Well it seems that the pendulum has finally swung back in the (I believe) right direction in regard to screen time in education. As more schools reconsider the role of classroom technology and screen time, this feels like an important moment to explain why Sonrisas Spanish has always focused on screen-free Spanish instruction. It’s difficult to know where to start with this issue, so let’s just go back to the beginning—which for Sonrisas Spanish is 1996.
My wife, and co-founder of Sonrisas Spanish, and I had completed our training to become certified bilingual ed teachers in Texas, and we were teaching in bilingual classrooms in Austin Independent School District. Our training was steeped in language acquisition research and methodology and the whole language approach to reading and literacy. The idea that learning could occur through immersion with meaningful and authentic experiences rather than through direct instruction really resonated with us.
Only one year later, a school in our neighborhood asked if we would be interested in teaching an after-school Spanish class. We said yes, and Sonrisas Spanish was born. That one school quickly grew into many schools wanting our services. We realized we could develop a business out of this, and so we quit our public school jobs and began teaching Spanish full time in after-school programs and during the day in preschools.
After a few years, we realized that other teachers could benefit from the lessons we had created, so we began writing our first curriculum, Sonrisas Spanish School: An Early Childhood Spanish Language Curriculum. The approach in our lessons was rooted in our ESL, bilingual ed, and whole language training. Methods such as The Mother’s Method from Dr. Wilder Penfield, Total Physical Response from Dr. James Asher, The Natural Approach from Dr. Stephen Krashen, and the Waldorf Foreign Language Approach informed our lesson design and best practices.
The one, over-arching element that all of these methods have in common is that they rely on human interaction and communication. We know from research that young children are adept at learning language when they are exposed to it through an immersion environment, with comprehensible input, and the opportunity for meaningful communication. We also know that the nature of communication is inherently connected to the living, dynamic exchange of language between human beings. If you want a full circle moment regarding this, read this article that my wife wrote in 2016 entitled, You Know in Your Heart That Video and Computer-based Language Programs Don’t Work. Here’s Why.
Around 2010, you began to see the mass adoption of policies in K-12 education focused on 1:1 devices. Much of the hype around this coincided with the emergence of the Chromebook and the proliferation of cheaper devices and learning-management systems. Education Week noted that schools purchased more than 23 million digital devices in 2013 and 2014 alone. At the time, it was difficult to know whether these policies were rooted in sound pedagogy or were simply being pushed by tech companies looking to capitalize on a huge market.
Whatever the case, the trend proliferated. Schools rushed to adopt programs that included integration with tech. Curriculum companies rushed to provide the services that schools now needed to justify their huge expenditures on devices and computer labs.
At this time, we were continuing to develop our curriculum products for elementary Spanish, and we were still teaching full time. It was a challenging time for our business. We knew how children learned language most effectively—with in-person instruction, and we were refining our curriculum with this approach in mind. Meanwhile all of our competitors were jumping on the bandwagon and developing programs designed around online interactive components for students.
We watched this happen. We even tried many of the products to see if we were missing some great opportunity to find a better way for children to learn language. But the online programs never lived up to what we knew was the best way for kids to learn language—from another human. We knew in our hearts, and our minds, that screen-free Spanish instruction was not only possible, but also preferable. And so we put a stake in the ground. We decided that we were not going to follow the trend towards online language learning.
Was this the right business move? Probably not. Was it the right pedagogical move? Definitely. It felt right to us because we knew from experience that children could learn language much more effectively in an in-person instructional mode rather than through a screen with animated characters, gamified lessons, and reward-based instruction.
Lucky for us, there were still many educators who believed in an in-person approach to language instruction, and we continued to meet the needs of many elementary Spanish programs. We also expanded our curriculum offerings so that we now had a full offering of products for K-8 Spanish. We always stayed strong in our conviction that the best way for children to learn language is in an immersion environment with lots of opportunity for communication. And then . . . Covid hit—insert sad face emoji.
Out of necessity, the pandemic greatly accelerated the use of technology and screen time in schools. For many teachers it was a demoralizing time. I know it was for me. I was teaching a high school Spanish class in the spring of 2020. When we went to remote learning, it became very clear that it was going to be extremely challenging to continue teaching with the same type of interpersonal approach that I favored.
Everyone adapted. Teachers became adept at using a variety of tech tools. Students became accustomed to virtual learning. Screen time became an integral part of the educational experience for everyone. At Sonrisas Spanish, we created a video series that helped many of our customers get through remote learning.
In the post-pandemic years, schools were now so heavily invested in edtech that they had to justify its continued usage. The problem was that there was no long-term, independent, research-based evidence regarding student outcomes and edtech claims. As the Department of Education noted in its 2024 report, A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides. 2024 National Educational Technology Plan: “Because school systems deployed so much technology on an emergency basis without the benefit of thoughtful planning, change management, or in the service of shared goals, many school systems are struggling to make the most of these new technologies.”
It’s reasonable to take a step back and acknowledge that technology in classrooms can have very real benefits. Tech can help differentiate instruction and individualize learning. It has the potential to increase engagement in learning and to help students master content and skills.
Students with special needs can benefit from assistive technologies on laptops, tablets, or phones. Audio books can help children with dyslexia. Voice-to-text technology helps children who struggle with fine motor control and note-taking.
The American Academy of Pediatrics stresses the importance of active versus passive use of technology. Active Use involves critical thinking and includes activities such as coding, immersive simulations, media production, interaction with experts, making global connections, design, and peer collaboration. Passive Use includes activities such as filling out digital worksheets or consuming digital content without accompanying reflection, imagination, or participation.
With the proliferation of tech in schools, the question of “How much screen time is too much?” has become increasingly relevant. One challenge is even defining screen time. Screens are unavoidable in daily life. From the laptops that students use for schoolwork to the phones they use to communicate with friends and family, it seems that screens have taken over every academic and social experience of children’s lives.
What is very clear is that parents’ and teachers’ attitudes about screen time have changed. In a March 2026 survey done by the EdWeek Research Center, a majority of educators indicated that students’ use of technology for school-related purposes has a negative impact on their social-emotional skills, classroom behavior, and physical and mental health. Research backs this up. Studies have found that kids’ physical health, mental health, and learning suffers the more time they’re on screens.
Across the country, parents are expressing views about excessive screen time in schools. Cell phone bans in schools are becoming more commonplace, and parents are advocating for policies that allow them to opt-out of tech-based instruction. And now, in April of this year, in part because of parental pressure, the second largest school district in the country, Los Angeles Unified, passed a measure regulating students’ screen time in school.
This brings us back to the beginning of this article. It seems the tech pendulum has swung back in the other direction, and we are now going to see a movement in education to reduce screen time. I welcome this and celebrate it. I can’t help feeling vindicated after years of observing the trend go in what I believed was the wrong direction—especially when we are talking about early language learning.
The bottom line is that children do not need screen-based instruction to learn a language. It’s just not necessary. Children learn language naturally and effectively through meaningful communication with another human being—the more opportunities to communicate, the better.
This is what the Sonrisas Spanish curriculum is all about—providing an effective way to teach Spanish to kids. This includes a structure in which teachers create an immersion environment, using comprehensible input, with lots of opportunity for meaningful communication in Spanish through different modalities and a variety of fun and age appropriate activities.
One of the joys of creating Sonrisas Spanish has been connecting with teachers and helping them implement a way of teaching Spanish to children that works. We know it works because we saw how easily and effectively our own students learned Spanish in our 25-plus years of teaching Spanish to children. Our students’ success, and their joy in learning Spanish, was the proof that a human-centered approach is the best way for children to learn language.
So if you’re an advocate for reduced screen time in schools, whether you’re a teacher or a parent, you have a partner in Sonrisas Spanish. We never wavered in our beliefs or our approach to how children learn language
The Sonrisas Spanish curriculum helps you reduce screen time by providing an in-person approach to Spanish instruction. You’ll be empowered to teach Spanish to children in an effective, proven, and healthy way. When you do this, your students create positive connotations with language learning, and they become those life-long language learners that we all want to see.
If you are looking for a Spanish curriculum that helps reduce screen time while supporting effective, in-person language learning, we invite you to request a free sample of Sonrisas Spanish.
