Some Pictures

Our new friends in Mrs. Cheeks class in Arkansas asked if we could put some pictures up of our school.  We had a really busy day, but we were able to take a few!

This is the sign on the front of our school.

This is part of our playground

This is a panoramic shot of the corner our school is on.

Welcome Primary Blogging Community Friends!

We always love having visitors to our blog, but this week we would like to extend a very special welcome to our Blogging Community friends. Welcome Mrs. Andrada, Mrs. Cheek and Mrs. Mastin's classes.  We are so glad you dropped in, and hope you enjoy your virtual visit to the Primary Learning Room at Eastwood Public School in Windsor, Ontario Canada!

Our Wagner's Orchard Field Trip

On October 16th, it was a beautiful day, and we got to go apple picking! We had a lot of fun, and ate a lot of apples! Click the link below to see a quick video of highlights from our trip!

Our Wagner's Orchard Field Trip

Our Trip to Wagner Orchards

The kids had a great time on our trip today. Check back for pictures soon, we are just ironing out some technical difficulties...

It's almost Thanksgiving!

We are gearing up this week for Thanksgiving! We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our students and families a very Happy Thanksgiving! Many people associate Thanksgiving with Pilgrams, but that is actually part of the history of Thanksgiving for our Southern neighbours in the USA.  Canadian Thanksgiving actually has a history all of its' own... Here's a little history behind Canadian Thanksgiving!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

Harvest Season

How It Began

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

Official Holiday

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week.

The 49th Parallel

Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October. So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

Have Your Say

What will you be doing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Do you have any family traditions that you're looking forward to? Let us know all about your Thanksgiving plans!

Read more: Canadian Thanksgiving | History | Tradition | Harvest Festival | Thanksgiving Day | Holiday http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2614-canadian-thanksgiving#ixzz2gzKsBKHt