Last week we attended Welcome To Kindergarten night at the school. Yes, our little Frannie is starting JK in 4 short months. Not only did we go to this function, but we actually argued over who was going to get to take Frannie, as siblings were discouraged from coming, and someone had to watch Maggie. […] Read more…
Did you know that this week was Emergency Preparedness Week? Neither did I, until a couple of days ago! Read on for more information, and to find out how you can win a Red Cross Emergency Kit for your family. Okay, so I consider myself a pretty organized person. Some people have other words for it, but to spin it […] Read more…
Is it ever too early to learn how to manage your money? One of Frannie’s favourite birthday gifts this year was her Moonjar Moneybox, purchased at a local retailer for $29.99 (less expensive versions are also available.) There are three compartments in this savvy-kids’ piggybank are labelled “save”, “spend”, and “share”. At first I thought the easiest route was to teach […] Read more…
Here’s a website which will appeal to teachers and parents alike: Smartkiddies Mathematics. At Smartkiddies, you’ll find printable worksheets and interactive math activities sorted by both grade and topic. As a teacher, I often pull up the site on my laptop and project it to my Smartboard (interactive whiteboard) to teach or reinforce concepts. As well, teachers can create accounts […] Read more…
As a teacher and a parent, I love DLTK-Kids website. It’s run by a Canadian mom, and offers more arts and crafts ideas than you could ever possibly use. You can easily search by month, theme or holiday, and samples of finished products are shown, along with appropriate age levels. My favourite feature would have to be […] Read more…
Are you a “hyper parent”? Did you play classical music to your fetus? Have you competed for spots in prestigious preschool programs? Do you question your child’s teacher over half marks on tests? Do birthday parties involve caterers and lavish gifts? Have you already started writing your baby’s university application? If so, then perhaps you need to […] Read more…
The daycare at my school did a really neat activity with their kids, so I repeated it with my daughters, and think it’s worth sharing here. It’s a fun and easy way to create outdoor winter decorations for your home. 1. Take empty containers (margarine, yogurt, etc.)* 2. Fill with water. 3. Add food colouring and mix […] Read more…
I came across an interesting article by American Alex DiBranco, “Junkfood Unwelcome in Canadian Schools, Eh?” on change.org, and it got me thinking: at what point do we relinquish the responsibility of food choice to our children? I’m sure eliminating vending machines and removing the unhealthy foods from cafeteria menus will be a change for the […] Read more…