Our Kids Blog

What’s On: Week of August 31, 2009

Back to School Time!! Welcome to What’s On, The Chalkboard’s weekly roundup of interesting and exciting events on tap for the week. To help make sure we know about all the best events be sure to leave a comment below or send an email to agnes[at]ourkids[dot]net. Now on with the week ahead!

Check out our handy Events Calendar for postings of what’s happening this week. Many schools are starting up, montessori schools are phasing in their Casa students, some are still accepting applications and others are hosting open house events!
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The Week on Twitter: 2009-08-31

• Back to school. Learn about the best education options – Fall School Expos in Montreal, Toronto, Oakville & Vancouver http://www.ourkids.net/expo #
• How to prepare kids (and yourself) for their first day of school. Learning to Let Go http://ow.ly/l9hT #
• Calgary Parents — Free information seminar on alternative education at Green Learning Academy http://ow.ly/l9iP Wed August 26, 6pm to 8pm #
• @MontrealCP Canada's Largest Private School Expo coming to Montreal on September 12, 2009. http://www.ourkids.net/expo #
• @hockeymom99 Lots of Canadian boarding schools focus on hockey and have developed NHL players. Meet them at the Expos http://www.ourkids.net/expo #
• @eatonarrowsmith Great to see you on twitter! Looking forward to chatting again soon. #

Being a Hockey Mom

Although I recently learned that lacrosse is Canada’s official summer sport, everybody knows that Canada’s true national sport (but official only in winter, apparently) is hockey. We supply more NHLers than any other country and have the most developed youth hockey leagues. Canadians actually watch the world juniors and there’s no doubt that we’re fiercely proud of our skating heroes.

But to keep the hockey dreams on ice children need to keep playing hockey, a proposition that can be both expensive and time consuming. There’s only so much ice and the equipment isn’t a minor investment. The projections are for hockey enrollment to decline.

All of this has led one parent to come out and declare – shock! – she simply doesn’t want to be a hockey mom.

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Visiting Multiple Schools Under One Roof

One of the challenges to choosing a school is simply the logistics of visiting schools and getting information directly from the source, which is why Our Kids hosts annual School Expos in several cities across Canada. These expos are a great opportunity for parents and students to meet with admissions officers and even current students to learn more and start to get a feel for the style of each individual school. Of course it isn’t a complete replacement for visiting schools, but it is a great way to narrow the list of places to see in person to a reasonable number.

With so many schools and parents present, it’s also easy to make comparisons and get ideas and inspiration of things to consider or other valuable insight and connections. Our Kids always brings in expert speakers to talk to a large group – and often also through individual sessions – about how to choose a school, how to afford private education and whatever other topics are important.

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What’s On: Week of August 24, 2009

Welcome to What’s On, The Chalkboard’s weekly roundup of interesting and exciting events on tap for the week. To help make sure we know about all the best events be sure to leave a comment below or send an email to agnes[at]ourkids[dot]net. Now on with the week ahead!

Wednesday August 26
Information Session | GREEN LEARNING ACADEMY
All Calgary and area parents are invited to a free child education workshop from 6 pm-8 pm to learn about your child’s learning style and gain parenting tips. To pre=register, call (403) 873-1966.
Green Learning Academy, Calgary, AB| View School Profile

Thursday August 27
Application Deadline | CAMP NEEKAUNIS
Camp NeeKauNis’s newest week-long teen camp for 14-16 year olds begins! Campers how to work as a community by planning activities, playing music, and having fun with new and old friends.
Camp NeeKauNis, Midland, ON View Camp Profile

Open House | COLLEGE PREP INTERNATIONAL
Parents and children are welcome to learn more about College Prep International in Montreal, Quebec from 10 am-3 pm.
College Prep International, Montreal, QC View School Profile

Open House | TORONTO WALDORF SCHOOL
Parents and prospective students are invited to see the grounds, learn about the curriculum, speak with staff, and see student work of the Toronto Waldorf School from 4:30 pm-7:30 pm. Waldorf programs range from Playgroup to Gr. 12.
Toronto Waldorf School, Thornhill, ON View School Profile

Friday August 28
Special Event | TOWN CENTRE MONTESSORI PRIVATE SCHOOLS PRE-SCHOOL CAMP
Camp ends for Town Centre Montessori’s pre-school kids!
Town Centre Montessori Private Schools Pre-School Camp, Markham, ON View Camp Profile

Sunday August 30
Open House | FLORIDA AIR ACADEMY
International campus tours will be given by Admissions’ staff at Florida Air Academy from noon – 3 pm.
Florida Air Academy, Melbourne, FL | View School Profile

Know of another event? Leave a comment below if it’s happening this week or if it’s further in the future be sure to contact agnes[at]ourkids[dot]net.

VIEW FULL EVENTS CALENDAR

The Week on Twitter: 2009-08-24

• @urbanpreschool @StevestonKids @karendivenanzo @TheraWise Interested in the Vancouver Private School Expo, Nov 15 http://www.ourkids.net/expo #
• @MontrealCP Private School Expo in Montreal on Sept 12. Education experts & top schools A must for all parents. http://www.ourkids.net/expo #

Shows and BTS for Weeks 7 and 8 at Zoo Camp!

Hello everyone!
We are nearing the end of Zoo Camp for this 2009 summer; however things are not slowing down yet!

Our Biocampers for week 7 explored the world of “Animal Rescue 911″. In correlation with our theme, we had an amazing behind-the-scenes with Tasha, one of Toronto Zoo’s Veterinary Technicians, who toured us around the Animal Health Unit.

We learned how to x-ray animals as large as an orang-utan, to as small as a chameleon. Tasha also showed us how to make a tiger sleepy with a blow-dart. In the lab, we were shown centrifuges, microscopes and a ton of other gadgets used to test and scan samples to help ensure our zoo animals stay healthy. We all loved visiting the ICU and nursery, where we got to hold a friendly ferret who lives in the health unit; used to teach others about our endangered black-footed ferret population.

Of course we took pictures (below), too!

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Improving Brain Functioning For Children with Learning Disabilities

One of the remarkable facts about people is that we all can develop amazing talents or skills. Someone can become a skilled and creative painter, while another individual can develop talents as an accountant. In fact, one can develop both the talent of a painter and accountant at the same time, and throw in the ability to play the trombone. That is, if one puts enough attention and effort into acquiring these abilities through experience.

You see experience, repetition, and focus drives the ability of our brain to acquire skills. Repetition and practice changes the nerve cells, or neurons, in our brains, so that we can master most of the experiences we put it through. We call this brain plasticity, or neuroplasticity.

Thus, if you are willing to put in 10,000 hours of trombone practice on a consistent basis, you will likely master that instrument. That is roughly 3 to 4 straight years of practice, at 8 hours a day, with a few long-weekend vacations thrown in for rest. The truth is most people who become great at what they do have done this type of brain training.

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Tags: Education, learning, learning disabilities, private school