Canada & Socials

Canada and Communities related work this term:

-Louise Erdrich novels
These books incorporate North American history, cultural learning, exposure to a different language and spirituality and language arts. Last summer we traveled to within a few hours of where Omakayas and her family ended up after their displacement so the girls have a frame of reference for the type of landscape.

- Mapwork
We have worked with blank Canadian maps to learn the provinces (Ivy and Ella) and capital cities (Ivy). In addition we are spending time locating places on our world map. Cardinal directions, grids and scales have also been introduced. Ivy knows the inter-cardinal directions as well. We procured a dated travelogue from the library that was entertaining and somewhat educational. Canada has scenery, beautiful cities and...many recreational golf courses!

- Socials Project
The girls' uncle Mark is traveling over the next few months so we are following him and marking his progress (Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam). We are also making an effort to learn something about each place he's in. Fortunately he's keeping a blog so we can see pictures too! In addition their grandparents are spending the winter in the Dominican Republic working on local projects. They volunteer their time there and have kept us up to date on what is going on in the communities there.

- Google Earth
This program has been a blast to use. Both Ivy and Ella enjoy searching and "zooming" in on specific places. This is the program we're using to mark the locations and trails of various family members over the winter. Ivy discovered the feature that allows you to also explore the landscape of the moon, Mars and some constellations (more solar systems - while I'm on the topic she went through this Cosmic Quest game too).