The other night there happen to be on TV the show “Around the World in 80 days.” My daughter sat and watched it with us. Few days later at the library, I found the book “Around the World in 80 days” and thought it would be a nice follow up to the show. There were several versions, so I chose one that was suitable for her level. She must have liked it coz’ she finished the book that day itself.

Anyway, seeing her level of enthusiasm, I thought I could turn this into a homeschool lesson plan. This would be a fun way to learn about the different countries. You know, start our own “Around the World” project. At first I contemplated doing lapbooks but I’ve never tried it. Wanna see what a lapbook is? It’s a really nice way to learn. See the video below:

But lazy me just decided to buy a lined book and we did this instead:
Travel Book
Travel Book

We started with London. Recorded things like which continent it’s on, which country, names of other cities, names of neighbouring countries, the different ways to travel to London, and name of the airports.
Then we started on a picture hunt: pictures of London during the different seasons, and pictures of famous landmarks and stuff. We have the famous red double-decker bus, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the River Thames, the big parks, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Royal Albert Hall, and Picadilly Circus.

Once again, online videos were a good tool. Talking about the palace, we watched the changing of the guards. I also mentioned Princess Diana and we watched the royal wedding and her beautiful dress.

I found a fun activity called “A Weekend in London.” Basically it’s outlining a travel itinerary starting with your arrival at Gatwick airport on a Friday evening. You have to find out things like:

  • how much is the train ticket to London?
  • What is the address of the hotel?
  • What is a traditional take-away English meal?
  • Where do you want to go to sightsee?

You’ll find this activity here: A Virtual Trip to London

Currently we’ve finished London and Paris. Hopefully one day we’ll actually get to travel and see these places. Okay, hope you liked this lesson idea.