1. 9/12/2015 Social Studies at Sutherland Kevin J. Benoy Social Studies Department Sutherland Secondary School

2. The Big Picture - Required Courses  8 - Map Skills & Eurasian History to the Reformation  9 - Map Skills, European Exploration & North America to the American Revolution  10- Canada from the American Revolution to 1900, Canadian Regional Geography, & the Pacific Rim  11- Canadian Government, Canadian 20 th Century History, Canada & World, Problems in Geography.

3. Senior Electives in Social Studies  History 12 - The 20th Century World with an emphasis on the Great Powers  Geography 12 - The Physical World & Man’s Interaction With it.  Comparative Civilizations 12 - Cultural History through Art and Architecture.  Law 12 - Criminal and Civil Law in Canada

4. Where kids have trouble  Background knowledge may be weak. Have they experience with maps? Do they follow the news? Do they read for recreation?  Low frustration thresholds cause them to avoid work instead of fixing problems.  Work is missed or lost due to disorganization.  Obsessive and perfectionist students may invest hours in tasks intended to take minutes.

5. How you can help  Keep on top of their work, ensuring it is being done. Check with their teacher – ideally by e-mail. Several teachers have blog-sites – allowing you to “virtually” look over your son or daughter’s shoulder.  Help them through the little problems – before they snowball into big ones.  Help them see things from a bigger perspective. Every class or assignment is just one step along a longer path.  Connect the content with real life problems that you have dealt with.

6. How can you help?  Read texts with them.  Take an interest in the material. Adults find History fascinating because we have experienced more of it and have a sense of time.  Discuss plans of attack for studying. Help them organize their materials and their method of studying.  Refer them to teachers’ websites and support links

7. The Hidden Curriculum  In addition to course content, Social Studies stresses skill development - Study Skills - Writing Skills - Research Skills - Speaking Skills

8. Our goals  To foster curiosity  To encourage critical thinking  To build study skills  To develop research, writing & speaking skills  To create intercultural awareness  To build a content base in Geography & History in all SS courses, and Political Science in SS11, Art History in C.Civ.12 and Law in Law 12.

9. Conclusion  The material is fascinating, but difficult for some.  However, if school and home both work on developing good skills and attitudes in students, they nearly always find success.