Dear readers,
Seventeen years ago, my husband's job moved us half way across the country, away from my family and culture. As a result, I found myself struggling to pass on my heritage to my children. I was really, really sad that they couldn't experience the same cultural traditions that I did as a child. I did my best to look for resources and events to share with them, but wasn't having much luck.
I worried and fretted that they wouldn't learn to love the beauty of their Spanish & Mexican heritage. So when we were thrust into homeschooling (long story that you can read about elsewhere), I realized that maybe the best way to teach my kids was with printable reading passages, activities, games, and more.
I began researching and writing and designing. I made resources to use with my kids and then slowly began making them available to other families, who I thought might be struggling like I was.
And then, I decided to keep researching and expand my education materials to include other Hispanic backgrounds and cultures, such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, and so on.
These materials have sold really well on TpT over the years. But I've been worried that my resources aren't really reaching their intended audience: Hispanic families. I love that teachers are using them in classooms, but I worry about the families like mine who need access to products that help them pass on their culture and raise children who are proud of their heritage.
Hispanic Heritage Studies
Early this year, a tiny idea found its way into my head. It's been growing, and growing, and growing until I finally decided to just go for it. And just like that, Hispanic Heritage Studies was born.
My vision for this program goes like this:
The Hispanic Heritage Studies program itself will consist of themed modules, including:
- Spanish-Speaking Countries,
- Holidays & Traditions,
- Food,
- Art,
- Music, and
- Historical Figures (actually, these will be broken up into separate modules: Musicians, Artists, Writers, etc.)
Each module will come with a lesson plan and additional resources that you can print, click on, make, watch, etc. all of which help teach the theme of the module. So you can use the lesson plan or just use the printable resources. Whatever works for your family.
Each theme will include learning resources for K-12th and broken down into the following grades:
- K - 2nd
- 3rd - 5th
- 6th - 8th
- 9th - 12th