Let me kick start this 5 day series with the parliament of canada !
This is a great field trip for kids studying the government … I would suggest maybe 8 years and up …depending on the child and their interest in architecture and /or government as they not only learn about the government but the building itself is really beautiful to visit and learn about.
oh and by the way it is FREE just be careful as it fills up fast during tourist season and they have limited spaces for visits and close early in the afternoon.
We like to go see the fireworks … but other then that we take advantage of the day to just be together and enjoy what ever local activities we stumble upon. From outdoor concerts to festivals… there is always something fun to see and do on Canada Day 🙂
We tend to have a relaxing family day and try to make some fun summer cool treats such as this neat cold treat 🙂
freeze bananas for a few hours and then toss in blender with a few raspberries … taste just like raspberry ice cream 🙂 really creamy, completely raw, vegan and delicious!
When I started homeschooling; I so badly wanted to just buy a box with everything I “needed” to homeschool. Sadly I never found this magic box… every boxed curriculum I found seemed to contain stuff that was pointless or stuff my kids didn’t want or stuff my kids already knew.
So I get curriculum from many places…
For math I highly recommend Math Mammoth ; it is well organized and set up and the price is just perfect.
As for other subjects; I have a variety of stuff we use on and off depending if they are interested in using it or not at that moment.
For french we have Rosetta Stone as our main source; my review of rosetta stone is so/so ; I find it does’t pick up the kids voices that well and kind of goes from easy to expecting them to spell all of a sudden I supplement with story books and shows in french.
For italian I have these great books and italian cartoons are always very entertaining.
For geography and history we use ‘Canada map books’, they are a really great place to start. We supplement with books from the library and shows on history.
For science I have several kits I bought that have helped my kids learn hands on.
I try to go with what they are into and find stuff to expand on for them to learn more … the internet is always a wonderful resource.
And I find you don’t always need curriculum in the sense of a workbook with pages to write in but rather hands on learning is essential.
although I do feel like everything we do is fun 🙂 otherwise why bother doing it ?
I figured the best way for me to answer this; is to make a random list of “fun” things we do; some daily … some weekly … and some seasonal 🙂
library visits
museums
park days
chalk fun
bike rides
scooter rides
board games
card games
hide and seek
play tag
nature hunt
hikes
city adventures
making smoothies
swimming
blowing bubbles
reading books
drawing
painting
dancing
singing
play basketball
play street hockey
play mini put
roller blading
skateboarding
hopscotch
playing with our dog
making desserts
water fight
shadow play
friendship bracelet making
origami
free creative play
cardboard box playing
lego play time
I am certain I forgot a lot more things… but this is a good starting point 🙂