British Home Children

Ever thought about teaching your students about the British Home Children, that were brought to Canada from 1869 to 1930, many against their will or families knowledge. This can offer a interesting topic to discuss with your students and offer students a chance to take on a stance in a social justice debate the positives and negatives to the issue.

If your interested in setting up your class for a debate on the British Home Children set up your classroom into groups. Have one group represent the "reformers" who are all about reforming these poor children's lives by sending them to Canada, and another group to represent the families of the British Home Children, who's children are being ripped away from them or their signing their children over in hopes of a better life. If you would like another two groups in addition to represent a different view point, one could be the family receiving these children in Canada and the other group could be the British Home Children themselves. After assigning each group a different perspective, allow students time to research and form a strong argument for their perspective.

This activity is excellent for promoting historical perspectives with your students. This will get students to begin developing historical thinking skills that will get students to start taking on the role of a historian.