Our Kids Blog

Trick or Treat: $5,000 for African Village Well

Most kids embark on Halloween intent on getting as much loot – candy – as possible, with high hopes and lofty dreams for sugar highs and the largest piles of candy. For Logan and Mary Jones, trick or treating began in early October, knocking on doors as part of Trick or Treat for UNICEF, the program that replaced the Halloween boxes trick or treaters used to carry. For the Jones siblings, their pile of candy, so far, is $5,000, or enough to build a well in an African village.

The desire to help an African village stems from Logan and Mary’s visit to South Africa two years ago. When asked about their efforts, this is what the siblings had to say (in part):

What is your life like compared to the kids you met in Africa?
Mary: We are very lucky and have a lot of money and are able to run our tap until the water gets cold.
Logan: We have houses with walls and beds and toilets.
Why are you raising money for UNICEF’s Halloween campaign?
Mary: Because of all the people in Africa who have to walk like 15 miles to get water and they have to use that water for all their dishes and bathing and drinking and cooking and all they can carry is one bucket and it takes like two people to carry that. And the buckets are pretty small.
Logan: I chose the clean water option because it seemed like the most important one to me.

More photos below; the rest of the story is on canada.com.

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Our Kids Media Hires Social Media Guru

Our Kids Media, publisher of two of Canada’s most popular websites on kids’ camps and private schools, camps.ca and ourkids.net, recently announced the hiring of Travis Allison in the position of Social Media marketer. Previous to embarking into the dynamic, exponentially-growing world of Social Media, Allison was Executive Director at CAIRN Presbyterian Camping & Retreat Centres, from 2005 to 2007. He was co-director at Glen Mhor Camp for ten years before taking on responsibilities at CAIRN.

Although social media is a relatively young field, Allison has already established himself as an expert, having presented “The Internet Will Make You a Better Camp Director” at the 2009 Tristate international camping conference. His summer camp and Social-Media-related tweets have garnered him over 1000 followers on Twitter, and the Facebook page he developed for CAIRN has over 200 fans. He is also avid about video and photography.

“I am bursting with exciting ideas and I look forward to working with Our Kids’ clients and reader-families to bring great new ideas and discussion to our sites across the World Wide Web,” said Allison.

“This is another step forward in our growth,” said Andrew Stawicki, president of Our Kids Media. “Over the past two years, we have grown our websites to the point where this year, we received 650,000+ visits from families searching for information about schools and summer camp programs. We love to continue growing.”

Tags: facebook, private school, social media, summer camps

Record Attendance at the Toronto and Oakville Private School Expos

Both days were sunny and slightly cool. And both venues were packed full of families. To be exact, there was a 30 per cent increase in families attending the Toronto Private School Expo at Roy Thomson Hall and Oakville Convention Centre for the Oakville Private School Expo.

At both expos I had the opportunity to speak with parents who had lots of questions about where to begin and what they need to look out for in schools. We discussed the differences between coed schools and all-boys’ schools. We also talked about how to keep one child challenged academically while a second child needs a school environment that motivates and excites them.

As the editor of Our Kids Go To School, it was great being able to talk to parents and be able to refer them to the 68 school booths in Toronto and 30 in Oakville. Once parents decided the questions they needed to ask schools, they could quickly get them answered. More »

Tags: Parents, private school

The Week on Twitter: 2009-10-26

• HIgh School -Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland- Montreal Info Session tomorrow 7:30. http://bit.ly/1Wg5sF #
• Meet the leading K-12 Toronto Area Private & Boarding Schools this Saturday. http://www.ourkids.net/expo. Free info sessions, 80 different schools! #
• How have you helped your kids learn to read – and learn to love to read? Share your experiences http://tinyurl.com/ygbdslu #
• David: Writing about the impact of SCC ruling on English language private schools in Quebec for blog http://www.ourkids.net/blog #
• On our way to the Canadian Association of Independent Schools annual Heads and Board Chairs Conference. #
• Great keynote "Why Mexicans don't drink Molson" by Andrea Mandell-Campbell #
• CAIS Heads and Board Chairs are 'moving and shaking'! #
• It is extremely busy at the Toronto Private School Expo. Thousands of parents! http://www.ourkids.net/expo #

Parenting without the helicopter

I realized it’s been quite awhile since of written. It was quite a fall, so far! Between back-to-school at a “new” school, plus a trip to Germany, my son’s 10th birthday, and a recent puppy, we have had a full plate!

This fall I also heard a new “buzz word” come up frequently – helicopter parents/parenting.

Of course I had to google it, and the definition is “a parent who pays extremely close attention to his or her child’s or children’s experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions” (Wikipedia). I think that helicopter parents have, in some way, a connection to almost all of our fall events.

Back to school has been the most obvious. Now that my children are attending an alternative school that has been merged into another school, I certainly have seen helicopter parenting in action. I too have been super stressed as this is a transition for my boys, and of course I want to make it as smooth as possible.

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Tags: parenting

Over 2,000 Expected to Attend Toronto Private School Expo

Canada’s largest Private School Expo takes place this weekend at Roy Thomson Hall, with more than 2,000 people expected to attend. Over 70 schools will be represented at the Expo, which has been held annually since 2002. Many schools are located in Toronto and area, but schools from places as diverse as Nova Scotia, California, Virginia, and elsewhere will also be in attendance.

Both parents and schools rave about the Private School Expo in Toronto as an unparalleled experience in meeting each other and understanding how schools can match families’ needs.

One parent at least year’s expo called it “a must for parents researching educational options for their children,” adding, “I was able to get more information about schools in one spot and it saved me a lot of time.”

Ruth Ann Penny of Branksome Hall in Toronto said that last year’s expo “was one of the liveliest and successful we have ever attended.”

Media and families are invited to attend the Toronto Private School Expo to find out about the value of private education in Canada.

Presentations at this year’s expo will include the following:
• How to choose a school offers parents a step-by-step approach to choosing the right school for your child. There are many factors to consider when choosing a school, and what may be a great school for your neighbour’s child may not be the best fit for yours.
• How to pay for private school, presented by financial experts, tells you how to work education costs into your budget and offers details about incentives like tax benefits, grants and scholarships.
• Boarding Schools — An opportunity of a lifetime challenges parents to fully consider this option. Boarding schools today offer tremendous advantages. The session offers a peak into life at boarding school and identifies some of the common myths causing parents to miss an opportunity to give their children a great gift.

Get all the details: http://www.ourkids.net/expo/toronto-expo.php
Register now: http://www.ourkids.net/expo/register.php
Come prepared: http://www.ourkids.net/expo/prepare-for-the-expo.php

Tags: private school expo

Supreme Court of Canada overturns Quebec law regarding English language schools

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled this morning that certain sections of Quebec’s Bill 104 are not valid. The law intended to prevent parents and students who were circumventing the law to meet the requirements for attending subsidized English language schools in Quebec. The court decided unanimously that although this circumvention is a concern, this law is an “excessive” solution that violates the rights of Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“The legislature could have adopted different solutions that would involve a more limited impairment of the guaranteed rights…” (Paragraph 43)

The Supreme Court has given the Quebec legislature one year to amend the legislation and devise alternative solutions to close this loop hole that do not limit the freedoms of some citizens. Bill 104 was introduced into law in 2002. The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled on August 22, 2007 and referred the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada. More »

Tags: écoles passerelles, Private Schools

Public Boys-Only School Coming to Toronto?

Schools for boys is not a new concept, but the recommendation for an all-boys public school is going to face rough waters on its path to implementation. Toronto’s public school board’s director of education, Chris Spence, is proposing “hundreds of boys-only classes and an all-boys elementary school,” a move that may prove to be very controversial.

This is on the heels of yet another controversial move by the board to open an Africentric school in Toronto, and on top of a system that offers numerous specialty schools and programs, focusing on science, arts and alternative teachings.

But with the effectiveness of single-sex schools in question, and questions about the responsibility of separating the sexes, it may be hard for a public board to go down the single sex route.

Of course, there have been private and independent single sex schools for a long time (although the last all-boys school in Ottawa just went co-ed), and many parents feel that an all-boys setting is just what their sons need.

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Tags: all-boys, Private Schools