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Anne-Marie Kee
Web Page: http://www.cesi.edu |
| Profile: Anne-Marie Kee is executive director of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute, founded to promote high educational standards while recognizing the independence and integrity of each accredited school. | |
Posts by the author:
Homework Advice
During the Canadian election, my husband Kevin posed the following question to our children at the dinner table: What would you do first if you were elected Prime Minister? My ten year old son responded with his own question: Which is bigger – the White House or 24 Sussex Drive? He then launched into his plan to build a bigger house for himself as leader of the country.
Kathleen, our eight year old, finally interrupted with an equally passionate rant that went something like this: How could you even think this way? How could you be so selfish and want a big house when there are people in this country who are homeless? Who don’t have jobs? Aren’t these the issues that the Prime Minister should be focusing on?
And as they fought this out, Kevin and I sat back and smiled. We love seeing them all worked up.
Having read Jeffrey Simpson’s article in last Saturday’s Globe and Mail, we should have been smiling because this exchange is actually a good indicator that our kids are more likely to get into university! According to a study at the University of Ottawa, dinner conversations and owning books, particularly a dictionary, are better predictors than wealth.
Independent Schools = Long Term Investment
Last Sunday’s New York Times included the article “About His Deposit,” in which parents debated whether private schools were “worth it.” Some families in America are questioning the value of tuition dollars, and so they should, in the same way that they reconsider their spending in other areas.
Parents should examine the management, strategies and assets of their schools, and ask good questions. In Canada, independent schools have anticipated parents’ concerns, and are proactively communicating information, and opening their doors to any and all questions.