The following is a sponsored post with Beautiful Mundo.
I cannot express how excited I am about today's post. I love being surprised by new products, especially ones that are designed specifically for homeschoolers. Beautiful Mundo is a secular Spanish-immersion curriculum. And it may be used by both bilingual parents AND monolingual (English) parents who are raising bilingual children.
Name of program: Beautiful Mundo
Target age: 0 - 8+
Amount of materials: Moderate
Price: $88
What I love the most is that it is entirely literature based. When I was looking through the booklist, I discovered that I recognized most of the titles because they are considered Latino children's lit. (Most of them are by Hispanic authors, anyway, with a few translations scattered in.) In fact, I have most of them on my bookshelves. Some of the authors I spied in the list are Alma Flor Ada, Monica Brown, José-Luis Orozco, Lulu Delacre, and many others.
The good thing about this is that I believe most of these are easily found in local libraries, so you don't have to go out and buy all the titles yourself, which would be pricey. You can actually see the booklist for yourself on their website before you purchase the curriculum, which I think it really important. Because you don't want to be disappointed later if you are planning to get most of them from your library and your library doesn't have them. In fact, if you use the Library Extension for Chrome (or Firefox or Edge), any time you look at a book on Amazon, the extension will tell you if that same title is available at your local library (it's a goldmine!).
Let's get into the curriculum.
Beautiful Mundo is only available as a PDF download. That means that when you make your online purchase, you receive instant access to the files, which you can download to your computer and begin using right away, if you so choose. The other great part is that you can print as many copies as you need (great for families with multiple children).
It all begins with the Parent Guide. It is SO helpful by providing a full background for parents on the goal of the program, the methodology, and details on how to use the curriculum. You'll find the list of books and music that are at the heart of the curriculum, and then you'll find the actual lessons themselves.
There are two pages for each week and each one has a theme or focus. They are carefully laid out with reading, activities, and crafts to complete throughout the week on your own schedule.
I love that the curriculum is so versatile allowing parents with children of different ages the opportunity to use this program. Beautiful Mundo trusts the parents to know their children best and be able to determine when their child is ready to begin the phonics, storytelling, and copywork books.
The Phonics Book gives parents the option to choose print or cursive. This workbook has been edited by native Spanish speakers in Spain and Argentina. Included are directions and notes for parents on teaching Spanish phonics, activities, and a lot of teaching techniques. It incorporates sign language with graphics showing the proper hand positions for each letter of the alphabet. And then the workbook begins by teaching first the vowels, followed by consonants in a thoughtfully chosen order. There are two pages dedicated to each letter with opportunities to practice writing the letter, words and images that begin with the letter, and a letter recognition search. The second page has a section for writing a complete word, as well as a list of words beginning with the letter.
The Storytelling Book is a supplemental resource for older children who are able to draw and write may utilize. It is comprised of simple worksheets that provide space for your child to draw and write (recount) the story you've just read.
The Copywork Book is another supplemental book and also available in print or cursive. It's designed for older children who are learning to write, there is only one page to print each week to accompany the reading selection. It includes one quote from each book for your child to practice writing. The very back includes Spanish to English translations for parents to reference.
The program also comes with some additional printable materials, mostly flashcards of letters, number dots, shapes, emotions, etc. The letters are available in print or cursive to suit your preference.
Now, I ALWAYS tell people to DOWNLOAD THE SAMPLE PAGES of any curriculum before they purchase it to make sure it is a good fit for their family. And this is no exception. You can find sample pages of the Parent Guide and Phonics Workbook here.
Price-wise, Beautiful Mundo isn't the cheapest, but it also isn't the most expensive curriculum. It's somewhere in the middle. The complete set costs $88, and that price does not include the books. But a lot of work has gone into it and I think parents will love the digital aspect of it that allows them instant access to the download directly after purchasing it.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received the product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
