Victoria Ave Walking Tour

Do you remember reading about the six strategies for effective learning? One of them was "interleaving." That means studying one subject for a little while then switching to another thing for a little while and perhaps a third thing for a while before going back to the first. This is a better way to get information into long-term memory than studying in one big block of time and then moving on.

Thanks to the four seasons we have here in Ontario, we will be forced to do some interleaving this month. We want to get ready to study care homes with Maria, but now is the best time for the Victoria Avenue Walking Tour that you have suggested we repeat. We did that a few years ago and I am also keen to go again!

This website has a wealth of information about Ontario architecture.

Here is a good website for a quick view of many architectural styles we will see on our walk.

If you want to walk or cycle around Windsor and learn about houses that are on the heritage register, you can download and print that out from HERE.

More on Houses

Hello, morning class!

The last post gives you links to some of the resources we used this week. Here are some activities you can do to reinforce the new terms.

Listen a minute - houses

House vocabulary

Read and listen - My family's house

Take a tour of a Craftsman American Foursquare. I love all that unpainted woodwork.

You asked how much one of those homes on Victoria Avenue would cost today. Check prices of homes around downtown Windsor. You can see photos of the interiors, too!

The Architecture of Windsor's Core

Hello, students of my morning class!

I am VERY excited that Doors Open Windsor has inspired you to want to learn more about the architectural heritage of Windsor, specifically here in the downtown core where there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL for a fun walking tour! This ties in beautifully with our goal of accessing free educational opportunities and achieving more social integration as we learn about Canadian culture.

I hope for us to be able to undertake this walking tour on Thursday.

In the meantime, we will learn the names of ten to twelve architectural styles and the terms needed to understand the main features of each one. I will be referencing this website in class a lot. I have asked the author for permission to use some of her photos in our handouts, but have not yet received a reply. Another good resource is the blog InternationalMetropolis. Andrew Foote has been blogging about Windsor and Detroit's history and architecture for some years now, so his is a rich site.

This "vernacular cottage" is the downtown home that first caused me to stumble upon the Heritage Register. It was built in 1900 and seemingly has no basement or crawlspace. I managed a peek inside when it was for rent two or three years ago.

I can't think of a better way to enjoy a mild September morning in the core than walking around looking at the beautiful Queen Anne, American Foursquare, and Craftsman style houses around us! It's like a treasure trove in our own backyard.