Social Studies: Living and Working in Ontario

Living and Working in Ontario:
Letter Home

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Our class is studying a new social studies unit: Living and Working in Ontario.

We will be learning about the three landform regions in Ontario, including their features, climate, and natural resources. We will also learn about people’s connections to the land and natural resources. We will explore the challenges of balancing people’s needs and wants with protecting God’s Creation.

This unit will also focus on the following principle of Catholic Social Teachings: the person as God’s manager, worker, and steward of Creation. As well, it will focus on the following Catholic virtues: faith, hope, love, good sense, fairness, courage, and self-discipline.

To help your child become a steward of God’s Creation, consider the following activities:

•      Discuss how your family tries to care for the environment or your community.

•      As a family, commit to actions you can take to do more for the environment or your community.

Your child will also be developing inquiry and mapping skills as we work on this unit: how to ask questions; how to gather and organize information; how to interpret and analyze information; how to evaluate information and draw conclusions; and how to analyze and construct maps. To help develop your child’s skills, consider the following activities:

•      Discuss with your child how land is used in your community for recreation, commerce, housing, conservation, and so on.

•      Examine maps of Ontario with your child. Talk about what you can learn from these maps.

As we work on this unit, I will be sending home other activities that you and your child can work on together.

Thank you for your partnership in your child’s learning.