Home Schooling

This program combines Social Studies, The Arts, and Mathematics as we explore our changing family and community traditions using the Scottish heritage of the former residents of McDougall Cottage as a focused exploration. Students will explore Scottish celebrations by looking at traditional music, foodways, dance, clothing, and conclude with an Art and Mathematics design challenge!

Heritage and Identity - Changing Family and Community Traditions; The Arts;  Mathematics - Algebra: Patterns and Relationships 

1 hour in-person on-site.

With only a small 'kist' to carry their most important practical and sentimental belongings to a new home in Upper Canada, how and why did an emigrant family select those precious items? In what ways might this have changed for families moving to a new country today? In this inquiry-based program, students will unpack and explore artifacts essential to Scottish emigrants in the nineteenth century, drawing comparisons between their own lives and the communities that formed new beginnings in Waterloo Region between 1780 and 1850.

Heritage and Identity - Communities in Canada, 1780 - 1850

1 hour in-person on-site

We will take your class on an exploration of the recently uncovered 100-year-old murals, friezes, and trompe l’oeil at McDougall Cottage. Students will compare and contrast historic mural art with modern examples of optical illusion mural, street, and body art, and then try their hand at creating their own ‘trick of the eye’ art piece.

The Arts

1 hour in-person on-site.

Roll up your sleeves, it’s time to get to work outside as we dig into the natural world relationships that our planet relies on! Explore plant parts, pump water, and work in the garden; make medicine from plants; use mini-microscopes to examine healthy soils; tend to the vermiculture box, and more!

Science and Technology: Understanding Life Systems, Understanding Matter and Energy, Understanding Earth and Space Systems

2 hours in-person on-site.

Offered in the spring and fall.

This program introduces students to the wildlife and animals found in our backyard! With hands-on activities including an owl pellet dissection, students examine the differences between local mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as the relationships between humans and animals in both past and present-day contexts.

Science and Technology: Understanding Life Systems – Growth and Changes in Animals, Habitats, and Communities

2 hours on-site in-person.

Students will explore the variety of traditions within their families and their local communities, participating in a traditional ‘working bee’ that is all about apples! Students will work together to make apple cider and dried apple pieces called schnitz. Visit the historic house and conclude with a traditional game.

Social Studies: Heritage and Identity – Changing Family and Community Traditions

2 hours on-site in-person.

Offered in the fall.

This program provides students with a hands-on opportunity to experience the science of bread making, an important activity for communities from all around the world, both historically and today. Physical and chemical changes, changes of state, and the effects of heat (fire) on matter are demonstrated as students produce a variety of breads for sampling, comparing historic and modern cooking technology.

Science & Technology: Understanding Matter and Energy – Properties and Changes in Matter

2 hours in-person on-site