Education and Early Childhood Learning

Early Years

Supporting Language Development

• Read to your child in whichever language you speak at home. That will support literacy learning in French.
• Have your child read silently and aloud and talk about their books.
• Have your child keep a journal about what they are doing, learning and feeling or about the new words they are learning.
• Play a board game in French.
• Have your child help read or write with a purpose by helping with a recipe or a grocery list.
• Invent a story with your child. Encourage them to use as many French words as they can.
• Have your child go on a colour hunt (e.g. Find something red). Ask your child to say the colour in French. They can also describe, count, and sort their objects.
• Listen to television shows, songs, videos in French and/or English.

Supporting Science and Mathematics Development
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Have your child find objects that are longer or shorter than a shoe or a string or a ruler.  Together, use a shoe to measure the length of a floor mat.
• Fill different containers with sand in a sandbox or with water in the bath, and see which containers hold more and which hold less.
• Compare and organize household items. Take cereal boxes or cans of vegetables from the cupboard and have your child line them up from tallest to shortest.
• Keep a record of the daily temperature outside and of your child’s outdoor activities. After a few weeks, ask your child to look at the record and see how the temperature affected his or her activities.
• Include your child in activities that involve measurements. Have your child measure the ingredients in a recipe, or the length of a bookshelf you plan to build.
• Build structures with Legos or other kits and have your child describe shapes, colours, as well as design choices to ensure stability to work on mathematics and science concepts.
• Play card games or board games and do puzzles with your child that involve math. They may focus on direction or time, logic and reasoning, sorting, or estimating.
• Go on a “shape hunt.” Have your child look for as many circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles as he or she can find in your home or outside. Do the same with three-dimensional objects like cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders. Point out that street signs come in different shapes and that a juice can is like a cylinder. Ask your child to say the shapes in French.
• Ask your child to help you solve everyday number problems. “We need six tomatoes to make our sauce for dinner, and we have only two. How many more do we need to buy?”
• Make up games using dice and playing cards. Try rolling dice and adding or multiplying the numbers that come up.
• Plant a seed with your child and watch it grow. Your child can name the parts of the plant in French and learn about what a plant needs to grow well. Your child can also regularly measure the height of the plant and even draw a diagram to represent the plant’s growth.

Supporting Social Studies/Citizenship Development
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Have children think about themselves and others in the family. They can create an ID card such as a driver’s license for themselves and others in the family in French including: Nom (name), âge, taille (height), couleur des yeux (eye colour), couleur des cheveux (hair colour). Have them draw a “photo”.
• Have children think about citizenship by reflecting on the people around them. They can think about people who help them and draw or make a collage of helpers like parents, teachers, doctors, firefighters, etc. Using a dictionary or online translator, help your child label the helpers in French.
• Have children think about citizenship by thinking about rights and responsibilities.  They can create a short play (or a video if the technology is available at home) about someone who doesn’t observe their responsibilities, for example a recycling and garbage collector who doesn’t do their job for several weeks. What would be the consequences? Have them think about their rights and responsibilities at home: What positive contributions can we make as a family member? As a friend? With the class? Have you child make a list of rights and responsibilities, e.g. I have a right to be safe and I have a responsibility to not hurt others.

Supporting Artistic Development (Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts)
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Select a book, a song, a poem or other stimuli (in French if you have) and invite your child to:
• role-play, dramatize, play with puppets, dance;
• illustrate in 2D (drawing, painting, collage, etc.) or 3D (sculpture, puppet, mock-up, etc.) using arts materials (paper, crayons, markers, paints, scissors, play dough, fabric, modelling clay, etc.);
• add sound effects and music. Record (e.g. with your cellphone, tablet) and share with family and friends.
• Explore the sounds of your environment by having your child:
• make homemade sound boxes (e.g. small plastic containers such as egg shakers) to test the sound of different materials such as dried food (rice, grains, peas, beans, etc.), metal (e.g., nuts, washers), plastic, fabric, etc.
• tap on glasses or bottles that are filled with water to different levels.
• Have your child create a piece of artwork with everyday items (e.g. spoons, empty egg cartons, tubes) or with homemade playdough. Take a picture of this artwork.
• Provide spaces in your home for arts-based activities (e.g. painting/drawing table, easel, area to dance, listen to music, dress-up centre, etc.). Talk with your kids about their art. Encourage their curiosity. Ask questions.
• Join in on the #cavabienaller campaign on social media, drawing creative rainbows with the slogan “ça va bien aller” (it’s going to be okay) and post them in windows to express some much-needed hope during the pandemic. The campaign started in Italy and provides good vibes during this period of isolation.
• Encourage your children to take photos when you go for walks. Have them make sketches of what they see, write a poem, or create a song or dance about their experiences.
• Build a musical instrument (e.g., pots of various sizes to make a drum set; a cardboard box/elastics to make a guitar)
• Listen to and if possible memorize the chorus and the verses of a French children’s song. Try to reproduce the melody on any available musical instruments you may have.
• Dance with your child to add some variety to your daily routine. Listen to music, find a steady beat, try different movements. “How does this music make you want to move?” Perform animal walks or playing Simon dit (Simon Says). Find what works for your child. 

Supporting Physical Education/Health Education Development

• Encourage your child to participate in daily physical activities, such as jumping rope, jogging/running/walking, riding a bike, rollerblading, skateboarding, dancing, doing house and yard work, running obstacle courses, participating in games that involve running and chasing (alone or with siblings), doing a circuit that includes jumping jacks, push-ups, running on the spot, squats, lunges, jumping, etc.

Middle Years

Français (Literacy)

• Listen and dance to French music.
• Create a Bingo game prior to going for a walk in your neighborhood. Ask your child to say the object in French.
• Play dominos or card games and try to encourage your child to say the numbers in French.
• Involve your child during meal prep and ask your child to name the ingredients in French.
• Watch age-appropriate French language films or videos with your child on YouTube or other platforms.
• Listen to music in French via Youtube, Spotify, etc.
• Ask your child to write in a journal about what is happening with the pandemic or about a future family holiday or event. Encourage your child to write as much as possible in French.

Mathematics and Science
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Include your child in activities that involve measurements. Have your child measure the ingredients in a recipe or calculate the amount of money needed to buy groceries.
• Have your child examine flyers to compare the prices of different brands of items. They can look at the size of the packaging to make a decision about what to buy and why.
• Go for a walk with you child and notice any signs of Spring. Is the snow melting? What birds do you see? Can you see plants starting to grow or trees budding?
• Have your child make and test different types of paper airplanes. Which one flies the fastest? Which one goes the furthest? Which on flies the straightest?
• Have your child think about the different changes involved in cooking and baking. Have them think about whether they might be physical changes or chemical reactions.
• Play card games or board games and do puzzles with your child that involve math. They may focus on direction or time, logic and reasoning, sorting, or estimating.

Social Studies
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Invite your child to think about identity. What makes them unique (different from other people)? What do they have in common with others? They can think about their ethnic or cultural community, the schools they have attended, what it means to them to be Canadian, what music, art, literature they enjoy, what teams or groups (sports, recreation, etc.) they belong to, their religious beliefs, their role and relationships within the family, where they live, the language(s) they speak, etc. Have them share in writing or orally what they consider to be the most important influences on their identity.
• Invite your child to think about citizenship, about the actions, decisions and values of active and democratic citizens. Have them think about what is happening in our country today and name someone and describe how they are actively supporting other in the local community or at a national level.
• You're living history right now! This pandemic will be a topic in the history textbooks of the future. When we study history, we look at what has changed and what has not changed (continuity). Ask your child to think about what they see around them in their family, their community, their city, the country, the world. What has changed because of the pandemic? What hasn't changed? Are there things that will change or not change after the pandemic? Why? Are there things that should change after the pandemic? Why?

Arts Education (Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts)
(As you are doing these activities, you are also supporting language development)

• Listen to music and have your child reproduce the melody of their preferred music on any available musical instruments you may have;
  • Create their own song list;
  • Change the lyrics of one song;
  • Compare two musical pieces (music elements, contexts, message, etc.).
• Invite your child to draw or color every day (e.g. mandalas, still life, found objects, mangas, etc.) even if it's just for 20 minutes. Several studies show that drawing or coloring can have a positive effect on well-being.
• Invite your child to create a piece of artwork with everyday items (e.g., spoons, empty egg cartons, tubes). Take pictures of the artwork.
• If your child has an instrument at home, encourage them to continue playing, learn new musical pieces and/or memorize preferred ones.
• Play Charades, try Pantomimes and/or practice improvisation, etc.
• Invite your child to select a book, a song, a poem or other stimuli (in French if you have) to:
  • Role-play, dramatize, dance, etc.;
  • Illustrate in 2D (drawing, painting, collage, etc.) or 3D (sculpture, mock-up, etc.) using arts materials;
  • Add sound effects and music;
  • Record (e.g. with your cellphone, tablet) and share with family, friends or younger children.

Senior Years

Literacy

The following suggestions could be useful in supporting the continued development of your child’s French language skills:

• Play a game in French with family members. Scrabble is a great way to teach and learn new words!
• Do you have a sibling/siblings also in French Immersion? Ensure that you speak to each other in French throughout the day. If you want to have some fun with vocabulary, create a game out of your conversation such as "Association".
  Example: Un chat/ une souris/ du fromage/ des craquelins/ etc. Or start by sharing your favourite music artist's name or favourite song and go from there. To add language complexity and unexpected twists, create a story by starting with a sentence and see where it takes you.
• Create a one minute monologue on a topic of your choice and practice it in front of a mirror to monitor facial expressions, body language, verbal emphasis. This will help develop public speaking skills and your French vocabulary. You could also "become" a book character and create a monologue pertaining to a conflict they faced in the book. Imagine how they were feeling, what they were thinking, etc. Record a video of your monologue and ask for feedback from peers or a teacher.
• Check out what Netflix, Crave, Amazon Prime offers in movies, tv series, documentaries and have a family movie night in French (use subtitles for parents if necessary!)
• Listen to French radio : CKSB-10-FM (88.1 MHz) or 89.9 FM for ICI Musique (Radio-Canada) or use Spotify to access a variety of French music. If you’re stuck, ask your teacher for suggestions.
• What French books, graphic novels, magazines do you have at home? Read silently or aloud to a sibling or parent. Keep a reading log of memorable passages, themes, quotes.
• Audio books and e-books are a great way to access a variety of French literature. Check your community library or St. Boniface Library for options.
• Keep a daily journal of what is happening in the world, the country, your community. Be sure to add personal commentary on how you view these events. If you prefer, create a Vlog commentary to add to your journal entries.
• What are some of your favourite quotes? Keep a quotes journal. Choose a theme: Friendship, Love, Responsibility, Wealth, etc. If it's a quote in English or in another language, how would it be written in French? Analyze the meaning of the quotes, why they speak to you.
• Document these historical times. Write about what is happening in your life, the impact Covid-19 has had in your life, in your community, in your school, your feelings and thoughts. Literary genres that could be explored:
  • Informative text (Editorial, Infographic Chart, Cause-Effect article, Interview, etc.)
  • Song or poem
  • Blog article
  • Short story
  • Slam
  • Memoire
  • Webradio story

Mathematics and Science

• Your teen can find statistics or graphs given by media and you can scrutinize them together. Do you agree with them? Were they misrepresented in some way to prove their point? Is there bias in the way that the data was collected and displayed? Discuss.
• Your teen can think about a future trip that requires a change of currency. What excursions would they do each day? They can create an itinerary and budget, including transportation, meals, excursions, currency exchange, and other miscellaneous costs.
• Your teen can calculate a household budget. For older students, create a budget for when they want to leave home. Include savings (recommended 10 percent), transportation, housing and utilities, food, entertainment, and miscellaneous items in the budget. Check out this useful Budget Planner on the Government of Canada website.
• Your teen can experiment and adapt recipes for healthy alternatives and lifestyle choices. They can explain their decision-making and compare their findings with others. Encourage your teen to use many different sources and to consider the accuracy of information.
• Involve your teen in creating a weekly family meal plan based on a budget, health considerations, and family preferences, and list the groceries needed along with the cost per item.

Arts Education (Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts)

Invite your teenager to:

• Continue to sing or play a musical instrument; learn to play a new instrument; memorize or compose music;
• Explore or deepen your knowledge of visual arts techniques and processes (watercolor, drawing, photography, oil, etc.); illustrate a poem or story;
• Imagine and write a play, rehearsing a role, a scene;
• Learn, refine or create a dance.

Social Science

• Create a diary. You are living in an important moment in history. The year 2020 and COVID-19 will be subjects studied, analyzed and will be part of the historical texts in the future. Since your child is living the experience, they are a participant and observer and therefore are able to contribute their own primary sources to the historical narrative. As a historian, ask your child to reflect on the elements of this pandemic and create a diary (written, video or otherwise) with observations, feelings, reflections, etc. Your child can add photos, drawings, graphics, etc. as well as new terms that were never or rarely used before, such as social distancing, confinement, etc. Essentially they are creating a primary source. They should do 2 to 3 entries a week.
• Expand on your thoughts. Have your child refer to the concepts of historical thinking. Choose one or two concepts and develop observations and reflections.
  • Establishing Historical Significance: Is This Pandemic Relevant to History? Why or why not?
  • Use primary sources as evidence: Cite sources; are they primary sources? Are there sources that are more reliable than others? Why?
  • Identify continuity and change: Think about beliefs, behaviours, decisions. What do you think has or hasn't changed since the virus was discovered? What will change or not change in the future? Why?
  • Analyze the causes and consequences: What caused this event? How has it influenced other events?
  • Take historical perspectives:  Are your perspectives similar or different compared to other people's perspectives? Describe them.
  • Understand the ethical dimension of historical interpretations: How will your perspectives and judgment influence your story? How will this event affect our future society?