Reviews for Country of the Week

"We started this program during lockdown as we weren’t able to travel. The COTW program inspired many of our post Covid vacations; we took a detour through Europe to visit Lichtenstein (the 4th smallest country in the world) and included a night in San Marino (another small country) when we visited Italy. I was also able to relate (to a degree) with a fellow guest at a wedding as he was from Sierra Leone, a landlocked country in Africa that I otherwise had never heard of and he commented that I was the only person that he’d ever met outside his country who knew of it. Our son received a class merit award for his creative writing when he wrote about he and his friends waking up in Turkmenistan. We would have never known of these countries, had we not signed up to this wonderfully inspirational program."

~ Hollie

"Through this program, my children explore living conditions, culture, manmade and natural wonders, and even the way children travel to school, presented in small pieces each week. While they are learning that we are blessed to live in Canada, they are also learning that the world is an exciting place filled with many good people who love their home. This is exactly the geography course for which I was looking.

The lessons being learned from this program go beyond a list of facts and define the world in terms of experiences and adventures."

~ Chandra

(Read Chandra's full review.)

"I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much we are loving Country of the Week! During a time when we are barely leaving our house, we are learning more about the world than ever before! I am not sure who is more excited for the day we find out our new country for the week (I think it is me)! This has been a wonderful family adventure so far and I am so excited to keep learning and discovering! Thank you so much for such an incredible project!"

~ Deena

"My 6 year old daughter and I are loving COTW so far. We are living pretty isolated up in Yellowknife, NWT these days and the weekly exploring helped to open up the world and bring some intrigue each week. One of the vloggers I'd recommend to add to your list if you haven't heard of them already is THE BUCKET LIST FAMILY. Their travel videos inspired us to look for other ways to explore the world and helped us stumble across COTW. Thanks again for putting this together and sharing your work."

~ Jessica

"Our family have loved being involved with Country of the Week! We have been getting our weekly country information for more than 3 years, and are up to country 180; so close now! I have seen first hand how much joy, interest, discussions, learning and passion that Dave and COTW have bought into our home. My kids love sharing their favourite countries and learning every week about new ones. It is such a flexible platform to base everything on - one week you can simply locate on a map, put up your information sheet and watch a single youtube clip. The next week, you might do an entire dinner party with food from the region, with music and hours of beautiful footage from the chosen country - you can do as much or as little as you choose. I highly, highly recommend Country of the Week!!

~ Phoebe

"Hey Dave and girls! I just wanted to let you know how much we love COTW! What an absolutely fantastic idea this was and you are executing it perfectly. I probably look forward to it even more than my kids.

My kids and I are on the last 50 countries with this program. This has been an amazing way for us to grow our love of the world we live in and with it, our love of places we want to someday visit. I appreciate all your work that goes into this program. Have a super day!"

~ Amy

"I put a map of the world up in our dining room and it has frequently sparked conversations about different places. Since we hear about a lot of things in the news about different places, especially relating to Covid right now, it is cool that my kids (4 and 10) are able to point out India and Russia on the map."

~ Christine

"This program is beyond amazing. My favourite experience to date with this amazing program...in the summer we were at a craft market and I was speaking to a man who made lotion. He was from Ghana. Easton heard that, walked over to him, and said “Maakye (Maa- chi)” which is hello in Ghanaian. He remembered it from Country of the Week earlier that spring!"

~ Amanda & Dave

"My kids are ages 10-13. What we've been doing is printing & posting up the main Country Profile Sheet, finding the country on the map, talking a bit about the country, then watching the video links together. I like that it's simple, doesn't take too much time, and we're learning a lot. Our favourite video so far has been the Cook Islands Tourism video with the two young tour guides - we re-watched that one last week because it was so entertaining!
Thanks for putting this together!"

~ Jaclyn

"We started COTW 2 years ago and have recently reached country #100. My parents give the subscription to my kids each year for their birthday. I initially suggested it in a bid to reduce the amount of stuff in our house.  We are an Australian family of 4 with 2 kids aged 12 and 10. I was initially unsure how we would go with it. But we just love it and it is now part of our lives. Each week on a Sunday night after dinner we start our new country by colouring in the flag and map, looking up some quick facts and starting on some videos. Our youngest is a parkour enthusiast so each week the first video we watch is a parkour video from the new country. For some places there is not much, maybe 1 video with 20 views! But we have found some gems which really showcase the architecture and feel of the country. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with COTW."

~ Jonas

"I am super impressed with the
COTW site. The intro pages are perfect for any age. My kids are 6 and 4, and their favourite part of it is finding the countries on the map...by the way, thanks for the suggestion to buy one, as it would not be near as fun without. My kids are into animals, so we try to see what animals we would find in each country. This has definitely brought out some curiosity in my kids about other countries in the world that they have not been exposed to yet."

~ Jody

"Our family has loved the adventure that Country of the Week has provided. We have been so excited each week to find out what our next country is. Every week, as we put a pin in our map for the new country, our 5 and 7 year old discuss which countries they have liked best and which ones are on the top of their list for traveling to.

I am amazed every week with what they grab onto and remember. Our 5 year old is so good at remembering the names of all the countries and our 7 year old loves the flags. They are both so much more engaged than I would have expected. Thank you Country of the Week for creating a simple and engaging resource for exploring our world!"

~ Melanie

"This week we watched Cool Runnings for Jamaica week at home. Since we enjoyed it so much, l put it on for the residents I work with tonight and they are enjoying it and also remember it from years ago!
The staff are also enjoying watching a minute here and there when they are not busy. :-)"

~ Monica

"Through COTW, I have been able to build fun and engaging lessons for my students. My students are learning about and gaining an appreciation for the world we live in.
They love looking at maps, exploring the wonders of the world, seeing new and exotic animals, and experiencing different cultures.
By educating children about other countries and cultures in the world, we are creating global citizens...I like how COTW provides an opportunity for the students' interests and curiosities to direct the path we take with each country."

~ Pam

"Hi Dave, thank you for creating COTW and sharing it with the world! It's been a highlight of the week now for my kids. They look forward to learning facts about each country and watching the videos. Sometimes we go a little deeper and they find some more information/videos themselves, which is really great to see. Whenever we don't get to it one week, we do two countries the next, at their request. :-)

Thanks again and we look forward to keep going on this journey of exploration!"

~ Carolien

"Country of the Week has been a great kickstart for us to explore the world virtually. It motivates us to explore many, many more countries than we could ever visit in person. It is fascinating to see the differences as well as the similarities between us and other people and cultures around the world. What an interesting world we live in!"

~ Shirley

"My 6 year old granddaughter and I look forward to our new country every week! You have done an excellent job of finding a variety of videos and activities that appeal to different ages and interests.  And those in turn inspire us to delve a little more! 

My granddaughter enjoys seeing your daughters – funny spunky girls like her LOL. We really enjoy COTW and I have told several friends and family members they should sign up!

Thank you!"

~ Pam

"My 6 year old did the secret code today and I was amazed at how well she did it...so that was my learning experience. We do the colouring sheets and flag sheets all the time and we enjoy the mazes and quizzes too. Keep up the great work! It’s inspiring and so appreciated!"

~ Samantha

"This program is an awesome open ended learning extravaganza that enabled us as a family to further explore and share knowledge of the world around us with other families from around the globe."

~ Georgette

"Both girls ask what the new country is on Sunday and check the wall on Monday to make sure I changed the picture. I love watching them get excited about learning the location and some of the facts of countries they have or haven’t heard of. I also love learning along side them!"

~ Kristen

"We love this program you’ve put together. I love being able to add a craft or food item to the country we are studying that week and the kids and I have learned so much so far.
I love having the coloured pages [Country Profile Sheets] for each country to put into a binder and the kids are occasionally flipping through the pages remembering what they learned. And we do this as a family! Even the little ones are learning something about these places previously unknown to us."

~ Deanna

"Country of the Week has become our families bonding time, down time, learning time, play time, and art time, all mixed in with an amazing guide showing us this beautiful world :)
Thank you for this amazing tool! It's great for families or solo learning for your kids. It's a great addition to public school/homeschool/unschool and out of school. It's not over whelming and something our kids and us look forward to!"

~ Aren

"You are making an impact and I, for one, truly appreciate the generosity you have shown in taking my family along with you on these adventures around the world. We may be a largely silent community, but we are here, and we are thankful for your hard work in making this a reality for us!"

~ Paula

"Hi Dave! I just want to say my kids and I are really enjoying Country of the Week. As homeschoolers, it is the ONE class they look forward to, and complain if we miss. We appreciate all the hard work you put into it!"

~ Sheryl

"COTW is a wonderful resource for families but also for individuals. I learn so much each week. I am especially impressed with the positive perspective COTW takes when sharing information about countries with a recent difficult past such as Rwanda. The focus is balanced and hopeful and honest and introduces you to the people of the country and their efforts. I have recommended COTW to many people."

~ Sharon

"When I started COTW it was mostly intended for our 6 year old...our youngest that just turned 3 in March wouldn't be too interested, but the odd thing like the LEGO and gas crater videos have peaked his interest. A few days ago I was telling our 6 year old about some recipes I wanted to make from Global Table Adventure...and asked him 'what country did we do before Lithuania again?' Our 3 year old overheard and yelled 'Jordan!!' My jaw hit the floor! I couldn't believe he had been paying closer attention than I thought."

~ Maureen