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When my kids were younger, we would use December to learn about other countries and how they celebrated Christmas by to crafting, cooking, and reading stories planned in a Christmas Around the World unit. It took a lot of planning and purchasing of craft supplies, but it was a beloved unit each year that my kids still talk about.
Now that my youngest is in high school, I cannot just take a month off from her regular curriculum for crafting and cooking (I mean, as a homeschooler, I could, but I choose not to lose valuable high school curriculum time). Instead, this year we will integrate a Christmas unit in Spanish class with a concentration on Spanish speaking countries in North, Central, and South America. I have decided to spend a week on Mexico and one week touching on four other countries: Guatemala, Argentina, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
We will be using the books Craft it Up Christmas Around the World, Celebrate Christmas Around the World, and Tomie dePaola’s Joy to the World as mentioned in my post on favorite Christmas Around the World resources. I am also using one other book, Craft and Pray Around the World, a set of geography pages on Spanish speaking countries from Edventures with Mrs D on TPT, and several YouTube videos.
This is what I have planned for the week that we are concentrating on Mexico:
| Monday | Watch Geography Now Mexico Read about Mexico on Nat Geo website Label countries & bodies of water of North America on map (print from Seterra website) Celebrate Christmas Around the World: Mexico reading p. 49 |
| Tuesday | Read about Christmas in Mexico at WhyChristmas.com Read Legend of the Poinsettia, p. 79 in Paola’s Joy to the World Mexico Country Profile Research Sheet CCAW: Make a Pointsettia p.51 |
| Wednesday | Watch Santa Story Time: Christmas in Mexico Video: Celebrating Las Posadas Video & read The Night of Las Posadas (Joy to the World p.9) CCAW: Las Posadas Script p.52 w/puppets and make a Farolito lantern p.50 |
| Thursday | Finish Mexico country info sheet CCAW: Make Ensalada de Noche Buena and Mexican Hot Chocolate p.53, carols p.54 Make a pinata ornament (Craft and Pray book p.43) |
I have a similar plan for the next week for four other Spanish speaking countries:
| Monday | Watch Geography Now Guatemala Craft & Pray p.26-27 (fireworks ornament) Watch Christmas in Guatemala and When is Christmas in Guatemala Country profile sheet: Guatemala |
| Tuesday | Nicaragua Craft it up Christmas p.27 (button tree) Watch Geography Now Nicaragua and How Does Nicaragua Celebrate Christmas Country profile sheet: Nicaragua |
| Wednesday | Cuba Craft it up Christmas p.21 (jingle bell bracelet) Watch Do They Celebrate Christmas in Cuba and Geography Now Cuba Country profile sheet: Cuba |
| Thursday | Argentina Craft it up Christmas p.10 (snowflake ornaments) Watch Geography Now Argentina and How Does Argentina Celebrate Christmas South America map (print & fill out) Country profile sheet: Argentina |
I am hoping that my freshman will enjoy the Christmas Around the World experience as part of her Spanish classwork this year. Hoping these lesson plans make life easier and joyful for someone else’s homeschool at as well this Christmas season!
North Star Homeschool Resources 