Our Foundations Documents
MISSION
Spanish Tea Time cultivates a fun and safe environment where students feel valued and supported. We empower learners to grow their confidence and impact their world in more than one language.
VISION
Our vision is to build a bridge between cultures that opens doors to new friendships and global professional opportunities. We strive to be a leader in educational innovation, continuously developing original materials and training that empower students, teachers, and their families to achieve their linguistic goals. By promoting healthy habits and holistic well-being, we cultivate strong minds capable of the resilience and creativity needed to learn, live, and dream in more than one language.
CORE VALUES
1. HAPPINESS- Learning should make us feel proud and happy.
2. EMPATHY- Learning should help us understand different perspectives.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY- I am responsible for my own happiness and success.
4. GRATITUDE- We practice gratitude for everything God has provided.
5. COURAGE- We will welcome the opportunities to apply what we learned in class outside in the real world.
PROFILE OF A GRADUATE
A graduate of Spanish Tea Time possesses the confidence to navigate both professional and casual scenarios in Spanish. Our students are balanced bilinguals, developing high-level proficiency in Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Listening. Because our curriculum is rooted in accurate grammatical foundations, our graduates are uniquely prepared to excel in standardized language testing and Credit by Exam (CBE) assessments
Spanish Tea Time cultivates a fun and safe environment where students feel valued and supported. We empower learners to grow their confidence and impact their world in more than one language.
VISION
Our vision is to build a bridge between cultures that opens doors to new friendships and global professional opportunities. We strive to be a leader in educational innovation, continuously developing original materials and training that empower students, teachers, and their families to achieve their linguistic goals. By promoting healthy habits and holistic well-being, we cultivate strong minds capable of the resilience and creativity needed to learn, live, and dream in more than one language.
CORE VALUES
1. HAPPINESS- Learning should make us feel proud and happy.
2. EMPATHY- Learning should help us understand different perspectives.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY- I am responsible for my own happiness and success.
4. GRATITUDE- We practice gratitude for everything God has provided.
5. COURAGE- We will welcome the opportunities to apply what we learned in class outside in the real world.
PROFILE OF A GRADUATE
A graduate of Spanish Tea Time possesses the confidence to navigate both professional and casual scenarios in Spanish. Our students are balanced bilinguals, developing high-level proficiency in Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Listening. Because our curriculum is rooted in accurate grammatical foundations, our graduates are uniquely prepared to excel in standardized language testing and Credit by Exam (CBE) assessments
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CHILDREN SPANISH
After many years of teaching children in the regular classroom setting, I realized that children need more opportunities to move, to socialize and to be spontaneous. Children need to feel safe and to have their interests acknowledged. This is why at Spanish Tea Time our curriculum is flexible and can be adapted to fit a child's need. Spanish Tea Time will choose redirection instead of discipline. Unless a behavior is plain dangerous, we should try to re-direct unwanted behaviors. Always trying to inspire social justice, empathetic behavior, creative thinking, and independent problem-solving skills. Children learn better when they are filled with positive emotion. If teachers connect with their students in a more personal level, children are more inclined to participate. This is how Spanish Tea Time will approach its teachings, with developmental curriculum that will allow for play and games. Parents will play a crucial role since at Spanish Tea Time, we will want to invite parents to participate and to reinforce the vocabulary being taught during class and at home. Teaching Spanish will be a team effort! So come and join Spanish Tea Time! |
ADULTS AND TEENAGERS SPANISH
Although ideally we would like to learn a second language as young as possible, our brains never stop to develop, allowing us to learn other languages at any age. As a native Spanish speaker, I did not learn English until my family moved to Texas. I was 21 years old, and several times I questioned whether speaking English was feasible at my age. But my need to connect with those who only spoke English and my eagerness to participate in an international market kept me motivated to keep trying. I soon learned that my biggest joy was not learning grammatical rules, but being able to understand and to be understood by others. Many rules in a language are learned in a natural way, through patterns registered through conversations. Therefore, I know that by focusing on allowing my students to feel comfortable speaking Spanish, and by making sure they are learning proper pronunciation and grammatical structure as part of our conversations, they will begin to decipher the language patterns, and the process of learning Spanish is not only more enjoyable but also effective. At Spanish Tea Time, customized lessons can be created to fit the needs of a particular group or a person. Companies looking to better serve their Hispanic clients should include conversational Spanish training as an integral part of their professional development, and Spanish Tea Time will be delighted to help. Spanish Level 1.0-1.5 Basic conversations: Find out how someone is doing, their name, age, birthday, phone number, origin, where they live, what time is it, what they like to do, about their family. Vocabulary: School, Numbers 0-1000, Colors, Family Members, Pets, Body parts, Foods, Fruits and Veggies, Weather, Clothes, Seasons, Months, Days Grammar: Personal Pronouns, Articles, Infinitive verbs and in present tense. Spanish Level 2.0-2.5 Basic conversations: Useful phrases and commands, how to bargain Vocabulary: Numbers to 1,000,000; sports, instruments, hobbies, places in the city, directions, times, home, grocery, market, flavors, farm, forest, jungle, savannah, sea. Grammar: Verb to like, to want, to go to, to do, intro to present tense AR verbs, comparative Spanish Level 3.0-3.5 Basic conversations: Formal vs Informal Vocabulary: school subjects, professions, adjectives, chores, birthdays, outings, types of vacations, transportation, shopping center, sports and leisure, health and beauty, home and kitchen, water cycle, pollution, recycling, tv programs, movies, social network, digital footprint Grammar: present tense conjugations of regular verbs, stem changing verbs Spanish Level 4.0-4.5 Grammar: Present, Past, Future, Conditional, Affective verbs, Subjunctive, Past Participle, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect, Perfect Conditional. |
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Spanish categorize language proficiency into four levels: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior. Each level corresponds to different stages of language acquisition and proficiency. Here's an overview of how the TEKS categorize language proficiency:
- Novice Level: Novice-level learners are beginners who have limited proficiency in Spanish. They may be able to understand and produce basic vocabulary and phrases related to familiar topics, such as greetings, introductions, and simple commands. Novice learners typically focus on building foundational language skills, such as pronunciation, vocabulary acquisition, and basic sentence structure.
- Intermediate Level: Intermediate-level learners have developed a solid foundation in Spanish and can communicate effectively in a variety of everyday situations. They have a larger vocabulary and can understand and produce more complex language structures, including past and future tenses, descriptive language, and expressions of opinions and preferences. Intermediate learners are able to engage in conversations, express ideas and feelings, and comprehend authentic texts with support.
- Advanced Level: Advanced-level learners have a high level of proficiency in Spanish and can communicate fluently and accurately in a wide range of contexts. They have an extensive vocabulary and can understand and produce complex language structures with ease. Advanced learners are able to engage in discussions on a variety of topics, express nuanced ideas and opinions, and comprehend authentic texts without assistance. They demonstrate cultural understanding and adapt their language use to different social and cultural contexts.
- Superior Level: Superior-level learners have near-native proficiency in Spanish and can communicate with native-like fluency and accuracy. They have a sophisticated command of the language and can understand and produce complex discourse in both spoken and written forms. Superior learners demonstrate a deep understanding of Hispanic cultures and are able to engage in advanced-level discussions, analyze complex texts, and express ideas with precision and eloquence.
Hola, I am Gina Carnevale, the founder of Spanish Tea Time. I would like to share with you a little bit of my background so that you can feel comfortable allowing your child to flourish with us.
I spent two years studying Law in Mexico, City before coming to Texas to study Business. I did not know English, so I am familiar with the difficulties of learning a second language as an adult. I spent my first months studying English before attending Texas Woman’s University. It was not easy, but I graduated Magna Cum Laude and began my career at IBM. After a year, I left IBM to become a bilingual teacher for Dallas ISD where I taught for eight years. During that time, my classes achieved the highest scores, and my students were complimented for their amazing behavior. I also did extracurricular activities such as teaching Spanish to staff members in Dallas ISD (Principals, nurses, counselors, etc.). However, after I became pregnant with twins, I had to slow down and worked as a substitute teacher and as Math and Reading tutor. Then I was faced with my biggest challenge -- one of my daughters was diagnosed with autism. I did intense research on all the therapies available to help her, then, chaotic brain. I became fascinated with DIR/Floortime therapy, and I became my daughter’s therapist. Currently, after seven years of what I have implemented at home, a nutritious diet, and a wonderful support system, she is attending school and she is exceeding everyone’s wildest expectations. Many teaching curriculums have a strong emphasis on the development of certain areas of the brain, often ignoring the physical and sensory needs of a growing child. Through my years of experience, I have seen what makes teaching methods effective and long lasting. So, I developed Spanish Tea Time. A teaching system that focuses on building relationships with each child, uses games as its main tool to introduce concepts, and joins efforts with parents to help reinforce the teachings at home. I hope you can join my Spanish Tea Time community and help me grow this concept into a well establish language academy. For more information on how I helped my daughter thrive visit: https://autismjourneytohealth.weebly.com/ Sincerely, Gina Carnevale 
We are a place where little ones all the way to adults come to learn Spanish. We have different formats that allow us to reach a wide variety of students and we are able to address different needs.
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