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Adoption and Family Tree Free Printable Activity for Kids
The Adoption Family Tree Printable is unique and intended to help kids visualize and process their place in the family and maybe even their understanding of adoption as a social phenomenon. Our kids often give new meaning to the proverb it takes a village to raise a child. Adoption and adoptive families are different. In more ways than most people can imagine. Once I wrote about some of the challenges of being an adoptive family here on CBC web site. Adoption is Not Like It Is In The Movies. Our kids often come with more challenges throughout life. They sometimes begin their lives with a loss that can remain…
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Investing in RESPs: Saving for my daughter’s education
Well, she might not have said that, but it makes sense at Christmas time to boost the RESP contributions. How investing in RESPs helped me save for my daughter’s education I am the daughter of a teacher. In our home, education was valued above all as the ticket to a future, the means to become whatever you wanted. Growing up, we didn’t have much money because my Mom was a single parent, but we studied hard and dreamed and knew university was a way forward. Education was a gift that could last a lifetime. My Mom might not have had money, but she had dreams for us. I am a…
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Part 3: Egg Freezing – Heather and Hunter
Meet Heather and Hunter Pelz. Mom and Baby couldn’t be happier or healthier. He’s a bit of a miracle and at 11 months, like many babies he is growing fast, exploring and socializing slowly when safely in presence of his Mom or Dad. So what’s so unusual about this story? Well, Hunter was born when Mom was 44 which speaks to a trend that is not entirely uncommon in Canada. Moms across Canada, are often older when they begin trying to conceive. It’s a demographic reality that is also partly related to social expectations and the fact that a huge percentage of women have careers and post secondary education. That…
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Three Ways to Stay Connected with Your Child’s School – The Ontario College of Teachers
Shutterstock images This is a sponsored post. I have been compensated. My opinion is all my own. If you parent a child that is in school then you will be familiar with this timeless afterschool exchange. “How was school today?” “Fine.” “Anything exciting happen?” “No.” “What did you do today at school?” “Nothing.” It’s the communications challenge of parents everywhere. Sometimes staying in the loop regarding your child’s education seems like an insurmountable task. So what’s an educated, involved, parent to do? Luckily there are a lot of tools available to you these days with digital assets and email to help keep parents informed of teaching practices and changes. The…
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5 Steps: How to Transition From Home-Schooling to Public Schooling
For some home-schooled children, the comfort and freedom of the home environment makes the idea of joining a public or a private school seem unimpressive at best. However, if parents begin to prepare them for the transition early enough, it goes a long way to allay apprehension. Both schooling methods have had their fair share of fierce and diverse critical views, but a change of heart is inevitable when such a transition is imminent. The challenges related to both schooling methods are different for each family, but there are a few ways to help ease the transition. Here are 5 steps that will help your child make the move from…
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Five Back to School Necessities for Tweens #TMMBTS
Zwipes It’s so close to the first day of school I can almost hear the ringing of the bell from here. Oh wait, maybe that’s the ringing in my ears from the horrific screams of my children wanting to stay home a bit longer. In any case, school is so much sweeter when you start a new grade with the right tools. Lucky for you, I can tell you what they are. Five Back to School Necessities 1. Zwipes: Hello, how perfect is that for my teen? She can customize with accompanying pen and doodle how she wants. This binder is one I have had my eye on for so…
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Does Your Child’s Teacher Make the Grade?
I am the daughter of a teacher. My memories of marking papers and playing games at the back of my mother’s grade two classroom are strong. Many August days at end of the summer, I worked with my Mom, steadying the ladder as she lovingly decorated her classroom. Teaching is a calling I respect. A teacher’s job can be hard, rewarding and trying all at once. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock However, as the parent of two girls in the school system and I am very often frustrated with education. Funding decisions, allocation of resources, and even teachers in my kid’s lives sometimes don’t meet my expectations. Over the years I have had legitimate…
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How to Write an All About Me Booklet for Your Special Needs Child
This All About Me Special Needs Book is one of my favourite tools for my daughter. I’ve had one for Ainsley for several years now and it is always well received by teachers, coaches and others who work with her regularly. These All About Me Special Needs Booklets work well when your child is young and unable to tell people what he or she needs. We used them often for Ainsley, especially at camp. The idea is that you can use them as a tool for helpers, teachers or support staff when dealing with a child who has medical needs or disability of any sort. I’ve been promising my readers…
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Learning Toys Summer -Spark Story Starters Review
My kids are storytellers. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes it leads to some confusion here at the Schuck casa. You know those moments when you go is that a real event or was that completely fictional? No matter. This is a review of a great summer vacation tool I have found to keep my girls engaged and creative. I won these Spark Story Starters one year ago and we played with them last summer a lot and we take them with us sometimes when we travel. We also pick them up randomly as I did on the weekend and use them to slow my one child down. Those of you who…
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Schools of Thought On OverCrowding and Education #ldnont
Schoolhouse image from creative commons, copyright Caitlyn Willows There’s a school of thought out there that goes something like this: well, you make do with what you’ve got. And that should be good enough, right? Wrong. I don’t buy it. This is not a picture of our school, but it is a symbol of what that phrase stands for to me. If we all made do with what we’ve got there would never be any progress and our kids would all still be sitting in one room schoolhouses with no heating and doing math on tiny handheld slates. Guess what? We aren’t. I am stunningly sick of this platitude that…