Description
Is it better to spend third grade on another continent, making friends in different languages and exploring new places, or am I just missing out on life back home?
Eight-year-old Oliver asks himself this throughout a year of traveling with his parents and two little brothers. Will his friends have fun without him? Will he get behind on schoolwork? Are all these endless bus rides worth it? As Oliver makes friends who don’t speak the same language, overcomes travel mishaps, and takes on new challenges, he grows in his confidence to navigate different landscapes and cultures.
The bedtime read we wish we had
Hi! We’re Matt and Liuan, parents of three rambunctious boys.
In 2022 our family left our home, schools, and friends in the Chicago suburbs, as well as a full-time job with benefits, to embark on a yearlong sabbatical through South America. Our kids were then ages three through eight. We worldschooled, meaning we had a very loose curriculum and treated the wide world as our classroom. Our family gap year was all about experiential hands-on learning. Hence our book’s title.
The story includes several key experiences from our South American gap year where our kids were pushed out of their comfort zones. They figured out how to make friends who spoke only Portuguese, tested their rock-climbing skills, faced down cows on a farm stay, and fed chickens and collected eggs on their own. The book’s finale involves a several-day ordeal where we were stuck at the border between Argentina and Bolivia while Oliver got altitude sickness.
My South American Classroom centers the resourcefulness and resilience of children. Each travel adventure gave our kids more confidence in their ability to navigate new landscapes and social situations. This is a book for any family wanting to expand their kids’ horizons to the magic of visiting new places with an open heart and mind. It IS possible to face something that feels new and scary and hard and come out the other end feeling stronger, more confident, and more curious about the world!
The book also features several educational sidebars, providing detailed, kid-friendly tidbits about science and culture, like different seasons between the earth’s northern and southern hemispheres and the Latin American festival of Carnaval.
Allison –
I just received this gorgeous, educational, and beautifully illustrated book written by my former student, Liuan Chen Huska!
Liuan contributes to publications like Christianity Today, In Touch Magazine, and The Christian Century and has also authored Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness. She took a gap year to travel through South America with her husband and three sons, chronicling their journey for this book, My South American Classroom.
During their travels, her children kept up with homework, formed new friendships, and honed their adaptability and resilience, all while learning and experiencing new cultures. What a fantastic family adventure! Both books are available on Amazon.
Once again, I’m very proud to know you, Liuan Chen Huska. I can’t wait to share this one with my grandchildren.
Brooklin Swierenga –
This story is a joyful and creative journey through South America that brings real family adventures to life in a fun and engaging way, making you feel like you’re right alongside them! As a teacher, I especially love how the authenticity and bilingual components combined with the playful storytelling and illustrations help readers connect to the places, cultures, and learning woven throughout! Highly recommend!