Maybe my experience is similar to yours: As a Chilean expat in the USA, my beginner Mason teaching path was solely based on adapting a wonderful yet uniquely Anglo-focused Mason curriculum–focused on US children with Anglo-European ancestry and heritage–, by adding random Chilean literature and history in Spanish, as well as random hymns in Spanish.

Thankfully, I already had a huge advantage in my educational path: I was a native Spanish speaker with a degree in English-Spanish Translation at my disposal, which helped me raise my children bilingually, and to know a thing or two about good literature in Spanish.

Regarding maintaining a blended US-Chilean cultural identity, I was more or less winging it. Sure, I was speaking to my children in Spanish, and I read the occasional Chilean book to them, but I had no idea it would take me years to fully understand how our cultural identity would transform our educational program.

Fast forward several years, and after years of continued translating, editing, and reading Miss Charlotte Mason (who by then had become my tutor, guide and mentor), and after years of community work with Spanish-speaking Mason educators from around the world, I came to the realization that a more fitting Mason education was available to Hispanic educators in the USA:

• Firstly, I realized that my children’s cultural identity was not like mine but a different one: theirs was a wonderful mix of Anglo, Hispanic, and Indigenous heritage in a particular location that was the USA. This made me stop using our wonderful Mason curriculum focused on US children with Anglo-European ancestry, and spurred me to start a bicultural Mason education focused on US History with Anglo, Hispanic, and Indigenous perspectives, from scratch.
• Since “History is the pivot on which our curriculum turns,” as Miss Mason said, I started an independent research into US history. In our studies, we learn all the history of the current US territory, so we start with the Indigenous Peoples who inhabit the land. Then we learn of Europe and the context that made the encounter between Europe and America inevitable. We quickly introduce our neighbors: the Spanish-speaking countries that were part of the US territory, and the USA’s ties with the entire American continent. We approach the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula thirdly, connecting history with Europe and the Mediterranean world. Interactions with Asia and Africa happen naturally along the way.
• A Charlotte Mason education is perfect for bilingual/bicultural children! Enjoying traditions with Spanish-speaking family, spending time outdoors with the parent who speaks Spanish, listening to traditional Hispanic music, learning about artists and composers from the Spanish-speaking world, and enjoying poetry originally written in Spanish, have given us endless joy during our school days. Exploring books and resources in Spanish for a Mason education is an uncharted path that we tread slowly and carefully. Thanks to our community of Spanish-speaking Charlotte Mason educators, we have been able to identify living books for all our school needs.

As we expand to provide support in English, we continue to advocate for the use of Spanish and for amazing books and cultural resources created by Hispanics. Read on to know how to be a part of this!