We’re spending this year studying Canada! I previously shared our studies of:
Since everyone’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes glimpse at our month-long studies, I thought I would share our recent homeschool New Brunswick unit study. It was a month full of wonderful books and educational experiences!
This family did a New Brunswick unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this fascinating province! #homeschool #canada #newbrunswick Click To Tweet
OUR CURRICULUM
The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.
READ-ALOUD BOOKS
As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying New Brunswick, I made sure that the books I chose were related.
It was a challenge to find a novel based in the province of New Brunswick, so we ended up reading Dear Canada: Banished From Our Home: The Acadian Diary of Angelique Richard, Grande-pre, Acadia, 1755. This historical fiction about the expulsion of the Acadians was a fascinating, but also a very sad read. However, my girls enjoyed this book and often begged me to read more than our allotted amount.
F is for Fiddlehead: A New Brunswick Alphabet was another great book. I’ve been hooked on this series of books since we began our studies of Canada. Even though this is an alphabet book, it’s a very educational read! Reading through this book often reinforces the facts we’ve learned and also introduces new information about the province too. We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.
Canada Close Up: New Brunswick gave us detailed information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.
VIDEOS
We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of New Brunswick. My children’s favourite part of the province was the Hopewell Rocks.
ARTIST STUDY
Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring. This month we studied Alexander Colville. He traveled and lived in numerous places, but since he taught at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick from 1946 to 1963, I thought he would be a suitable artist to pair with our New Brunswick studies.
We used this Mapping Colville interactive map to specifically investigate the areas his paintings depicted / were inspired from.
The four Alexander Colville paintings that we studied were:
- To Prince Edward Island
- Church and Horse
- On a River
- Seven Crows
We discussed Alexander Colville’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.
ACTIVITIES
We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:
- Fredericton – the capital of New Brunswick
- The provincial flag
- Provincial flower: the Purple Violet
- The provincial bird: the Black-Capped Chickadee
We also made sure to cook some recipes that are popular in the region. Poutines With a Hole was our favourite New Brunswick treat!
As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about New Brunswick. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.
Our month-long study of New Brunswick was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Quebec!
Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!
SHARE WITH OTHERS
My mom lived in New Brunswick. My favorite campground is Funday National Park. They have the BEST covered bridges. I love reading this. It looks like you and your girls had fun.
We had so much fun! We saw some images of the covered bridges (we hardly get anything like that here in Alberta). Thanks for sharing!