fluency.
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Our Philosophy
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For students who approach a second language without prior experience, the first moments of learning are very important. Not being able to communicate is temporary, and very soon learning a new way of expressing yourself becomes easy and fun!
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A new language is acquired through cognitive, emotional, and socio-cultural processes, which means that students must actually learn content (cognitive processes). However, it is also important to DO, because it helps form a positive relationship between the language the speaker (creating an emotional and socio-cultural process). If we can achieve that learning this second language creates a positive self-image for the child, than a high level of self-motivation will be achieved. That's why, knowing what the students enjoy, we base our classes on the use of games, pictures, and active participation.
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Our philosophy is LEARNING BY DOING. We believe this is the best way to internalize content and it's why our classes include active physical participation and not just passive verbal participation.
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As well, it's important to consider the maturity and emotional age of the students so that our activities align with their needs and interests.
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We believe in the importance of inclusive strategies and methodologies of teaching, cooperative learning (between teacher-student or between students) and intercultural relationships.
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Biography:
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Ms. Gemma. Spanish instructor and director of the academy.
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Gemma was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona is home to “Catalan” which is a mix between Spanish, Portuguese and French is becoming more and more popular around the world.
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Gemma received her bachelors degree in Psychology from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. She was a Spanish teacher as well for several years in Spain for young children and adults. She moved to the United States eight years ago after meeting her husband in Barcelona, and is the mother of two kids. One of Gemma’s biggest concerns when moving to the United States was that her children would forget their language and culture which is why she continues to speak to them in both Catalan and Spanish. She is proud that both her four and eight year old boys are speaking Spanish, Catalan, and English perfectly.
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Gemma’s experience with her own children inspired her to look for opportunities to teach other children other languages and cultures. She believes that a multicultural education helps prepare children to live in a modern and international world by giving them an understanding of different cultures.
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After receiving her Spanish teaching certificate here in USA, Gemma started teaching classes for kids between 5 and 13 years old. During these years she realized that most of the goals in the school enrichment programs were not to achieve bilingual capability but to just learn the basics. She saw that some of the students that where taking enrichment Spanish classes didn’t have any idea how to speak, read or write Spanish, let alone perform in a conversational setting.