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The Olmecs of southern Mexico were probably some of the first people to grind cacao beans to make a chocolate drink for rituals and medicine almost 4,000 years ago! Aztec and Mayan people also used chocolate. Mayans have an earth goddess and goddess of the cacao tree that they called Ixcacao pronounced like eesh-cah-cow. Can you say that? IX means her while cacao, of course, means chocolate. Ixcacao was often called into prayer along with the corn mother and the rain god.
In todays lesson, get to know the different foods of Mexico with a fun coloring sheet! Then, learn how to make Mexican hot chocolate with a grown-up using our favorite recipe. Did you know that in Mexico people sometimes use this wooden whisk called a Molinillo that makes the chocolate foamy? Also, in some parts of Mexico, hot chocolate is made with water and not milk, which makes each drink taste different. Lastly, people in Mexico dont use a lot of sugar so that you can taste a bit of the spice from the chocolate itself.
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Raising a bilingual child? On this page, our very own Director of Learning Design and Efficacy, Sophia Espinoza, addresses some of the most common questions, concerns, and curiosities around the benefits of bilingualism. Get the scoop below!
Sophia Espinoza is a career educator and curriculum designer with seven years of experience teaching in private and independent schools across the country. She is an expert in 21st-century education, including technologically-powered personalization, multilingual and multicultural curriculums, and social-emotional learning.
Sophia began teaching in Chicago Public Schools through Chicago Teaching Fellows, learning to support both English Language Learners and students with neurodiverse needs. Among her proudest accomplishments is launching the AltSchool Spanish Immersion Program, with the mission of creating bilingual global citizens who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Sophia holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and M.A.Ed. from Dominican University.