I have my sons study the countries of Epcot...

[NvrBnToWDW]

Here's an idea: I homeschool my sons, and to plan for our trip we have been checking books out of the library about the countries in Epcot. We study the history, custom, foods, and languages. We also learned (from this board) how to say "hello" and "goodbye". Now, when we go (25 days!) we'll know a little bit about these foreign lands.

 

[crcormier]

That's a great idea. That's why I've always loved Epcot, there's so much to learn there. And I also think it's a fallacy that kids will find Epcot 'boring'.

 

[tjmw2727]

I don't homeschool but we did this as well.

Last year when we went to WDW my dd's were in 1st and 3rd grade and we read a bit about every country. It made touring WS lots of fun for all of us, we collected autographs and stamps and met some wonderful CM's.

This year each dd picked one country and we did more extensive research prior to the trip. We researched, climate, population, music architecture and so much more!!

During the trip they met some great CM's and asked some questions they had prepared and practiced a few phrases. They both wrote a great report about the chosen country.

You can really have fun with this!

TJ

 

[NJDisneymom]

I noticed some great printouts on themouseforless.com when I was looking at their journal pages. they have printouts to identify the different flags, hints to guess what country they are talking about, etc. My dd is a little young for most of it, but I am keeping it in mind for future trips.

 

[tjmw2727]

I noticed some great printouts on themouseforless.com when I was looking at their journal pages. they have printouts to identify the different flags, hints to guess what country they are talking about, etc. My dd is a little young for most of it, but I am keeping it in mind for future trips.

Yes, I forgot about this - what I liked best was the part where the child has to write about what he/she expected to see and what they actually saw. I am going to use this for our upcoming Washington DC trip.

THanks alot!
TJ

 

[bjakmom]

Thanks for the great idea ! - DNeph (7) spends his summer days with me and we're always looking for fun things to research - if we research one country each week, he'll be all ready for his October trip - I love the idea of learning to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' - the CMs who do the passports for the kids are so wonderful - it would be fun to learn to say 'thank you' to them when they sign and stamp the book!

 

[crazymomof4]

Here's an idea: I homeschool my sons, and to plan for our trip we have been checking books out of the library about the countries in Epcot. We study the history, custom, foods, and languages. We also learned (from this board) how to say "hello" and "goodbye". Now, when we go (25 days!) we'll know a little bit about these foreign lands.

I homeschool now but I started doing this w/ DS # 1 and 2 before I homeschooled them. We would pick a country each week, starting several weeks before our trip.

In addition to the books at the library, I also found videos to borrow. Some were travel videos, some were documentary type videos but they gave the kids a nice visual impression of each country in advance of visiting the pavillions in EPCOT.

Also, I would make foods native to the country we were "studying" that week. Now that we have the internet it is very easy to find international recipes. I looked here for our 2003 trip: http://www.recipesource.com/
I usually aim for a main dish and a dessert.

 

[MrsPete]

That's why I've always loved Epcot, there's so much to learn there.

I disagree. You get just a quick glance at the most superficial and stereotypical aspects of each country. I don't want my kids to come away thinking that Norway is all about trolls or that England can be summed up with a hedge maze and one quaint-looking telephone booth. It's a starting place for discussing foreign countries with kids, but I sure hope no one makes it an entire lesson!

 

[tjmw2727]

I disagree. You get just a quick glance at the most superficial and stereotypical aspects of each country. I don't want my kids to come away thinking that Norway is all about trolls or that England can be summed up with a hedge maze and one quaint-looking telephone booth. It's a starting place for discussing foreign countries with kids, but I sure hope no one makes it an entire lesson!

Then you haven't read the entire thread! We were discussing all the various things you can study, before, during and after WS and the resources we use.

TJ

 

[crazymomof4]

I disagree. You get just a quick glance at the most superficial and stereotypical aspects of each country. I don't want my kids to come away thinking that Norway is all about trolls or that England can be summed up with a hedge maze and one quaint-looking telephone booth. It's a starting place for discussing foreign countries with kids, but I sure hope no one makes it an entire lesson!

When you say, "lesson", I assume you mean a homeschool lesson.
I've just looked through all of the posts here and no one mentioned making this a "lesson" for homeschooling. While the OP does homeschool, this thread is not about homeschooling. I think the intent of the OP, myself and other posters, is to teach our kids MORE about the EPCOT countries so they will come away from the trip with more than "just a quick glance at the most superficial and stereotypical aspects of each country".