Tools for Teaching About Race and Racism in Your Homeschool

*Some of the links below are affiliate links—meaning that I receive a small commission (at no cost to you) for any purchases made through them. For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Hi friends.

Over the past week, I’ve been reflecting on three things: what is being said about race on social media, whether or not social media is actually a productive place for these conversations, and what (if anything) I had to contribute. I did not feel comfortable saying anything until I could be sure that my ideas were helpful and could be shared in an appropriate venue, with the right motivations. This has taken much thought and prayer.  

So, Why Am I Writing About This?

Please let me share with you where I’m coming from.

Racial equality is something that I care deeply about. After graduating college, I taught in DC Public Schools and then worked for two education reform organizations serving BIPOC students. In graduate school, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the history of Black identity in Latin America. And although I do not write here about issues of racial equality, both this blog and my own homeschool are also informed by my commitment to that cause. I started this blog with the goal of helping homeschoolers learn foreign languages—not just so that they could be more professionally successful, but also to help them have the skills to build genuine relationships with people who are different from them, including people of different races. This is also a vision that I have for my own children and as a Christian, one that I have for myself. I look forward to one day being counted among a multitude of believers from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” who are worshipping Jesus together (Rev. 7:9). It is natural that we should work for racial justice on this earth to manifest the beauty of the Gospel and point to the heavenly reality that awaits us.

So, as you can see, race is something that I have spent most of my adult life thinking about in one way or another. Race relations in America is an extremely complex issue that intersects with many other social concerns, including class discrimination, policing, and public health—just to name a few. Even after working on these issues for more than a decade, I am still learning. At the same time, I have been intentional in teaching my children about race and racism in our homeschool and thought that it might be helpful for me to share with you what we’ve done so far—and to use this platform of mine to direct you to additional resources as well.

Teaching About Race: Some Resources and Tools For You

If you find yourself wanting to learn about race and racism in your homeschool, you might consider taking some (or all) of the following steps:

1. Think carefully about the worldview of your homeschool curriculum. Does your curriculum present mostly one-sided views of history, or does it give your children a well-rounded view of historical events? Gina Munsey of the Oaxacaborn blog has a great list of questions that you can use to help you figure this out as you make your choices. Here’s one way that I’m working on this in my own homeschool right now: rethinking how we study missions. Our Sonlight curriculum has a strong emphasis on missions, yet most of the testimonies that we’ve read over these past two years have been written by white missionaries. Could I complement these with texts by native missionaries writing about God’s work in their own countries? Of course! I’m now actively looking for those resources to add to our Morning Time (please let me know if you have any to recommend!). Two more resources have been particularly helpful to me as a classically-leaning homeschooler: this episode of the Ask Andrew podcast from the CiRCE Institute (entitled “Does Classical Education Value Other Cultures or Seek to Replace Them?”) and Susan Wise Bauer’s essay “On History, Children, and the Inevitability of Compromise.”

2. Learn from other homeschoolers who are members of BIPOC communities. Following the blogs and social media accounts of BIPOC homeschoolers can help you learn more about the histories and everyday realities of their communities as well as find resources for teaching your kids about those communities in a respectful and authentic way. Here are some writers that I follow and have learned from:

   • Betty of Chalk Academy

   • Virginia of Mandarin Mama

   • Karen of The Mom Trotter

   • Monica of Mommy Maestra

3. Read works that represent racially diverse viewpoints—and books that deal with race in other contexts. You can do this even in foreign languages! The French Cultural Center of Boston has put out a list of diverse picture books in French and Betty of the Chalk Academy blog has created a list of Chinese-language books about Black History. My own speciality, of course, is literature about the Afro-Latin experience, and my favorite books for children (which are also all available in English) are these: Drum Dream Girl, Pelé King of Soccer, The Poet Slave of Cuba, and Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library. For teens and adults, I also recommend the book Black in Latin America (and its accompanying PBS series). You’ll also find more recommendations in my list of diverse picture books about Brazil.

4. ALSO include books about racism (not just about people of other races) in your read-alouds. For explicitly Christian resources, I personally like Trillia Newbell’s book God’s Very Good Idea and Shai Linne’s book God Made You and Me for children ages 3+. Both of these books do a great job of explaining how God made all different kinds of people, for His own glory. Redeemed Reader has a much longer list of Christian books about racism for kids of all ages. Common Sense Media has an extensive list of secular anti-racist books for kids. Learning Bilingually has also created a list of (secular) anti-racist Spanish-language picture books on her FB page if that would be helpful to you.

5. If you are a Christian, learn from other Christians who write abut these issues. I have learned much from Jamar Tisby, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Trillia Newbell and commend their work to you. The Civil War as Theological Crisis, written by Mark Noll—likely the preeminent Christian historian of our time—greatly deepened my understanding of the theological frameworks that Christians used to both support and oppose slavery in our country and helped me think about how today’s modes of Biblical interpretation influence Christians’ approaches to this issue.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I hope that it serves as an encouraging “jumping off” point for you. Whether this is the first time you’re thinking about these issues or you’re launching a “deeper dive,” remember that all change begins with small steps. Whatever you are able to do today will have a positive impact on your kids and their generation, so start where you can and go from there.

If you have more ideas for me, I’d love to hear them. What resources have been helpful to you in learning about and teaching on these issues?

Review of Hola Amigo Subscription Box: Spanish for Young Kids, Delivered to Your Door

Recently, I was approached by the new subscription box company, Hola Amigo, who asked me to review their Spanish language box for preschoolers and early elementary kids. They shipped us a sample and my kids were thrilled to open it:

What the Hola Amigo Box Includes:

While the specific contents of each box vary, each includes multiple hands-on activities and Spanish-language materials centered around a particular theme. In our farm-themed box, for example, we received:

• Farm animal figurines and suggestions of games to play with them

• A farm-themed board game created by Hola Amigo

• A craft kit to make farm animal puppets

• One bilingual board book and one Spanish-language non-fiction reader about farm life

• A vocabulary puzzle to reinforce new farm animal names

It was quite the collection! Not only was I impressed by the sheer quantity of activities included in the box, but I was struck with their quality as well. The puzzle, the board book, the puzzle, and the figurines were all tough enough to withstand heavy toddler use—which, as you can see below, Felix was eager to test for himself!

Why Should You Use Hola Amigo to Teach Spanish to Young Kids?

Not only do the number of activities and resources included in the Hola Amigo Box make it a great value, but there are plenty of other reasons to like this box. For example:

• Language learning really does require an immense amount of practice. Luckily, the number of activities included in the Hola Amigo boxes is a great help—they let you and your child fit in lots of vocabulary practice without getting bored. Even if you did one activity a day, there are enough to use for an entire month of Spanish learning.

• All of the activities in the Hola Amigo box were developmentally appropriate and—equally important—appealing to young kids. My kids were thrilled to try all of the different games in the box, which were designed at just the right level of difficulty for their ages (3 and 5). All of the hands-on activities got my kids using the language right away, without an unnecessary (and ineffective) emphasis on reading and writing. Since younger language learners learn best through natural exposure to a language, I was pleased to see that the Hola Amigo box used this approach.

Now, will your child be fluent in Spanish after playing with a few of these boxes? No—but I do think that they are a helpful tool for introducing Spanish to young kids and start building their vocabulary.

Hola Amigo can also be a helpful tool for getting mom (or dad!) to speak more Spanish—especially for bilingual parents working to use the language more at home. The emphasis on play really helps kids engage with the language, without the unnecessary formality of a language “curriculum.” All of the instructions for the box’s activities are included in English and Spanish, so they’re a helpful guide for parents who want to model more Spanish speaking to their kids.

Five Ways to Use the Hola Amigo Box in Your Homeschool:

One of the best advantages of the Hola Amigo box is its versatility—you use in it your homeschool in a way that works for you! Here are some ideas:

• Use your monthly box to start a “Spanish club” in your neighborhood, or with homeschool friends.

• Make your Hola Amigo Box part of your regular Morning Time line-up (it’s great for getting in that regular practice!).

• If you’re outsourcing your kids’ Spanish learning, you can use the Hola Amigo box as a fun way to reinforce new vocabulary outside of class time.

• For native-speaking families whose kids might be resisting speaking Spanish, use the activities in the box to encourage the use of Spanish at home.

• For older children, use the Hola Amigo box for some strategic “strewing”—leave it out on your coffee table overnight and see what they make of it in the morning (this will work best if they already have some exposure to Spanish and can read the materials themselves!).

If this has piqued your interest, I’ve got good news for you—I am hosting a giveaway of one Hola Amigo box to my readers, just in time for Christmas! (Feel free to wrap it up and place it under your tree).

Join our Language Learning At Home Facebook Community to enter for your chance to win (giveaway ends Dec. 13)!

My Super Simple, No Writing Homeschool Planning Tool

*Some of the links below are affiliate links—meaning that I receive a small commission (at no cost to you) for any purchases made through them. For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Recently, I posted about our bilingual homeschool curriculum choices for Xavi’s kindergarten year. Today, I wanted to share the quick homeschooling hack that helps me stay on top of those curricula—without devoting a ton of time to planning.

My Philosophy: Spend Time Teaching, Not Planning

Before I dive into my super simple trick, I have to share a few caveats, all along the lines of YMMV:

• First, I am not against planning at all. I love planning and in a past life, even taught other academics how to plan their semester-long college courses in one shot. However, in my current stage of life, I simply don’t have time to sit down each week (or even once during the summer) to plan out lessons and I definitely don’t have any desire to purchase a $50 homeschool organizer and spend time decorating it with washi tape. If that brings you joy, go you! I support your washi tape purchases! However, efficiency, not beauty, is what motivates me, so I shoot for the simplest system possible.

• Second, my lack of planning time was obviously a big factor in my kindergarten curricula choices. Most of the resources that I chose are open-and-go and our primary curriculum—Sonlight—includes weekly plans for History, Bible, and Literature. This means that I don’t have to write up detailed calendars or lessons—so I don’t.

• Third, I only have one child who I’m homeschooling (and for kindergarten, at that). He’s obviously not doing any work independently, so it’s completely up to me to organize his lessons and stay on top of them. For kids who can do a bit of work on their own, you might consider letting them use book darts to track their progress, but also maintain a written plan that can be cross-checked for accountability.

My Indispensable $10 Homeschool Planning Tool (That’s Not a Planner!)

So, with all that said, what is the magical tool that I use to keep us on track without written plans?

Here it is: book darts.

I first discovered these through Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy, who convinced me to take the plunge and buy a $10 tin. Now, I’ve been successfully using them in our homeschool for three months, and they’ve helped me stay organized without adding any planning time to my plate (hooray!).

I probably don’t even need to write this out for you—it’s honestly that simple—but if you want to steal this idea, here’s a few ways that I use book darts in our homeschool:

• For our daily Bible reading—which I tag-team with my husband—book darts help us stay on track without having to consult a written plan. I can easily pick up where he’s left off simply by using this tool.

• I use book darts to track where we are in our math and reading lessons. Whenever we’re done for the day—including on the days that we don’t complete an entire lesson—I just move the marker to the place where I want to pick up next. Easy as pie.

• Of course, book darts are great for holding our place in our Sonlight read-alouds and in our Sonlight IG.

Okay, you say, but can’t I just do the same with a bookmark? Or a post-it note? Yes, of course, you can, but I really appreciate these three particular advantages of book darts:

1. They can mark a very specific place in your lesson. I often end up splitting our All About Reading lessons to accommodate Xavi’s attention span and I like to mark off exactly where I left off. Book darts let me do that.

2. They don’t fall out of books easily—unlike bookmarks, which tend to get lost about five seconds after I bring them into our house. My toddler doesn’t even notice our book darts (unlike bookmarks) and is much less likely to steal them.

3. They’re both cheap and durable. I’ve always found bookmarks overpriced and post-its annoy me when they rip or lose their stickiness. Using book darts avoids both of these problems.

Now, once you’re using book darts, the key to staying on track is to be consistent with daily lessons. Because we’re pretty good about sticking to our four-day-a-week schedule, I don’t worry about exactly where we are in our curricula. We’re moving through it at the pace of my child—one of the great advantages of homeschooling!

I hope that this (extremely simple) homeschooling hack has inspired you! Do you know of any other uses for book darts that I’ve overlooked? Even using so many, I still have nearly a whole tin full, so definitely share your ideas with me here!