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"The new perpectives on education that deschooling brings give parents the freedom to make choices. Once we understand that children learn state history in fourth grade because to do it then is convenient for the schools, not necessarily for the children, we can make a decision for our own child based on the child's needs and interests." — Lisa Rivero, in The Homeschooling Option
Spanish
- Spanish Study, City College of San Francisco
- Destinos — Videos, book, workbook for PBS telenovela
Excursions
Presentations
- Mexican Independence Day, Miss C's PowerPoint presentation to SFBAGHS, Sept. 2007
Periodicals
- "Mexico's Road to Freedom," Calliope, May 2005.
- "The Aztecs: Empire Builders," Calliope, December 2005.
- "The Maya," Kids Discover, 2003.
- "Mexico," Kids Discover, 2005.
- "Maya: How a Great Culture Rose and Fell," National Geographic, August 2007
    
Books
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Stories from Where We Live: The California Coast, edited by Sara St. Antoine. Excellent collection of stories, poems, articles on the history, natural history, and uniqueness of the California coast. Great section at the end on Ecology of the California Coast.
- The Black Pearl, by Scott O'Dell - fiction set in Baja California
- Cultures of the World: Mexico, by Mary Jo Riley & Leslie Jermyn (2002)
- The Pot That Juan Built, by Nancy Andrews-Goebel; Pictures by David Diaz. (Picture book)
- Welcome to Josefina's World (1824): Growing Up On America's Southwest Frontier. (American Girl book... this is one of the factual history/culture books that go along with the fictional series... but it's set in what became New Mexico... which was actually still Mexico in 1824. Josefina actually grew up as a Mexican girl.)
- Fiesta! Mexico's Great Celebrations, by Elizabeth Silverthorne
- Day of the Dead: A Mexican-American Celebration, by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith.
- Fiesta U.S.A., by George Ancona.
- In the Days of the Vaqueros: America's First True Cowboys, by Russell Freedman.
Videos - California
- Cadillac Desert - four-video PBS series about water, and moving it from where it naturally occurred to, well, deserts, such as the area that became Los Angeles. Not California-only but heavily so; episodes on "Mulholland's Dream," "An American Nile," "The Mercy of Nature," and "Last Oasis."
- California: Journeys of the Adventurers - more travelogue than historical, though it does breeze through the historical highlights of the state. Very colorful, with most time spent in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles.
- Adventures in Wild California - celebration of nature and adventure in the most beautiful places in California... climbing a 3,000-year-old Sequoia tree in Yosemite, surfing at Mavericks, skydiving over the coast, skiing and snowboarding in the Sierra.
- The Old Spaghetti Factory - about The Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe in the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, a Bohemian hangout in the 1950s and 60s, told through a story about a mural picturing many of its regular denizens. A great peek at the Beat world of 50s San Francisco, told through the voices of the older people who lived it.
- Cesar Chavez - Great Americans for Children series, Schlessinger Media.
- Mexican Americans (Multicultural Peoples of North America series) - Schlessinger Video Productions.
- The Missions of California (VHS) - missions built along El Camino Real during the era of New Spain, "secularized" after Mexican independence, and many restored later due to their historical significance
Videos - Mexico
- The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez - based on a true story, set in 1901 in Texas. Shows the clash of Ango and Mexican cultures. Misunderstandings due to prejudice and lack of understanding of Spanish lead to tragedy. Excellent, but not for young children (PG).
- Santana — Sacred Fire: Live in Mexico (1995, DVD) - Concert filmed in Mexico City in 1993, dedicated to Cesar Chavez. Just an outstanding concert and video, wonderful music, beautiful visually, lots of Spanish and English, lovingly presented by ambassador of brotherhood Carlos Santana. (Netflix)
- Kids Explore Mexico (Where in the World series, Learning Matters Inc.) - just so-so (VHS)
- Families of Mexico (Families of the World series, Master Communications Inc.) - really liked this one. A middle-class family in Veracruz and a family living about 20 miles outside it are profiled. (VHS)
- Conquistadors - PBS series, 4 shows. The first one is about Cortez arriving on first the Yucatan peninsula, then sailing up to Veracruz, and from there on to Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) where he conquered the Aztecs. Excellent. (DVD) Rented from Netflix. Library link | Amazon
- Fall of the Aztec & Maya Empires. Ancient Civilizations series, Questar, Inc. This is really bad. There is good footage of the current-day ruins of ancient Mexican civilizations, and they show how drawings of the ruins were done by 19th century explorers, but the historical content about the various Indian groups is disorganized and confusing, mixing up Aztecs, Maya, Olmecs, Toltecs, etc. Some of the information is just wrong. Not recommended.
- Globe Trekker: Destination Mexico (2002). Travel video - Baja California, Copper Canyon, Mexico City, Taxco, Teotihuacan, etc. Pretty good.
- Video Visits: Mexico. Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cuernavaca, and Oaxaca. Travel video. Pretty good although host Shari Belafonte wears on you after a while.
Web Sites
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