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Learn About Canada: Geography

We’re traveling to the continent of North America for the next month.

First stop: Canada!

The second largest country in the world, Canada is known for its delicious maple syrup, beautiful natural landscape, hockey, and french and indigenous influences. There are 10 Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan, and three Canadian territories: Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.

For this week’s lesson you will color your own map of Canada, and find each province and territory. Before getting started you will need some crayons and pencils to color your map.

Download Activity Sheet:


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Ask a Bilingual Expert

Sophia Espinoza is a career educator and curriculum designer with seven years of experience teaching in private and independent schools across the country. She is an expert in 21st-century education, including technologically-powered personalization, multilingual and multicultural curriculums, and social-emotional learning.

Sophia began teaching in Chicago Public Schools through Chicago Teaching Fellows, learning to support both English Language Learners and students with neurodiverse needs. Among her proudest accomplishments is launching the AltSchool Spanish Immersion Program, with the mission of creating bilingual global citizens who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Sophia holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and M.A.Ed. from Dominican University.

Benefits of Bilingualism (FAQs):

Any advice on managing two Spanish dialects in the household?

Now that our world is more interconnected than ever, there are plenty of families where each parent could be from a different country in Latin America, with distinctive dialects, vocabulary, slang, and culture. And that’s totally ok for kids to be exposed to. Their perspectives are broadened and they learn to communicate cross-culturally, it’s a thing to be celebrated.

What do you recommend if I’m not completely fluent and my child’s school doesn’t have an immersion class?

I always encourage as much Spanish exposure as possible. Don’t worry about immersion classes availability or not being completely fluent as a parent. Use the Spanish you know, even if you may need to speak Spanglish, I sometimes only know a word in Spanish or vice versa, which is totally okay.

Do you recommend teaching different subjects in different languages?

Parents who live in an English-speaking country need to remember that children are always going to learn English; Their world is in English, their peers speak English. However, it’s important to give kids as much education as possible in the home in Spanish. They will inevitably learn English, and it will be even better if they learn their native language first.

Cognitive benefits of bilingualism

By introducing your child to a second language early, you give them the chance to access the cognitive benefits of being bilingual. Research shows that bilingual brains have better executive functioning in the following areas:

  1. Focus
  2. Mental multitasking and self-control
  3. Working memory

Common misconceptions about raising bilingual children

  1. Misconception: Learning two languages can be confusing for children.
    Reality: The brain activates all the languages a child knows at once; this doesn’t mean they are confused, they are still developing proficiency in each language.

  2. Misconception: It’s easy to learn a second language simply by exposing it to your child.
    Reality: Children need significant exposure to their native language (an estimated 30-40%) to keep proficiency.

  3. Misconception: Bilingual children struggle academically.
    Reality: They may know a lot, but their knowledge is scattered across all their languages.