How to Use the South America Unit Study Bundle: A Quick Start Guide

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Whether you’re a homeschooler, a classroom educator, or a family exploring world geography together, this guide will help you get started with the South America Unit Study Bundle. Our literature-based homeschool geography curriculum is filled with printable and digital tools, hands-on activities, and flexible, family-style lessons.

Step 1: Choose a Country

Simply pick a country that fits your child’s interests, a book you’re reading, or tie your chosen country to a cultural celebration or holiday. For example, choose Brazil during Carnival or Peru when exploring ancient civilizations. Or, perhaps you’d like to turn it into a game and simply pull a random country from a jar! Whatever works for your family!

The beauty of the Global Explorers Club is its flexibility. Whether you’re planning a full unit or just sprinkling in a few activities throughout your week, each country study is self-contained and ready to go. Just pick one and start your journey!

Step 2: Print What You Need

Each unit study is organized by country and includes clearly labeled sections:

Country unit study overview sheet
Lesson plans (PDF) with embedded links
Print Resources:
- Geography & Culture (Global Explorers Journal, mapwork activity, Bingo challenge, cookbook page)
- Language Arts (The Writing Revolution exercises & activities, Making Words spelling activities, and select book discussion & activity guides)
- Science (notebooking activity sheets)
- Extras

Print what fits your schedule. Save or skip the rest. Our curriculum is designed to be flexible and family-friendly.

Prefer Digital Planning?

Use the Notion Curriculum Planner to map out your week.

Here’s a peek at our Notion Curriculum Planner. Each country has its own lesson hub, making it easy to stay organized.

Each unit includes a Prep List so you can easily check off what to print and gather your resources before beginning each country study.

Step 3: Begin with a Story or a Map

Read a Picture Book or Folk Tale

I usually check out a stack of books from the library and ask my kids to choose a couple to read on our first day. Just follow their curiosity. It’ll never lead us wrong!

Both Lonely Planet Kids’ This Is My World: Meet 84 Kids From Around the Globe and DK’s Children Just Like Me: A Celebration of Children Around the World are great “first impression” reads before diving deeper into a specific country, too. My children still look forward to our “Folk Tale Tuesday” tradition that features a selected Circle Round folk tale or two for each country.

Look at a Map Together

Begin by finding the country on a world map. I like to use Seterra to print out free continent and world maps.

After locating the country on a world map, I recommend grabbing a picture atlas to take a closer look. I highly recommend DK’s Countries of the World for colorful, easy-to-read reference pages, but any children’s atlas will do!

Next, pull up the country on Google Earth and give your child time to zoom in and explore the natural features, cities, and terrain. You can even “drop in” with Street View to see what daily life might look like. Zoom in on Machu Picchu, the Amazon Rainforest, or the streets of Buenos Aires.

Peru, South America unit study, homeschool geography curriculum featuring hands-on cultural activities for kids, including learning about the Inca, archeology, and more!

Journal First Impressions

Encourage your children to jot down what stands out, what they wonder, or what they already know.

You can use the “Our Wondrous World: Wonder Wall” sheet (found in the Extras folder) to help them record their questions or just have them free-write or sketch in a notebook.

Step 4: Pick One Hands-On Activity Per Day

Since Global Explorers is designed to encourage children to simply fall in love with learning about new places and exploring new things, there’s no rush and no pressure. You can choose to move slowly or dive in deeply. Whatever works best for your family!

Whether you’re using Global Explorers as a full curriculum or just sprinkling in a few cultural activities for fun throughout the year, the goal is the same: follow curiosity, embrace the adventure, and don’t be afraid to chase a few rabbit trails along the way.

Need a little inspiration?
Here are two sample weeks to help you see how you might structure your Global Explorers lessons. Mix and match activities to fit your schedule. There’s no “right” way to do it!

Throughout the week, continue reading books related to the country you’re studying. You can use the ones suggested in the lesson plans, revisit old favorites, or explore new finds from your local library. Stories are a great way to connect more deeply with the people, history, and culture of each place you explore.

Step 5: Mix, Match, and Make It Yours

Each South America unit study includes both printable PDF lessons and a digital Notion planner so you can pick the format that works best for your family.

Use the PDF to quickly access lessons as needed, or use the Notion curriculum database to map out your week, add videos or links, and track your progress.

The Notion calendar view lets you drag, drop, and customize your schedule. In this example, I’ve planned the Peru unit study over two weeks. Some lessons are scheduled over the course of a week or two, while others have an assigned date. With drag-and-drop capability, it’s easy to move things around as needed.

Toggle between lessons with ease! Each country’s unit study comes fully loaded in the Notion Curriculum Planner. Just open the country’s folder, expand the lesson you want, and go. Everything is organized and editable, giving you the structure you need with the flexibility you want.

If you come across a cool resource, you can easily enhance your lessons by embedding links or videos directly into your digital planner.

Each unit study is designed to be flexible, so feel free to skip, adapt, or rearrange lessons based on your child’s interests, schedule, or age. Whether you follow a structured routine or take a more relaxed approach to global studies, you’re doing it right!

Tips

Go at your own pace. One country could last a week or a month. There’s no wrong way to use our country studies.
Mix and match. It’s okay to skip activities or combine them with other resources you love.
Adapt for different ages. Younger children can draw while older ones research or write in more detail.
Make it a family experience. Most of all, have fun together. Laugh, learn, and make memories! Play Brazil’s Luta de Galo game, make brigadeiros, listen to Peruvian pan flute music, and learn to dance the tango. These shared moments are what make Global Explorers so special.

have questions?

I’m here to help! Feel free to send me an email or reach out through our contact page. I’d love to hear from you!

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Ready to Start Your Own Adventure?

If you haven’t yet joined the Global Explorers Club, it’s easy to get started! The South America Unit Study Bundle includes everything you need to explore 9 countries through stories, mapwork, cultural activities, science, writing, and hands-on learning projects.

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Want to Start with Just One Country?

Not sure if you’re ready for the full South America continent study? No problem! You can start small by choosing a single country that fits your child’s interests. Each one is a complete, self-contained unit study that’s perfect for getting a feel for the Global Explorers approach.

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Where Will You Explore First?

Explore our complete collection of literature-based geography and culture unit studies. From hands-on art projects to global games and recipes, our curriculum makes learning an adventure for all ages.

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Stay in the Loop

Want ideas for hands-on activities, book lists, cultural recipes, and new country study releases delivered straight to your inbox? Join the Global Explorers newsletter and get inspired each week with family-style learning tips, freebies, and exclusive updates.