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Hope Lives In a School Called Policarpa – Defeating Child Poverty Near Santander De Quilichao, Colombia
Hope is the thing you see in the faces of the students here. Inside a small school called Policarpa, in an area of Colombia called Santander De Quilichao, where domestic heroin use rages and gangs and guns are very real threats to children and entire families. But here, inside this school the children celebrate Amor Y Paz Month – Love and Peace Month. What Hope Looks Like Here Words hang in Spanish on the pillars in the school. Loosely translated they read: Tolerance, Love, Punctuality, Respect, Friendship. It is September and I have flown to South America with World Vision Canada to see the work they do, to chronicle 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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Last Chance for Back to School Week #TMMBTS
Ainsley’s backpack is from Hilroy Canada Well here we are almost the end of August. Tear. Tear. Sad panda face. I love me a good summer break. Mostly, I love beautiful weather and gorgeous hot sunny beaches. But I can see the writing on the wall and it spells: Back to School. So this coming week is all about Back to School at Thrifty Momma’s Tips. This coming week, or two if I need to go longer with the amount of stuff I want to highlight here, will be dedicated to bringing my readers all the best products. The cutest fashions, supplies and even a few tips and tricks for…
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Back to School Butterscotch Pudding #giveaway
Bring on the butterscotch pudding. By the end of September every parent around will be searching for new lunch ideas and snacks to pack in children’s lunches. It doesn’t take long to run out of ideas each school year. But this year I have a great butterscotch pudding snack I am happy to have found for the kid’s lunches. Puddin’ SqueeZ pudding on the go snacks that will clearly kick things up a notch. Let’s be honest. Back to School is not my favourite time of year. Reason number one: the fall signifies the start of the miserable weather slide that ends with snow and shovels and misery. Reason number two: One…
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Cute and Simple Owl Cake Pops – Cooking With Kids
Today, on the last day of school my kids shared some treats with their individual classes. My kids are both crazy about cooking and they also love cake pops. Together we decided to try to make delicious owl cake pops. So last night we made these owls. I am pretty happy with them and most importantly the kids were proud of these owl cake pops. It’s our last day of school here. Not only is it the last day of school though, it’s the last day ever at this school where my girls have been students since they were 6 years old. Due to crowded French Immersion schools in London, Ontario…
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Five Books to Celebrate the End of School
June brings little learners to the end of school. Whether this is the end of preschool, Kindergarten or a higher grade, it is a time of change—and the perfect time to celebrate their accomplishments thus far and to look forward to what they’ll do next. Here are five books to help mark this milestone in your younger learner’s life, to help them celebrate the past year, or the end of school, and look forward to next September and beyond. Last Day Blues (Mrs. Hartwell’s Class Adventures) is about a class that’s excited to leave for summer vacation—but they don’t want their teacher to miss them while they’re gone! This fun…
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My Worry Box – A PTPA Winner for Children #Giveaway
Does your child worry? Chances are good, if they are preschoolers on up, there are times their little minds won’t turn off the busy actions of the day. Or times their thoughts are racing. Sensitive children, gifted children, children with special needs, perfectionists, or simply children who spend a lot of time thinking. All children at one time or another handle worry, or anxiety. That’s just part of life. These days, worry and anxiety seems to be more prevalent among children than ever before. Healthy adults handle worries and anxieties every day. But most healthy adults have a toolkit of skills to deal with their worries as they appear, before…
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Zero Tolerance For Bullying Not Good Enough
My daughter Payton. Both my kids have at one time or another been bullied. One of my children could also easily be perceived as a bully. She is not, but she has special needs and is frequently mishandled, undersupervised and left to handle situations she cannot because of her disability. My heart breaks when I read of kids who have ended their lives because of bullying. This is tragic every time and I can see too easily how a child could feel that there is nothing good in the world when school is not a safe place. I believe bullying is an adult issue largely that impacts kids and we,…
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Junior Kindergarten Graduation Poem
Updated – one of my kids is starting university in September so when this sweet junior kindergarten graduation poem popped up in my memories this morning, I almost cried with how sweet this memory is. Also, seems like maybe five years ago and it’s been almost 12 years!! This Junior Kindergarten Graduation Poem came inside the booklet that my daughter’s teacher helped her prepare this year cataloguing all of her Junior Kindergarten achievements. Kindergarten Graduation is Special Kindergarten graduation is a special and emotional time for MOMs and DADS too. This year we are extending our daughter’s school at the private preschool where she started when she was 2 1/2.…