Gather Round Homeschool: South America – Free Organization to Save Time!

When I first decided to try Gather Round Homeschool this school year, I made the decision to go through the Year 1 units in order. I don’t know if I will continue that when we enter into Year 2, but I have been happy with this choice so far!

In order, the units do a great job, in my opinion, of circling back to previously discussed topics. I also really enjoy the switch between a science and social focus each unit.

Since we made each unit last at least five weeks, we only got through the first six units of Year 1 (plus the Christmas Mini-Unit) and I’m planning on continuing with the last 4 units of Year 1 next school year!

So if you are reading this before the start of the 2021-22 school year, I have yet to complete this unit! I did decide to plan ahead for the rest of the units so I wasn’t stuck doing them as needed…like I did this year!  These resources have been helpful to me in the way that I teach these units, so I also wanted to finish up the Year 1 units for anyone else who may get to them before I do! 🙂

We just closed out our current school year with the Africa Unit Study and if you haven’t done that one yet, make sure to put it on your list, too!

If you are unfamiliar with the Gather Round Homeschool curriculum, be sure to check out this blog post that tells more about it! You can also see samples and purchase units on their website.

THE RESOURCES:

These “extras” are the things that I love about doing unit studies! It helps make the lessons even more immersive!

I’ve also found that our lessons go so much more smoothly when I have everything that I want to introduce to my kids all organized and ready to go. Sometimes we may not get to everything or even go down a different rabbit trail of learning, but it’s so helpful to have what I want readily available.

I understand how time-consuming this is, though! So, I’m sharing with you some of the playlists and resources we are using for the South America unit study so that you can have what you need without all the planning!

My playlists are mostly geared toward elementary and under because that is where my kids are. There are lots of other videos/books/etc you could add if you have older kids as well.

While I’ve used most of these resources with my kids, I always recommend that you preview them before using with your kiddos to make sure it’s a good fit for your family.

Gather Round Homeschool: South America – YouTube Playlist

Many of the video sources in this playlist are favorites of my kiddos. They go in order from Lesson 1 – 20 to make your life easier! Use what you like, leave what you don’t, add what you need.

They can be used during the lesson, after the lesson, or anytime really! How they are used is entirely up to you.

Gather Round Homeschool: South America – Spotify Playlist

This is a playlist I created with traditional music and the national anthems from many of the countries that are discussed in this unit study. I like to use this sometimes during writing time and often during dinner.

At dinner, especially, it adds that little extra touch that helps transport you to that country…especially if you’re eating their food, too!

Gather Round Homeschool: South America – Pinterest Board

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using Pinterest to gather and organize ideas…and recipes! Sometimes I use the ideas that I find directly and other times scrolling pinterest inspires an idea of my own.

This is yet another thing that takes a little time, so here is your shortcut!

The creator of this curriculum sells a beautiful digital recipe book to go along with the unit if you’d just like to purchase and print that! However, if you choose not to, this board has the recipes that I pinned for every country in the Gather Round Homeschool South America unit…including ones for some of the recipes she recommends. I won’t make ALL of them, but I do plan on making many of them.

I’ve also included some extra ideas such as crafts, STEM projects, etc.!

In an attempt to make it as easy to find what you’re looking for as possible, the recipes go in order from Lesson 1-20 with any activity pins being at the very end of the board!

Gather Round Homeschool: South America – Book List and More!

BOOK LIST

Rebecca Spooner, the creator of Gather Round Homeschool, has an amazing book list in the front of every unit’s teacher’s guide. It’s even divided up by levels to make it easy! I was able to get most of the ones I wanted from our local library and then used Amazon and Thrift Books to get any that were remaining.

I’m also looking at the following books not on that list:

• The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World, by Lonely Planet Kids (A favorite I use through every continent study!)
• If You Lived Here: Houses of the World, by Giles Laroche
• This is How We Do It, by Matt Lamothe
• Usborne Llama Embroidery Kit
• Guess in 10: Animal Planet (Game)
• Guess in 10: Countries of the World
• Guess in 10: Foods Around the World

SHOWS AND MOVIES

Here’s a list of shows and movies for added entertainment that can further reinforce the theme!

• Wild Kratts
  • “Rainforest Stew” – Season 2
  • “Liturgusa Krattorum” – Season 4 (Peru)
  • “Eel-electric!” – Season 4 (Amazon Rainforest)
  • “The Real Ant Farm” – Season 6 (Amazon Rainforest)
  • “Mystery of the Mini Monkey Models” – Season 6 (Amazon Rainforest)
  • “The Great Froggyback Ride” – Season 6 (Amazon Rainforest)
  • “Parrot Power” – Season 6 (Amazon Rainforest)
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That
  • “The Rain Game” – Season 1
  • “Slow Down for Sloths” – Season 1
  • “Blue Feet are Neat!” – Season 1 (Blue-Footed Booby Bird)
  • “Bounce” – Season 2 (Rubber Trees)
• Rio (Brazil)
• Rio 2
• The Emperors New Groove (Peru)
• Kronk’s New Groove (Peru)
• Up (Venezuela)
• Evita (Adults and Teenagers)

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I hope that these pre-planned resources help save you time in your unit study planning! Enjoy!

Make sure to check out my resource pages for Gather Round Homeschool North American Birds, Asia, Space, Europe,  Oceans, Africa, Earth Science, North America, and the Human Body too!

What are some of the activities you’ve done or are planning to do with this unit? I’d love to know! Share in the comments below!