Risas Y Sonrisas Spanish Program For Kids

Specialties

Risas y Sonrisas provides an award winning Spanish curriculum to elementary schools and homeschoolers in Austin, TX and all over the U.S. The program was developed by Leticia Smith, a Hispanic Spanish instructor who decided to share her success after realizing the huge need for quality Spanish teaching aids. Besides teaching after school Spanish classes, she started a volunteer program with Spanish speaking parents in 1998 and it has continued to flourish in many schools around Austin TX. The reason, as the name of the program «Risas y Sonrisas — Laughter and Smiles» implies, is that children learn best when learning is fun. The information they are learning should be presented to them through games, music, colorful, engaging visual aids, movement, acting and with practical conversations. Repetition with variety is the key factor in reaching student’s different learning styles. If they don’t learn one way, they will learn with another, as long as the experience is fun and rewarding.

History

Established in 1998.

When I started teaching Spanish to children 13 years ago, it was very difficult to find quality Spanish teaching aids for children. At that time, I was offering Spanish classes after school and I was desperately looking for a program that had it all. Instead, I found myself putting together a puzzle and the pieces never seemed to fit. Some of the individual pieces were there, yet they didn’t fit together to make a complete, cohesive package. That’s when I started creating my own songs, games and pictures, coloring, cutting and pasting and putting the pieces together in a way I wanted them to be. Without realizing it then, I completed a curriculum for elementary school that went beyond my original expectations.

The positive response from children, teachers and parents has been the main motivation to keep improving what I had started. It has been an amazing journey and I love what I am doing so I will keep going.

Meet the Business Owner

Leticia S.

Business Owner

Leticia Smith is originally from Mexico City and has lived in Austin, TX for 23 years. She received a BBA with a Minor in Marketing from Texas State University and an Accelerated Learning certificate from the University of Houston. Not knowing then the impact it was going to have in her future, she worked four consecutive years in the University’s Spanish Department where she acquired invaluable experience teaching college students twice a week and offering tutoring services. Later on when she had the opportunity to teach children, she discovered that her true vocation was to teach and inspire others to put joy into learning. Her 14 years of experience as a Spanish instructor teaching children in elementary schools eventually led to the development of her award-​winning program, Risas y Sonrisas.