A unique mobile Spanish immersion program brings language learning to homeschool groups across Walton County through games, gardening, art, sports, and hands-on activities that make Spanish feel natural and fun.

Somewhere off HWY 331, a group of kids will spend two hours a week playing soccer, painting, or working in a garden, and they’ll barely notice they were also learning Spanish.

That’s Hablamos Español, a mobile Spanish immersion program built for local homeschool families by Phillip Henry, a Florida panhandle native, who’s spent his life around both languages and kids. Phillip grew up in Fort Walton Beach and now lives in DeFuniak with his wife and two young sons. He’s held a bachelor’s degree in Spanish since 2014, and he’s sharpened it the hard way: three years traveling through 17 countries, translating for a Mexican family while living in China, and picking up conversational Romanian and Chichewa along the way. Before starting this program, he spent two years teaching in public school and homeschool settings, six years coaching cheer and gymnastics, and four years as a local firefighter/EMT. He’s put all of this experience into “Hablamos Español”.

Here’s how it works: kids do whatever activity their group already loves, while Phillip runs the whole session speaking only Spanish, acting like he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing. The kids end up teaching him, using gestures, pointing, and whatever words get the point across. Phillip replaces the gestures and pointing with Spanish words. When language clicks that way, because a kid actually needed it in the moment, it sticks in a way flashcards never do.

The program comes to you

Families bring their own group of 3 to 5 kids, siblings or friends who already know each other, and Phillip holds sessions at a home within that group. Groups meet weekly for 14 weeks, same kids, same activity, all season, with a short recap video after every class so families can rewatch and practice at home.

This is the kind of program that only works because someone local, with a real background in both language and kids, decided to build it differently.

Have a homeschool group of 3 to 5 kids ready for something different this fall? Check out this website for more information.