Canada, A People’s History

Canada, A People’s History DVDs – marvelous content because all the spoken monologues by actors are primary source material – are out of print. CBC has decided to offer live streaming instead of DVD production.

You can borrow physical copies from public libraries or your library may subscribe to Curio.ca, where CBC educational content can be streamed. Many schools and colleges subscribe, and a number of public libraries. Does your library have a subscription?

Curio Subscribers by Province

If not, you can ask your library to get a Curio subscription. Even stronger, get all your friends to petition the library so the library knows there is significant interest. See this link to a form you can copy or download and use at your homeschool group, or with family and friends.

http://bit.ly/LibraryResourceRequest

CBC is committed to getting libraries on board in 2018-2019. You can help. Let’s get Canada, A People’s History back for easy access to everyone with a library card.

 

Homeschool Conferences

Homeschool conferences are a great place to touch and see amazing books your kids will love, and get good advice for your particular situation. Here are some highlights from the events we attended in MB, AB, BC and ON. Did we see you there?

Continuity & Change – Inuit

Traditional Inuit were hunters and gatherers, moving seasonally to follow the food source. Even today, modern Inuit still harvest the land by hunting and fishing. Imported foods such as vegetables and milk are very expensive because of transportation costs. Inuit communities today have modern houses and lifestyles, yet there is an effort to maintain language and traditions of the past.

Children can watch videos about a Inuit boy and his father and keep a list of things that are different between traditional and modern cultures, and things that are the same. This is the practice of the historical thinking concept, continuity and change. See more…

Cremation of Sam McGee

Robert Service’s ballad about Sam McGee, the miner who could never get warm, was published with great popularity in 1907, and has been a classic every since. Explain to your kids that the story is an embellished and humorous look at the hardship of the Yukon gold rush.

The real Sam McGee was a successful miner from Ontario, who struck it rich and, in 1909, retired to fruit farming in Summerland, BC. He never met Robert Service, who used his name after McGee made a deposit at the bank in Whitehorse where Robert Service was a teller. On his 2nd return to the Yukon, Sam McGee found his fellow passengers on the steam-ship were buying “genuine ashes of Sam McGee”! It’s not everyday one can buy one’s own cremated ashes! McGee’s cabin is now part of the exhibit at the MacBride Musum in Whitehorse, YK.

Hear a marvelous rendition of the ballad at this link.

Order Ahead – Conferences

There’s nothing like a homeschool conference to get close-up and personal with books that will make or break your next school year. You know your children better than anyone and what materials will engage them most.

You can get the most out of a conference by shopping online ahead of time, knowing exactly what you want to view, and even ordering ahead to just pick up and go without the shipping costs.  On our site, to order online, choose the Pay by Cheque option and add a note in the comments field as you are finalizing your order, about where you want to pick it up. (If you miss the comments field, just send an instructional email to info@donnaward.net.) We’ll subtract the shipping added and have your order ready for pick-up.

Just make sure you really intend to pick up though. Look forward to seeing you.

Conference Schedule 2018

Provincial Court System in Canada

Alex guides students as they discover the role and function of various provincial courts. While these lessons are about BC courts, all provinces and territories have roughly the same court system.
Students will learn about issues common to every court such as judicial independence and access to the courts. Students can watch videos where Alex talks to a various judges from the various courts.
Includes videos, a student handout, and a teacher’s guide for high school level.
Read more..

Black History Month

Mathieu Da Costa may have been the first black freeman, acting as an interpreter, to visit Canada with de Mons & Champlain, celebrated in this Canada Postage Stamp.

People of African descent have had a part in shaping Canada’s identity. Some Loyalists who came during and after the American Revolution and settled in East Coast provinces, were black. As far back as the War of 1812, Black Canadian soldiers defended our country and made sacrifices. Black History Month is a focused time to learn about the important contribution of Black Canadians in the history of our country, and to celebrate with Black Canadians the role and importance their ancestors played in the fabric of our society. See videos and resources here to make this easy for you to talk about Black History Month with your students.

Bay of Fundy Tides

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, and those enormous tides mean that the Bay of Fundy is one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. Most tides around the world average around 1 meter, so why is does the tide in the Bay of Fundy reach up to 16 meters?

We have an easy experiment to try with bath water, and some videos to help explain this natural phenomena. Are you ready to discover something amazing? Read more…

Animal Tracks & Learning to Think

 

For the printable worksheet and accompanying video go HERE.
Looking at animal tracks gives children a chance to observe, question, and think critically about what they see. Looking for animal tracks is a great opportunity to turn off the devices and enjoy the outdoors while combining science and geography with investigation and inquiry.

Poems recited by Robert Service

Click here for link to Poems recited by Robert Service

Robert Service by his cabin in the Yukon

Robert Service, a wanderer and a poet, became famous in his lifetime for ballads about the Klondike Goldrush.

He wrote many poems before he went to the north, and later, was transferred by the bank he worked for to Whitehorse, and then Dawson City.

He heard the old-timer’s tales and turned them into verse.

We love to share with you YouTube audios of Robert Service reciting two of his most famous poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee. Click the link in the title above the image to go to our webpage. While there, also see printables of the text so your family can follow along, with notes for reading comprehension.

Our family fondly remembers the middle school years when we read through a ballad a day at the dinner table.

Every Canadian should know the ballads of Robert Service. I hope you enjoy them.